Shrewsbury Prepatoria

Please take a look at this article to find about more about these tests. We're really opposed to the testing of children in this way, I'm sure you will be too.
https://www.theguardian.com/…/parents-p rotest-reception-tes…

I find many articles interesting but there are not many that I agree with fully. This is one I agree with. There are schools that are trying to make a difference but these are too few and far between. Until government listens, then change cannot happen.
https://thelearningcurvepda.wordpress.com /…/school-refusal…/

We're looking forward to our monthly Open Morning. It's a little bit different tomorrow, arrive at 10 am for an introduction to The Prepatoria followed by a tour of premises. If you would like to attend please come along at 10 am.

What a lovely time we had today at the Grandparents craft afternoon!

Seven little chicks, so much excitement here!

We're on the hunt for Lego bricks - donations welcome! We're looking to build a Lego collection for our planned extra-curricular Lego Club. Playing with Lego encourages children to use their imagination and can also help them develop numeracy, literacy and problem solving skills. The new Lego Club will help children further develop their STEM skills and have good fun building with their peers and parents! If you have any unwanted Lego bricks, please drop them off at The Prepatoria to a member of staff. All donations will be gratefully received.

The living eggs have arrived. As always at this time of year the children learn about the eggs, the incubator and then wait for the first chick to hatch. However, Lyra and Rueben had ideas of their own to help chicks hatch. "Look Mrs Smalley, we're sitting on our eggs to make them hatch"

I honestly can't say which I find most gratifying, having the Reception and pre-school children produce this work or having a very happy and excited teacher! Children continue to work on the project, What is a Creature? The project has moved, dynamically and there is a definite and exciting focus on, 'holes.' What's down there, who made it, where is it and who lives in it, have all be exciting questions and the basis for discussion and research. Children and their teacher hav...e been so excited to show me what they have been doing and what they're thinking about. Our Reception Teacher, Victoria Waring, suggested this focus and is now on an exciting study tour in Reggio this week but I know she'll be thrilled to see how well the children, supported by our new Preschool Teacher, Jo Lee, are doing. The first picture, with shells and animals arranged beautifully in a circle was made by Daniel, 3 years old. He took his time creating this hole, 'Look what's in the hole I've made, Mrs Smalley, lots and lots of shells and animals.' Other children used loose resources to create huge holes, whilst some of the school children chose to use whiteboards first to, 'think about' what could be in the hole. Lennie, 'I think there could be water-deep water down a hole.' Chase told me, 'I think there might be a fox so I'm trying to write that by myself.' I love children's enthusiasm and their desire to share their discoveries every day.
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School and Pre-School children have been challenging themselves with a burst of running each morning, beginning at 8.45am. School children have been aiming for a daily mile. Well done to Billy who achieved a mile twice this week. Everyone has set themselves targets and exceeded them. We have had lots of conversations about how this exercise makes our bodies feel and how it can be helping our brains too. What a great start to our day!

Our toddlers have started taking part in yoga. On Thursday, they gathered in the Piazza for their second session. They have been balancing and stretching, alongside music and familiar rhymes.

Mid-day supervisor post is still available. Please call The Prepatoria if you are interested in finding out more about this 16 hour post.

A lovely Prepatoria Mother's Day event for our wonderful mums. Enjoy!

I'm delighted to say we have just one space remaining for our Reception Class, September 2019 intake. If you're still thinking about registering your child for a place with us all may not be lost. Today I have applied to the DfE for an increase to our admission numbers. There is no guarantee that we will get the approval or that we'll get it in time so contact The Prepatoria School to reserve the last space or register your interest in future possible spaces.

A down to earth and honest summation of the Primary school years. The time for change is now.
https://www.morethanascore.org.uk/…/acc eptance-is-a-danger…/

There is so much to be said about this excellent article but I would pick out one small element to begin with. I would ask each parent to read this and then ask these questions, how can government set such expectations on the people they value least, remunerate poorly. The offer of, 'free' childcare places, which, as we all know, is less than £4:00 per hour for funded places is outrageous and keeps the bar low. Settings can operate with unqualified staff supported by L3 quali...fified staff, and need to in order for setting to manage. In my opinion we need teachers and L6 staff supporting the delivery of a high quality education and for all staff to be remunerated correctly. However, this isn't going to happen whilst the government is too busy looking the other way and only has time raise the bar again. Little question for government from me, 'When will you offer our amazing practitioners the training they need to deliver this?'
I'm fortunate, in that, as a associate trainer for NDNA, I will shortly attend training on the new EIF so that I can deliver this to settings who will then have to pay for their practitioners to attend.
https://www.early-education.org.uk/…/gu est-blog-helen-moyle…
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Magical maths from children in Reception. Spur of the moment counting, ordering, creating, problem solving, finding and explaining. When the tens sticks ran out, this was no problem. "We can make 10 with some of the smaller numbers, like 8 and 2 or 9 and 1." (Billy) "Or 4 and 6." (Chase) Observations were made. "Oh look! There are five of these ones in this number five counting stick." (Reuben) "We can make the teen numbers, we need a ten each time." (Billy)

Having the very best practice every day is only possible when you know what best practice is. It's easy to feel isolated and a little out of the loop when you're working hard and there's no time for reflection. At The Prepatoria we understand the value of meeting as a team, reflecting on practice and collaborating with others. But where can you go for support, networking, reflection and sharing? With that in mind we would like to offer teachers, practitioners and leaders the opportunity to come together to reflect on practice and share ideas. If you are interested in finding out more why not come along to our first meeting on Tuesday 2nd April at 6 pm. Please give me a call to book your place or feel free to message me. Jane on 01743 460 199

Here we are again, our Infant and Toddler Centre numbers have grown again. We're now looking to recruit L3 Practitioners to join this fantastic team. Full and part time posts available. Please give me a call to find out more. 01743 460 199