School News

Our Prep School Artist of the week is Mary in Year 5.  She painted a colour wheel, using only primary colours, tints and shades. Afterwards, using Mandala designs as her inspiration, she designed her own pattern and added it to her wheel using radial symmetry.  Bravo Mary - it is stunning.

What a fantastic fundraising day the Rupert House community had today.  The building was adorned with red balloons and our very own giant red nose (courtesy of our talented Head of Art, Mrs Poulter) as well as lots of red nose pictures and jokes. This caused great chatter and excitement amongst the children whilst they waited for the doors to officially open!

We were tremendously impressed by the effort all the children and staff went to – some came in red, some in their home-made super hero outfits and almost all had a red nose.

Everyone laughed at the jokes and we hope that everyone has had a lot of fun helping to raise money for this extremely worthwhile cause.  Remember that families can share photos of their family challenge by visiting https://www.comicrelief.com/rednoseday/fundraise/family-challenge

Very many thanks to our student council and Miss Jones for all their efforts in organising – it was a brilliant effort full of fun and laughter. Our school community is on target to raise well in excess of £300 in aid of Comic Relief so well done Rupert House and many thanks for your support!

What a wonderful week our Year 2 children have had.  We went up to Forest School and, working in teams, made pirate boats.  The children worked brilliantly together and particularly loved the challenge of gathering gold, canons, flags and walking the plank!

The Rupert House community came together on Wednesday 17th March to celebrate St Patrick's Day with a specially themed lunch, courtesy of Thomas Franks, our school caterer.  The children were treated to soda bread, Irish stew and colcannon potatoes, followed by Barmbrack, a traditional fruit cake.  It was absolutely delicious and everyone had a really fun time.

What a busy week our Reception classes have had.  Not only have they been learning digraphs and writing sentences in phonics but they've also been very busy at our Forest School creating ‘eggciting’ Easter surprises!  Well done Reception.

The children have been actively celebrating British Science Week this week (as well as being back in the Science lab!).  Each day, the children have been doing an exciting experiment, ranging from skittle rainbows and bendy water to lemon volcanos, sticky rice and colourful daffodils - each one celebrating and using the 'magic' of Science!  All the experiments are simple and easy to do and it was great to hear that some children were inspired to try the experiments at home, under adult supervision.

We will be holding our own RHS STEM week in the summer term with lots of exciting activities!  If you can’t wait until then, follow this link to find out how to make a rainbow using skittles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0T3KokCFAg 

Year 3 have been making compasses out of magnets in their science lessons this week. Thy then used them to conduct a treasure hunt around school.

This week Y6 spent some time working in the school garden, tidying it up and planting seeds in the vegetable patch. We discovered a lots of carrots in the soil! We also did some litter picking and general tidying to make the grounds look spick and span.

Year 1 children at Rupert House learnt all about weight in their maths lesson last week and then wasted no time in putting their new found knowledge to the test as each of the children got baking to prepare cupcakes for Mother's Day.  Really good work Year 1 - those cakes look yummy!

Well done to Yi Jia in Year 3 who is our artist of the week this week - our first week back at school since December!  Very aptly, this beautiful piece of artwork has been created with positive and negative space in mind. It is very carefully planned and extremely effective.      

Both wanting to celebrate a return to being together and also fully anticipating that, following on from months of lockdown, some children may be anxious by a return to school, Rupert House decided to provide its pupils and staff with a specially planned ‘Reunion Day’ of fun activities on Monday.

Organised by Rupert House’s dedicated pastoral team, the focus was on wellbeing and celebrating being back together.  The first class ‘bubbles’ arrived at 8.15am to find the school adorned with bright balloons and banners welcoming its entire community back.  The joy on the children’s faces and the chatter and laughter outside the school was an uplifting start to the day. There followed a whole school assembly, hosted by Head of School, Nick Armitage, which took place outside within the grounds.

Mr Armitage said of the event:  “I have been so impressed by the enthusiastic approach and the hard work of all our children and the exemplary educational provision our staff have delivered during this latest period of lockdown.  That said, we are very mindful of the impact lockdown has had to everyone’s wellbeing and so, in recognition of this and in celebration of being able to be back together as one school community, we wanted to mark everyone’s return as a special Reunion Day designed for all of us – pupils and teachers alike – to readjust to our school environment, rekindle our friendships and lessen any anxieties some may have felt about coming back to school.”

