HPS Headlines

Welcome to the Summer Term!

If the rest of the term follows the same pattern as the first week, it promises to be truly wonderful. This week, I've had the pleasure of attending five cricket matches, each showcasing excellent performances from the boys and yielding admirable results. A big congratulations and thank you to the Sports staff for swiftly getting fixtures underway.

On the sports front, attendance at our morning sports clubs has exceeded last term's numbers, which is fantastic to see. It's great that so many boys are taking advantage of these opportunities.

This week has been nothing short of spectacular with our International Week. Miss Read and Mrs Aulty have done a fantastic job orchestrating a week filled with exploration, celebration, and learning. We've had the opportunity to immerse ourselves in the diverse cultures that make up our global community. It was wonderful to see so many of you attend the food festival yesterday afternoon, sampling the delicious treats.

Looking ahead, I am looking forward to having coffee with as many of you as are available on Thursday, 9th May, where I can share some of the successes of the year thus far and look ahead to the future. I do hope that you are able to attend.

Please also remember that I am available should you have matters that you would like to discuss.
Wishing you all the best for a spectacular term ahead!

Sam Naismith

Head

Art & DT: All boys are straight back into their projects for Art and Design Technology. There are lots of things happening with pencil, paint, clay, wood and even foam board. As the year comes to an end, all boys are aiming to have their projects finished, which they can take home and show their parents what they have achieved in both 2D and 3D.

Computing: The boys have all begun their Summer Term units of work and are looking forward to coding, blogging, podcasting and more.

English: The boys have had a brilliant start to the term in English! Year 3 have dived right into scripts and have spent the week looking at a range of plays. They have been identifying the key features of a script, in preparation for writing their own next week! Year 4 have been exploring the importance of syllables to rhythm - and therefore to poetry. They have been writing traditional Japanese Haikus and reading about Sakura. Year 5 have been studying and analysing aspects of dystopian literature, in preparation for reading "The Girl of Ink and Stars" this term. Year 6 have defied the unseasonal, chilly weather to embrace their 'travel writing' unit with aplomb - exploring warm climates and stunning scenery through the lens of brochures and promotional videos. Year 7 have turned detective to take on Sherlock Holmes’ most challenging case – as described in Conan Doyle’s classic mystery The Speckled Band. Meanwhile, Year 8 have been revising and recapping the key skills that are required to tackle both comprehension and creative writing tasks confidently.

French: Amongst the various activities, workshops and assemblies of International Week, boys in Upper School have been using their French lessons this week to memorise and recite a poem in French for a House Competition. It has been a brilliant opportunity for boys to practise their accent and pronunciation of more demanding French vocabulary. Well done to all boys who entered, the results of the competition will be shared in assembly next week!

Geography: It has been a wonderful start to the Summer Term in our Geography lessons as we have started new topics! Thank you to Zain and Zayn in Year 5 who did a beautiful presentation to the school to celebrate Earth Day. Year 3 have been looking at how to help our environment and live sustainably. Year 4 are learning about Tectonics (Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Tsunamis) and how they are caused. Year 5 have started their topic learning about rivers and developing their location skills. Year 6 are learning about coastal features and processes. Year 7 and 8 are developing their OS map reading skills and location knowledge!

History: Year 3 have been studying the religious beliefs of the Shang Dynasty and Year 4 have been learning about Anglo-Saxon gods. In small groups, both years have created drama performances, to explain key beliefs to their peers. Year 6 have finished their Benin topic and enjoyed comparing an image of an Oba with the Rainbow Portrait of Elizabeth I to understand the rulers in more detail and seek comparisons between them.

Maths: The boys have had a fantastic start to the term in Maths! Boys in Years 6 - 8 have been busy completing past UKMT challenges in preparation for today’s Junior Mathematical Challenge. The hour long challenge is a brilliant opportunity for our boys to showcase their mathematical reasoning, precision of thought and fluency when tackling problem solving. All boys have worked diligently to ensure that they feel confident and motivated to achieve the best possible results that they can. The department and boys alike are eagerly looking forward to see who progresses to the bonus round of the Junior Kangaroo and Olympiad. Meanwhile, boys in Year 3 have been converting between fractions and decimals concentrating on the tenths and hundredths family and have made links between decimals and British currency. Year 4 have been exploring properties of triangles and Year 5 boys have continued to delve deeper into fluently converting fractions, decimals and percentages over 100%.

