9th February 2024
We enter half term following another busy week with lots going on across the school.
Children's Mental Health Week began on Monday with this year's theme being 'my voice matters', which I introduced in Assembly and we discussed where the children have a voice and who they can talk to. The children then worked in their classes to create swirls using a variety of materials which showed the things that matter the most to them as individuals. You can find out more about the week’s activities below.
Tuesday was Safer Internet Day when all the children from Years 1 to 6 took part in workshops covering topics including social media, online gaming and AI. One activity that I found particularly interesting involved the children working in small groups to make up a dance, then another group was asked to try to copy them, and another group and so on. In no time at all, everyone was doing the same dance. This illustrated just how quickly things can spread, just like on social media.
Also this week, Year 1 children had a blast at the Winchester Science Centre and Planetarium, Year 6 watched the Shiplake performance of The Wedding Singer at The Kenton and groups of Year 5 pupils attended Queen Anne’s Spelling Bee and Shiplake College's Maths Challenge.
Prep Production
After much anticipation and a trail of curious picture clues hidden around the school this week, our summer musical production was finally revealed yesterday as… Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Junior! We are hugely excited about the prospect of putting on this phenomenal show at the Kenton Theatre in June. To make the show even more spectacular, we are hoping to be able to hire a fully working Chitty car with flying winch and professional show props! The school would love to hear from any parents or families who would be interested in organising some fundraising events or making a donation in support of this. If you would be willing to contribute or have any ideas as to how we may fund the items, please contact Mrs Light (alight@ruperthouse.oxon.sch.uk).
Centenary
All the dates have now been finalised for the school’s centenary celebrations. Please take a look at the schedule here and save the dates in your diaries. We have also now launched our online shop for centenary merchandise. The hoodies and teddies have proved to be particularly popular so far! You can find the shop here.
Dr Cassie’s talk on sleep
Thank you to everyone who came along to the fascinating talk by external speaker, Dr Cassie, on the topic of sleeping difficulties in children yesterday. I hope you found it useful and it was lovely to welcome parents from other Education Henley schools to join us as well. Many thanks to Madame Sheriff, our Mental Health lead, for organising the talk. A recording will be made available soon and Madame Sheriff would love to receive any suggestions for future talks (vsheriff@ruperthouse.oxon.sch.uk).
Second-hand uniform sale
There will be a second-hand uniform sale on 1st March at 8:30am at the pavilion. Please bring in any donations after half term.
A reminder that the Year 2 Rugby challenge afternoon is taking place on the Tuesday after we return from Half Term, and World Thinking Day is on 22nd February when children can come to school dressed in their rainbow, brownie, beavers, cubs or scout uniforms.
I hope you have a relaxing half term and I look forward to welcoming the children back on Monday 19th.
Best wishes,
Nick Armitage