Throughout the day the children participated in a number of activities and events, specifically designed to promote team building (in classes, year groups and as a school) and focusing on fun.  Amongst them, tasks included the children made shapes and words, including the School Crest, with their bodies on the school Astroturf.  Every child planted their own sunflower seed which will ultimately be planted throughout the school grounds.  The Year 6 class planted an apple tree in the grounds for future years to enjoy. They named it Stanley the Bramley! Each class  decorated a canvas with their names and a symbol or word representing their time in lockdown.  The canvases will be linked together to make one large piece of artwork.  Everyone shared their own lockdown memories which were written on jigsaw pieces which were then connected together.  The school also created a Covid capsule with each class choosing an item to include.  Each class also engaged in a Word Cloud Activity where teachers actively encouraged the children to talk about and create a word cloud to decorate the classroom walls.  All children made their own sandwich lunch which was followed by an ice-cream factory; and the Prep School children wrote down and illustrated growth mindset messages. 

Susie Newman, Deputy Head adds:  “That the Rupert House Reunion Day proved to be a success is indisputable and we have received some extremely complimentary feedback from parents and others within our community.  The focus of our day was intended to be about pupil and staff wellbeing but, ultimately, it proved to be about creating a happy, fun time for all within our school community after months of being separated.”

You can watch a video montage of the day here

Continuing their topic of Space this week, our Year 1 classes have enjoyed making jetpacks in Art.  The children can't wait to zoom back to school wearing them!  Well done Year 1.

It's Mermaid Day for Year 2 today! 🧜‍♀️ As part of their topic on Oceans this term, they have spent the day dressed as mermaids and had great fun making mermaid peg dolls and masks, a big mermaid tail, writing mermaid stories and decorating mermaid tail cookies!

We are really going to miss hosting our live music concerts on a Friday but we can't wait to hear the children performing in the flesh again as of next week.  Mrs Breen and Miss Lau have been so impressed with the way the children have performed and the effort and enthusiasm they have shown.  We'd also like to thank all our parents who have joined the concerts, some of whom have performed alongside their children.  Don't forget to tune into our last concert this Friday, 5th March.

Our Rupert House Artist of the Week in the first week of March is Zahra.  Not only did she paint with the unusual media of coffee and tea, but she also successfully managed to create a wonderful portrait with expression and tone.  Bravo Zahra.

The Fantasy Rugby competition is well underway.  People had to adapt to one game not being played last weekend, but scores are still high.  Here are the latest scores.  Well done to Slick's Machines who has stayed at the top so far.  Will someone catch up soon?  Here are the latest scores. 

This week, our Year 6 children worked on tessellation in Maths and created some lovely designs using translation and rotation of shapes.  Here are some examples of their work.  Well done Year 6 - we are really impressed.

Congratulations to our newly voted school councillors who will start on our return to school for the rest of the academic year.  Year 6 - Isabella and Allegra , Year 5 - Liza and Mary, Year 4 - Chloe-Maya and Charlotte, Year 3 - Tekle and Jemima and Year 2 - Sophia S and Scarlett H.  Our school councillors brainstorm effective ways to raise money for charity and assist with fundraising and fun events at school.  Their first task will be to help organise Red Nose Day on 19th March which we are all really looking forward to!

Lockdown could not deter the energy and zeal of the children at Rupert House School in dressing up and having a lot of fun for World Book Day 2021.

Teachers, admin staff and pupils alike collectively came to virtual lessons dressed up as their favourite book characters and what a lot of effort everyone went to!

In Nursery, the home corner was converted into a wonderful Mr Men book shop where the children could buy, write and sell their own books.  A reading wigwam was set up for quiet reading and the children had some magical adventures in their story playtime, using just a cardboard box, a fleece and some fruit!

Our Reception classes had a fun circle-time sharing their costumes and books and playing ‘Guess the Story’. They also read ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ and had a busy week sequencing the story and learning about the days of the week, healthy and unhealthy food, symmetry and the life cycle of a butterfly.