P.E. & Games: The Summer Term has arrived very quickly and despite the cold conditions the boys have really enjoyed starting the cricket season. In games lessons they are learning about cricket and in PE they are preparing for an Olympic summer. In athletics, the senior boys have begun their medal events with the 100m sprint. The boys in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 have all started using the athletics track with some fun races and some long jump. In addition it has been International week and the Year 3 and 4 boys all got a national flag sticker and represented that nation in their running race.

Science: The highlight since returning to school following the Easter break has definitely been the rocket car workshop run by Bloodhound Education, which Year 5 and Year 7 took part in. Year 6 pupils from Robin Hood Junior School also joined us to design, build, and race rocket powered cars. The cars reached speeds of over 80 mph! Year 3 are continuing with their rocks and soils unit, Year 4 are learning about what makes a balanced diet, and Year 5 are on a carousel learning about materials, cells and forces. Year 6 have started electricity, Year 7 have either been learning about health and disease or density, and Year 8 have just begun their human reproduction module.

STEAM: The boys are continuing their project work across the school, Year 1 have started to progress with making their model polytunnels ready to germinate some seeds, Year 2 have continued their CREST awards and Year 3 are enjoying making their model fairground rides. Year 4 are enjoying continuing to make their own computer games while Year 5 are on a carousel alternating between Lego coding, microbit coding and exploring the concept of magnification. Year 6 have finished their model PE circuits and are about to start their next project.

TPR: The boys have continued to expand their knowledge of theology, religion and philosophy in the Summer Term. In Year 3, the boys have just come to the end of their study of Hinduism, learning about the Creation Story. Year 4 have been learning all about eminent Scottish philosopher David Hume and Year 5 have been introduced to John Stuart Mill, the philosopher, in preparation for a study of their ideas. In Year 6 we have begun the study of theology, exploring stories such as The Calming of the Storm from the Bible. In Year 7 we are discussing the ethics surrounding the value of life. Finally, in Year 8 we are continuing the study of Sikhism, learning about the Guru Granth Sahib.

This week in Reception we have been learning about World Earth Day and what we can do to help protect our planet. The boys gave suggestions such as planting trees, picking up litter and not throwing plastic in the ocean! We have also been learning about different cultures for International week and were treated to talks about Chinese and Maltese culture! Lastly, we had very exciting little visitors this week: we got to look after some chicks by taking care of their eggs and watching them hatch!

Year 1 have returned to school following the Easter break full of energy and enthusiasm for the Summer Term. We have begun a new text in English called ‘The Magic Paintbrush.’ The boys have enjoyed predicting the story and mapping it out by organising and diagramming the plot. We have started learning about multiplication using groups in maths. In Geography and History, we are learning about castles. This will provide the boys with a good foundation for when we take the boys to Hever Castle next half term. We have had many visitors this week all very excited to have a look at our eggs, which arrived on Tuesday as we are hatching chicks! So far, the boys have unfortunately missed the chicks emerging from their shells but have thoroughly enjoyed observing them and holding them once they were dry! Please ask the boys about this as they are fascinated by the whole process and ask us many questions.

In Year 2, the boys have been eager to begin learning in our new Summer Term topics! We were very impressed by the time and effort that went into the change makers' projects over the Easter break and the boys loved sharing their work with their peers. In Maths, we have finished our length and height topic, focusing on worded problems involving the four operations. We will now begin our topic of Mass, looking at units of measuring mass and making comparisons using mathematical language. In English, we have begun looking at poetry. We have reflected on the different types of poetry and have had a go at creating our own! In history, we have been thinking about what being a 'change maker' means and how we can also strive to be change makers in the world. Our Geography topic of Natural Disasters has allowed us to begin looking at earthquakes and the effects of these disasters. We looked at four earthquakes in particular and carried out research, making comparisons between how they occurred and the after-effects of them.

Reception: Vihaan for giving great suggestions on how to protect our planet for World Earth Day and writing wonderful sentences for his literacy work! Shaan for settling in so well at Homefield.

Year 1: Arie for his exceptional effort and understanding of multiplication and Nufail for his perseverance with his handwriting. Keep up the hard work!

Year 2: Andrew for fantastic participation in lessons and Eesa for a positive attitude and great effort in class!

Year 3: Arish and Dhruv for being star pupils for their year group in the Spring Term, Wesley for his persistent hard work and love for learning, and Viyan for his polite manners and excellent behaviour.

Year 4: Ryan and Ved for being star pupils for their year group in the Spring Term, Benji for his excellent focus and participation in lessons, and Jeff for his consistent hard work and focus across all lessons.

