From the Head of the Preparatory School

From the Head of the Preparatory School

Llandilo Development Opening – Save the date

I am pleased to provide advanced notice about the official opening of the Llandilo Development, including the new Basketball Court between Milverton and the Canteen which will be held on Friday 28th January at 9:30am. We are excited to officially open the newly created Year 5 and 6 Learning Centres and STEAM Lab, as well as showcasing the soon to be completed Basketball Court. An official invitation and opportunity to RSVP will be emailed to all families in mid-January, but for now I encourage you to save the date in your calendar so that you can join us for the opening and an opportunity to tour the new facilities.

Orientation Day

Today’s Orientation Day was a great occasion as we welcomed most of the 98 new boys from Pre-Kindergarten to Year 6 who will be joining us next year. There was a really positive buzz as, together with our existing boys, they began to develop the class-based relationships that will form the basis of much of the learning that will take place in 2021.

Unfortunately our new teachers were not able to join us today, but we eagerly look forward to meeting them in 2022 and benefiting from their wealth of expertise and varied experiences that will enhance our learning community.

Today also provided an additional transition experience for our Year 6 students as they spent the day at Summer Hill engaging in activities and discussions about Sport, Co-Curricular and Middle School culture.

Christmas Service

This week marked the date when we typically gather together as a community to share in the annual Christmas Service. This event is a significant one for the community as it presents an opportunity to reflect on the great news of Jesus’ birth. Whilst disappointing that we weren’t able to meet in person, I hope that you took the time to share in this experience through the pre-recorded service that Mr Smith shared with the community through Seesaw. My prayer is that you will take some time as a family to watch this and to reflect on the birth, life, death and resurrection of God’s Son and the hope of eternity we have through Him.

Sport, Co-Curricular and Specialist award assembly

On Wednesday we had the opportunity to gather all of the Year 3-6 students outdoors in front of the Llandilo building for our Sport, Co-Curricular and Specialist award ceremony assembly. It was a lovely occasion to stop and recognise the efforts, growth and achievements of the students across the year. It is important to note that these awards are not simply for the highest achievers at the Prep School. Instead, a great number of the awards reflect attitude towards learning and acknowledge significant growth that has been achieved. I hope that this event acted as an encouragement to all students to strive for high levels of engagement and effort in 2022.

If you are interested in watching a recording or viewing photos from this event, they can be found at the links below.

 

Assembly photos

End of Year Dates

Whilst we are very much on the downhill run to the end of the year, there remain a number of important events that provide an opportunity to reflect on the year that has been and to celebrate the students’ growth and achievements. Please find updated details of these events below. All live streams can be accessed via this link.

  • Monday 6th December: Years 3-6 Prize Giving beginning at 1:00pm – this event will be for students only but will be live streamed for parents.
  • Tuesday 7th December: Year 6 Valedictory Service – one parent per student onsite and live streamed.
  • Wednesday 8th December: Final day for all Prep School students and Picnic Day for Years 3-6.
  • Thursday 9th December: Year 7 2022 Allwell Testing at Summer Hill – Year 6 students only will need to attend school on this day to take part in Allwell Testing. The results of these assessments are invaluable for the Middle School teachers and Housemasters as they support the students’ transition into Year 7 and beyond.

Sharing of food

I appreciate the end of year is a lovely time of sharing and celebrating. Whilst I typically enjoy and encourage this, I am requesting that parents resist sending any food into school to share or as gifts for other students due to the ongoing challenges with COVID. I appreciate this could be seen as overly precautious, but we don’t want to put ourselves in the position of arbiter over the appropriateness of one form of preparation or packaging as compared with another. I appreciate your support with this and hope that we might be back to normal in 2022.

Concerto Competition

A number of our students have competed in the Concerto Competition, which concluded this week. I am pleased to report that the Infants Section was won by Lewis Wang in Year 2 and Cayden Tsang in Year 3 came a very close second in the Junior Section. Congratulations to both boys!

As this is likely to be the final Prep News of the year, I want to wish the community a safe and refreshing holiday break. I pray that you and your families will have the opportunity to reflect on the good news of Jesus’ birth and all that it promises.

Chris Wyatt | Head of the Preparatory School

‘The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.’ John 1:14

Share this post