In Year 1, each child chose their favourite book, wrote a clue about it and then read the clue out loud whilst their classmates tried to guess which book it was.  Then the children used their creative writing skills to write an additional chapter for their chosen book, as well as creating a new design for the front cover.

In Year 2, the children challenged each other to guess the character they were dressed as – from both their costume and a short excerpt from the book in which the character featurees.  They then wrote their own fantastic book blurbs.

Children in Year 3 attended the live event: ‘Books that make you LOL!’ which they greatly enjoyed.  They also had a whole class book club (including a drink and a biscuit!) where children brought their favourite books to talk about and to recommend to their friends before writing their own book review.

Inspired by some online academy classes, hosted by the authors Abi Elphinstone, Robin Stevens and Kiran Millwood-Hargrave, our Year 4 class were shown objects and had to think about how they could be used in a story.

After listening to authors Derek Landy: 'How to make characters feel real' and Nadia Shireen: 'Bringing Characters to Life’, Year 5 wrote some entertaining school reports for their favourite book characters.

In Year 6, our children joined author Holly Smale’s academy class: 'Bury Deep and use your Emotions' in which they worked on reading extracts from stories using expression, putting on character voices and some acting.

Well done Rupert House – no one could doubt your enthusiasm for, and love of, books.

Mr Malkin set us a task to look out for the signs of spring when out on our family walks over half term. We spotted pretty flowers, emerging buds, and even some sunshine! Well done to those that send in your photo collages. 

We had a great time running around Mount Cook National Park in New Zealand as children in Years 3 to Year 6 have joined Ms Nicholson for a virtual run this week. Children are encouraged to download their certificate of achievement (found on Firefly).

The next destination for Years 5 and 6 will incorporate the Winter Woods in Norway - so look out for the TEAMS link in FireFly. Get your woolly hat and gloves ready, it's chilly out there! 

And just in time to catch the last of the cold weather. Olivia has been working tirelessly during Mrs Breen's knitting club and also in her free time at home. Great job Olivia!

The Nursery children have been getting creative with chalk outside in the fresh air today. Their mark making is everywhere! They are really looking forward to the other children coming back to school in March.

Very many thanks to all those who contributed to our Nature Photography Competition. 

There were so many fantastic entries that Miss Gibbon and Mrs Poulter found it incredibly difficult to judge. 

However, after much deliberation, the winners are:

Pre-prep:  Flowers by Monty Dougan (Reception S).

We like the bright colours and the contrast of the petals against the moss.  it is a joyful photograph and full of hope.

Prep:  Droplets by Lucinda Taylor (Year 6).

The sharp focus of the foreground drew us in, and the glistening jewel-like drops have a magical quality.

And very well done to the runner's up which are:

Pre-prep:  Moss by Mollie Sturges (Reception B).

This scene sparks the imagination in an abstract way.  The composition has made a wooden post into a character; we particularly liked his lockdown haircut!

Prep:  Squirrel by Chloe James (Year 5). 

This cheeky squirrel looks a little bit cross that he's not invited inside with everyone else.  A really unusual and well-timed snap!

The Artist of the Week is Chloe-Maya in Year 4.

Her Notan design is particularly effective as she has chosen Complementary colours (opposite on the colour wheel); they really 'pop'. Chloe-Maya carefully cut and flipped complicated shapes to make her work very successful.

Year 1 have made some out of this world planetary rovers as part of their topic on Space this term. Lego was a very popular choice for  construction, but there were all sorts of other creative ideas too! Next stop... Mars 🚀

Reception’s busy week has included making owl on toast (or an owl pancake), weaving fish, designing a sea picture and investigating if the difference between fresh water and salt water by trying to float an egg.  

Thank you to all the children who have joined in with our Musical live clubs this week! Here are Singing Club learning their song ‘Lovely Day’. It was brilliant to be joined by some children and teachers in school, as well as pupils at home.

This week all the Rupert House children were encouraged to make French pancakes (les crepes) to celebrate "la Chandeleur" in France: a day dedicated to baking and eating pancakes! The children have enjoyed celebrating this French tradition. A fun activity away from screens!

It has been lovely to see what changes there have been in only a few weeks as the seasons continue to evolve. We are so impressed by the quality and diversity of the subjects you are managing to snap. Keep going everyone! Get all photos into us by Friday 12th February.