Year 5: Nathan for working extremely hard in Science and presenting his work with care in all of his lessons.

Year 6: Oliver & Zachary for making an excellent start as Peter Pan in rehearsals for the Year 6 musical production.

Year 7: Isaiah in Year 7 for his effort and contribution during the Italian workshop. He set a great example and left a great impression on the tutor.

Year 8: Denis in Year 8, who will be the Headboy for the Summer term. First job will be a speech for Open Morning parents!

Ashar used a thick pencil to create an abstract line only portrait of his classmate. The task was about creating depth, texture, expression and mood, rather than focusing on resemblance of the person

Very well done Miss Wilson for running the London Marathon for the Blue Cross on April 21st!

"As well as rehoming pets, the Blue Cross carry out invaluable work by providing free veterinary treatment for those who can’t afford it, and pet bereavement support for owners. There is also currently a Blue Cross Ukraine Pet Welfare Fund supporting pets in need. I was inspired to do this by my love of animals, in particular, my gorgeous (and mischievous!) dog Enzo. Thank you for your support on Wear Something Blue Day!" ~ Ms Wilson

Our U11 A team won their first match, while the B team lost narrowly by just 8 runs. The C team game went to the last over, an incredibly close game but Willington pipped us by just three runs! The D team game ebbed and flowed with some really good cricket and some Homefield boys fielding for the other team to keep it even. The Year 3 boys got off to the perfect start in cricket during their fixture against Willington. The Red, Blue, Yellow and Green team all won their matches and some great batting, bowling and fielding was on display. Results are as follows:

Red team won 61-24
Players of the match Rohan & Roshan

Blue team team won 22-6
Players of the match Wesley & Elijah

Yellow team won 40-29
Players of the match Yahia & Yohaan

Green team won 68-50
Players of the match Aaron & Ian

The U11 A team won their first match the B team lost narrowly by just 8 runs. The C team game went to the last over and either team could win but Willington just got three more runs. The D team game ebbed and flowed with some really good cricket and some Homefield boys fielding for the other team to keep it even.

International Language and Culture Week has been a tremendous success. It has been a joy to see the boys learn all about such a rich variety of cultures through assemblies, workshops and even a food festival! We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all parent volunteers who have given up their time to make this week so special and memorable. Here is a breakdown of the exciting events that have occurred over the course of the week:

On Monday, the Language Ambassadors kicked off proceedings by delivering an assembly telling the whole school about the importance of recognising, celebrating and learning about different cultures. Amber Appleton – mother to Elijah – gave a fascinating presentation about her dual heritage, teaching the boys about both Japanese and Swiss traditions. We also welcomed Lei Wan – father to Evan – later in the day to tell the boys in the lower school all about the Chinese dragon … and its nine children!

Mrs Fenn kindly ran an ‘international board games’ club each lunchtime this week, where participants got to learn how to play Carrom board-Carrom (a game which originated in India hundreds of years ago,) Mancala (which began in ancient Africa about 3,600 years ago) and Marble Solitaire (which was developed by a French mathematician to entertain King Louis XIV and dates back to 1600s!)

Ms Read and Madame Delhalle were very impressed by the entrants in the French poetry recital competition. The boys in lower school had fun competing in a house contest involving learning a song in another language! The Language Ambassadors also set a fun competition where entrants were to create a comic which encourages the reader to learn a second language. A full list of winners will be published in the next Headlines: well done to all the boys who entered a competition this week, we hope you had fun!

Our Head Chef Franseco proudly shared his Italian heritage, by teaching the Year 2 boys how to make pizza – this interactive workshop was tremendous fun for all involved and the pizzas looked absolutely delicious!

On Tuesday, Jing – mother to Xingda – delivered a fascinating and insightful presentation to the older boys about Chinese characters, which had the boys fully engaged throughout.

Alexander, father to Laurie, gave an inspiring and exciting presentation all about the importance of learning languages. Mr Tofts (Head of the Languages Faculty at St Paul’s School) also treated the boys in Years 7 & 8 to an Introduction to Italian lesson. Molto bene!

The sports department had great fun running our very own Olympics event for pupils in Years 3 and 4, in honour of this year’s games – a fantastic time was had by all.

Shujie, mother to Adam, delivered a fantastic workshop to Year 6 boys regarding traditional Chinese dragon dancing. The boys had great fun trying on costumes and performing with the dragon: a truly memorable experience for all involved.

On Thursday, we welcomed Noqxie – mother to Alex and Zachary - who delivered a wonderfully informative and engaging assembly all about her Zimbabwean heritage and roots.

Our very own Mr McCaffrey then delivered a detailed and engaging presentation to upper school boys all about ANZAC day.

The lower school boys were treated to stories from other cultures being read to them by the language ambassadors. Andrew – father to Robbie – then delivered a marvellous presentation which introduced the reception boys to Maltese culture.

The after-school festival on Thursday was a wonderful celebration of food from around the world. It was heart-warming to see the Homefield community come together to share dishes from their heritage. The food was absolutely delicious and it was fantastic to see boys, parents and staff come together for this celebratory event. I would like to thank the following parent volunteers, who generously gave up their time and made so much effort to make this occasion such a success:

• Sandhya
• Meena
• Jennie
• Rachel
• Nilufer
• Ritika
• Sonya
• Kareema
• Nymphia
• Shama
• Fatima
• Gowri
• Prachee
• Shruti
• Jing
• Viv
• Christina
• Yi

A huge thanks to Fatma and Halit– parents to Hasan – who ran a workshop all about Turkish tiles, with Year 5 boys having the opportunity to create their own beautiful designs during the session.

Today marks the dress-up day, where boys have come into school dressed in either the national dress of a country they have a connection with, or in the colours of a flag of their choice. Donations – combined with funds raised at Thursday’s festival – will be given to The Diamond Centre (https://www.diamondcentre.org.uk/). The full amount raised with be announced in the next Headlines. It is thrilling to see the school overwhelmed with colour as the boys proudly share their cultural heritage with one another and learn about other boys’ cultural background in turn.

As you can see, the week has been filled to the brim with exciting activities, which have truly enriched the boys’ understanding of cultures and traditions from around the world. We could not have run this week without the help and support of the Homefield community. Thank you to the staff for their assistance, to the boys for embracing the week so wholeheartedly and above all to all the parent volunteers who ensured this event was so memorable, fun and engaging. It has been a joy to organise an event that is ultimately intended to bring the community together … and we are delighted to say that we have managed to achieve just that!

Mrs Auty and Ms Read

To provide childcare options during school holidays, we are exploring partnering with Let's Leap to offer engaging, fun and inclusive holiday camps.

Let's Leap is an Ofsted registered provider for children aged 3-13 years old and has provided a survey link to gain parent interest in offering holiday camps at Homefield.

Your time in completing this survey will be greatly appreciated to support further opportunities at Homefield.

We understand the demands of modern life and the challenges of balancing work, family, and personal commitments.

Our after-school club offers enriching activities, supervised play and opportunities for socialisation. Knowing that your son is in a safe, stimulating environment allows you to focus on work or other responsibilities with peace of mind.

Exploring Spring:

This week, we're diving into the wonders of the spring season with the boys. Expect lots of exciting activities and crafts related to spring coming home with your young men. From budding flowers to chirping birds, we're embracing the beauty of nature blooming around us.

On the 19th of April, the boys enjoyed an engaging workshop led by author Margaret Bateson-Hill, which seamlessly combined storytelling, singing, and paper cutting. Margaret captivated the boys with her tales, sparking their imaginations. During one segment of the workshop, the boys were prompted to envision owning a dragon, leading to vivid descriptions of their fantastical fiery companions, resulting in some fascinating outcomes!

Here is a flavour of what boys took home from the day:

“A fantastic experience that really inspired young authors to uncap their pens and start writing. We had a lovely time and one message of many I have taken away will echo in my head for eternity: if you have a dream follow it and never give up! From picture books to chapter books, she just has a way with words.” Yusuf Year 5

“The author helped me to imagine and write fictional stories using my senses. She spoke about making the dragon personal to you.” Rudy Year 5

“Margaret was a really nice author! Her mixed cultural diversity had an inspiring effect on me. Veer Year 5

As we navigate the hustle and bustle of school drop-offs, it's crucial to remember that safety is our utmost priority. Recently, there have been a few close calls with cyclist and pedestrians as parents have been exiting the school driveway. These incidents serve as important reminders of the importance of being vigilant and cautious as we enter and exit the school premises. Please could we encourage everyone to exercise patience, awareness, and consideration for others in sharing our space.

Homefield Preparatory School

Western Road, Sutton, Surrey, SM1 2TE

+44 020 8642 0965

administration@homefieldprep.school