Jasper and the teddies took over Year 4 registration today to see how remote learning was going at Rupert House. The verdict was it is brilliant!

This weekend was the annual RSPB Bird Watch and several of our Rupert House families got involved!

We hope you all had fun identifying the different variety of birds and helping count so the RSPB can build up a national picture of birds across the country. 

Reception children have really thrown themselves wholeheartedly into learning at home.  We have baked gingerbread men and made posters to persuade people to buy them.  We have tried science experiments putting water outside overnight in cups containing toys to discover freezing and melting.  We have been learning about birds in preparation for the Big Garden Birdwatch next weekend.  We had a challenge to made a picture using just three different resources.

Our Year 1 children have really been embracing the start of the New Year and the start of lockdown.  The children were asked to create their own maths resources to assist with their on-line learning. What fantastic and creative ideas they have come up with - bravo Year 1!

Over the course of this term, our Year 5 children have been competing against each other in an internal hockey league. Many congratulations to the 'Walkers' team who won overall and have received the Year 5 Mixed Hockey League Shield Autumn term 2020! There were some cracking matches, enabling the children to display their skills, and the final table was very close.

The EYFS have finally finished filming their Nativity and the video is now being put together. We are all very excited about it and everyone is feeling very festive.

Mrs Steer, Mrs Brown and Mrs Macartney

Over £1,800 was raised for Helen Douglas House through the Virtual Christmas Fayre last weekend. Organised by Rupert House parent, Mrs Hudson, the event featured local traders and businesses across the Henley community, and not forgetting the carol contribution of our Year 6 vocal group whose performances of 'Oh Come all Ye Faithful' and 'Holly Jolly Christmas' was shown on the Saturday.

As part of the Henley Virtual Shopping event, children from around the Rupert House community have been having a marvellous time finding out about all the unusual places you can read a book whilst also fundraising for Helen & Douglas House. Thank you to everyone who took part and those who sponsored them.  

The School Council were asked to choose the winners of the category 'Reading in an Unusual Place' and there were some fantastically extraordinary locations.  

Very well done to the winners who will be given an age-appropriate book by Mrs Hudson.

The Year 1 children working hard on their end of term Big writing assessment. It was based around the book Dinosaurs in my school. The children’s imaginations have been running wild!

Year 3 built and tested moon landers in Science this week as part of their ‘How to be an Astronaut’ topic. They learned how squashy marshmallows would make good shock absorbers to soften the impact of landing on the moon and then created their own models out of folded paper and card. All of the groups managed to land their astronauts safely in their moon landers, taking Year 3 one step closer to being the first children on the moon!

Throughout the two periods of lockdown this year, our catering provider, Thomas Franks, have helped to make and distribute thousands of meals for carer's who are unable to receive any respite.  We are so proud of our catering team who last week cooked 100 meals of sausage and their headline winning mash for a community feeding project to help carer's in rural Somerset.

This week was Anti-Bullying Week. We kicked off with Odd Socks day on Monday where the children (and staff) wore odd socks, encouraging them to express themselves and celebrate their individuality and what makes us all unique! A pound was donated by each child in aid of Anti-Bullying Alliance. Pupils also watched the Anti-Bullying Alliance assembly in their classroom bubbles which was hosted by CBeebies Andy and the Odd Socks and broadcast to schools across the country.

Throughout the week, pupils have taken part in various activities including in role play scenarios and in designing anti-bullying jigsaw puzzles. The jigsaw theme was a key part of the Anti-Bullying Alliance theme this year ‘We’re all a piece in the puzzle, and together, we’re united against bullying’.

All pupils have also been encouraged to play with different people within their school bubbles at playtimes and have been sharing kind words with their peers.

Anti-bullying week is just one of the many important activities we take part in during the school year which puts a focus on kindness - a key and consistent element of the Rupert House ethos and a trait that is instilled in our pupils throughout their journey through the school.

Year 5 have been learning about Electricity this term and we finished off the topic this week by inventing our own switches to use in an electrical circuit and making our own batteries. We didn’t quite get enough power to light up a bulb but we had lots of fun building them!  Well done Year 5.

Miss Gibbon

Reception S have been talking about autumn this week.  The children followed a step by step video showing how to draw leaves, which really helped them to develop their listening and instruction following skills!  We made some lovely autumn baskets in ICT where we had to use a computer mouse, rather than our fingers, to change the colours and colour the vegetables.  Really well done Reception!

Mrs Steer

The Nursery children were so excited this week to have their first ever Forest School session. They loved exploring, going on a Bear Hunt and hoped very much that a real Bear might emerge at any moment!

Mrs Macartney

On Wednesday, we took our U10 teams to play Netball against Lambrook in the new High 5 format. The children were so excited to be playing a match and loved the opportunity. It was a super afternoon and both schools were extremely respectful of the England Netball Covid-19 guidelines. Well done to all the players for being so sensible and it was a joy to watch them practice their skills in a competitive fixture once again.

Players of the Match: Clarissa (A team), Freya (B team), India-Jane (C team), Millie (D team).

Nursery have been dancing this week with the Elephant movement from the Carnival of the Animals, to go with Grey week! They have also used body percussion to create sounds they could hear from the rainforest.

Reception have been singing their hearts out about oats and beans as they are getting ready for the upcoming Harvest Festival.

Y1 have focused on Dinosaurs these few weeks and we were creating our own song with different dinosaurs jumping, skipping, hoping and running up and down, we look forward to showing our dinosaurs in our assembly next week!

Y2 have recently started to learn how to play the recorders. They have been learning the notes, B-A-G, and have successfully played Hot Cross Buns and Mary Had a Little Lamb in our Music Lessons.

Miss Lau

The Nursery children have settled remarkably well into their new 'normal' of school life over the past couple of weeks.  As have the parents, grandparents and carers, who have let their charges go at the Courtney’s gate to the ‘choo choo’ of the Nursery train as we work our way to our beautifully set up room of learning through play.

When we arrive, the children all busy themselves in the small worlds of dinosaurs, fairies and farms; or make sandwiches, ice creams and smoothies in the café; or build the tallest tower or the longest line of cars on the construction carpet.

And, how I wish you could see their art, sounds and number work up on the wall and know that they are making friends and learning their way around the routine of the Nursery room and the school at large.  But, as this is not possible in the current climate, I wanted to share these photos which I hope will illustrate how happily engaged your children are.

Amongst them you will find images of the first day of Nursery at the Smoothie café, Launching Pink week, Castle and Fairies, Launching Blue Week, Synthetic Phonics with Tapping sticks, Animal Yoga, Maths longest and tallest towers, Builders site and Smoothie shop open for business, Dinosaur small worlds and the ever popular Handwashing!!!

As ever, feel free to write me a note in the home/school book or email me if there is anything you need or want to discuss.

Mrs Macartney

Children throughout the school have been attending the virtual Henley Literary Festival over the course of the week. 

Our Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 classes did a drawing session with Marion Duchars on Tuesday which focused on Bob the Artist and gave the children the opportunity to draw their own cartoons.  They are definitely all budding artists!

The Reception children heard one of Judith Kerr's well known stories 'The Tiger Who Came to Tea', read by Russell and Laura Brand, which inspired the children to invent their own version 'The Lion Who Came to Breakfast'.  The children also enjoyed Katinka's Tail read by Louse Roe and Mackenzie Huskin and then Leah and Ricky Boleto with their baby retelling Mog The Forgetful Cat. 

In Years 2 and 3, the children had a session with Leila Rasheed; whilst Year 4 'attended' the Cressida Cowell; and Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohammed events.  Year 5 and 6 were treated to a session with Chris Riddell, amongst others.  

Year 4 have been learning about Sound and this week they have designed and made their own set of ear defenders to block out loud noises. There were some very inventive designs and, when we tested them, they actually worked too! Great inventing, Year 4!

Miss Gibbon

We want to welcome former pupil, Alexandra Dunn, and her fellow Reading university student, Lucy Potts, both of whom are currently undertaking their PGCE.  Miss Dunn and Miss Potts are primarily assisting the Year 1 and Year 2 classes but will also have contact with other year groups when doing games and playground duty.  They will be at Rupert House until the end of this term and we feel very fortunate to have them.

Year 1 enjoyed pretending to be paleontologists in this week’s topic lesson. We discussed all the equipment paleontologists would use on digs to discover fossils and dinosaur bones. Then we pretended we were on a fossil dig and used a tooth pick to dig chocolate chips out of cookies!  

Miss Ives and Mrs Harris

At 9am, Rupert House tuned into the Big Anti-Bullying Assembly, pledging, along with schools all over the UK, to put an end to bullying, celebrate diversity and continue to strengthen kindness within our community. 

Supported by a plethora of celebrities, who shared their own experiences of being bullied at school, the children were all encouraged to think about five people they might go to if they experience bullying themselves or see one of their friends being bullied.

This week, Year 1 have been learning about volcanoes which culminated in making a real erupting volcano in Forest School on Thursday afternoon. There were lots of 'ooh's and aah's' as the volcano erupted!

We have had a busy, fun filled week this week in Reception. The children have started their phonics lessons and have started to take home reading packs. These come home on a Wednesday and a Friday and need to be returned to school the following day (Thursday and Monday). They have also been very busy learning counting, sorting and number recognition!

We have had lessons with other teachers - Ms Nicholson and Mr Brown for PE and games, Madame Sheriff for French and Miss Lau for Music and ICT.  The children love these lessons, and all the teachers were very impressed with them.

We have been making the most of the dry weather and joining in with whole school assemblies outside on the lawn, socially distanced in our bubbles. The children sit beautifully and listen with the rest of the school.

We have been talking about ourselves and our families in our topic, ‘All About Me’ and the classrooms are full of lovely self portraits and paintings. 

Lunches are going well, and the children are trying new things they are unsure of. They are remembering their manners as well as using their knives and forks. 

Keep up the good work, Reception!

Thank  you,

Mrs Brown and Mrs Steer

Last weekend, Holly (Year 6) and Daisy (Year 4) White; and Elin (Year 6) and Alise (Year 2) Barr hosted a sale in aid of Cancer Research.  The event has been in the planning stages for months and, having been delayed several times, due to the restrictions surrounding Covid, was finally able to safely take place last Sunday outside Holly and Daisy's house in Marlow.  The children sold cakes (which they had baked themselves), books, toys and clothes from 10.30am until 4pm and successfully raised over £570 for this worthwhile cause.  Way to go!

This year many events have had to be adapted due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and our traditional RHS Sports Day is no exception. So we decided we would hold separate Sports Activity Days for each year group, from Nursery to Year 6, whilst keeping the classes in their separate bubbles.

The format involved some traditional running and novelty races on our lawn and a selection of challenge activities on the Astro-turf. Nursery and Reception children enjoyed their Rugby race, Howler and Quoit throwing, and Target rolling. Year 1 and Year 2 had a Football dribbling race, a Taekwondo challenge, and Howler and Javelin throwing. Year 3 to Year 6 took part in a Sack race, Javelin throwing, Netball passing and shooting, and Hockey shooting. But the most popular event in every year group was the Egg and Spoon!

Points were collated from every year group and the Sports Day House Cup was presented by Mrs Lynas in assembly. Congratulations to the winning house, Everest!

Year 6 did a fantastic performance of Disney's Beauty and the Beast this week. This was particularly impressive given the social distancing restrictions and the limited time in which they had to learn their roles. It was filmed and is currently being edited ready to be sent to parents to watch in the comfort of their own homes.

Bravo Year 6 and Miss Lau!

Year 6 entered this annual competition with our food project, split into 4 strands: Food Wastage, Meat Free Monday, Local & Seasonal Eating and Grow Your Own. We collated all our hard work, much of which we completed remotely, into a blog which the judges said would inspire future entries. https://fwells3.wixsite.com/website

We attended a virtual prize giving held by Greener Henley along with the Mayor of Henley, Councillor Mr Ken Arlett and we were very pleased to be awarded joint first prize along with St Mary's School.

Mrs Wells said "I'm so proud of all the Year 6 pupils who pulled together and were engaged and enthused by this project, even raising money for NOMAD through the sale of their beautifully designed Seasonal Calendar. (which are still for sale from the Front Office)."

Even during these unusual times, Year 6 were able to complete their First Aid course as part of this term's Science curriculum.  Suzanne from First Aid Matters joined us via the wonder of Zoom and enthusiastically delivered lots of super advice and skills for the pupils to use if they faced an emergency.  Instead of bandaging one another, they bandaged the limbs of a favourite teddy.  Even though I also had to join the bubble via Zoom, from the other side of school, I saw their smiles and enthusiasm following the session. Thank you Suzanne.

Mrs Wells

On Friday 8th May, families from the Rupert House community, came together with the rest of the nation to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice during the Second World War and to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day.  

Many of our pupils made bunting to decorate their homes, many more hosted 40s themed tea parties.  One of our talented pupils spent her day playing music from the era to residents at a care home (maintaining a safe distance!).

Year 3 have been simply amazing since remote school started. As it was Sasha's birthday on Wednesday, they celebrated by wearing funny head gear in their spelling lesson.  It certainly made us all smile and we hope it brightened Sasha's day.
Miss Jones

There has been such excitement in our pre-prep this week - following the arrival of the 'living eggs' on Monday, we are delighted to announce that all the eggs hatched and all the school have been enjoying seeing the young chicks.

On Thursday, we celebrated World Book Day, both within School with a variety of activities and with the listeners of Heart FM! 

During the Heart FM breakfast show, four Rupert House children spoke to Amanda Holden and Alesha Dixon, providing them with clues to their chosen World Book Day identities.  The children spoke really confidently and we were incredibly proud of them.

Our Whole School Assembly was a joyful affair.  All the children showcased the myriad of brilliant costumes they had chosen and we are incredibly grateful for all the thought and effort which went into creating them.  Staff then spoke about their favourite books, actively encouraging the children to give new genres of literature ‘a go’ and this was nicely complemented by the Book Swap, kindly arranged by the FoRH - very many thanks to Mrs Judge, Mrs Collin and the rest of their team for arranging.

Throughout the day, there were a number of literary activities including story telling in our Early Years classes which included reading a French story.  Our Prep children enjoyed putting speech into a comic; writing news and school reports; and creating menus in a ‘Book Tasting Dinner’ exercise.  During their French classes, they were encouraged to to talk about what they like to read and what their favourite book is. 

Year 1 have enjoyed learning about capacity this week. They used a special green potion to investigate how much different containers held. They counted carefully and were ecstatic when they noticed a ‘bubble’ skin on the top of their filled containers!

On Tuesday 25^th February, Year 6 took a trip to Henley Town Hall, as part of their 'Citizenship' provision, to meet Henley’s current Town Mayor, Ken Arlett.  The children were very impressed with the vast rooms within the Town Hall and were shown the Mayor’s ceremonial gown and the ‘Chain of Life’, both of which are worn on official occasions. 

The children were then given the opportunity to participate in a mock council meeting in the Council’s Chamber, where Isabella Miles-Kingston was given the role of Deputy Mayor and Monty Fordham the role of Clerk and all the children were invited to ask questions.  Mrs Lynas took advantage of the moment to ask about designated parking for our minibuses.

The children thoroughly enjoyed the trip and came back to school having learned a lot about the Mayor, what his job entails and our home town.

Year 1 had a fantastic day at the Winchester Science Centre. Highlights of the day were trying on a life-size astronaut suit, visiting space from a comfy reclining chair and watching a space movie on the planetarium ceiling! The children were ecstatic to use real purple rocket fuel and to shoot their rockets across the ceiling.

Last year, our former Year 6 pupil's came runner's up in the Henley Schools Environmental Science Competition, winning the School a Bramley apple tree and a peach tree. These were delivered into school today by Patrick and Andrew from Greener Henley, and both Mrs Wells and our Year 5 pupils had great fun planting them in the school grounds. The first step towards self-sufficiency.

This afternoon, our Year 3 pupils took a trip to the River and Rowing Museum. They enjoyed doing experiments to get a better understanding of rivers before an informative walk along the riverbank in the brisk February air. We braved Horse Bridge and we were impressed with the power of the water at the weir. A wander through the galleries and the Wind in the Willows Exhibition completed a super day.

This afternoon, three of our Year 6 pupils attended a debating competition organised by The Oratory. Although they were pipped at the post in their section of four schools, they spoke very professionally and with much humour, verve and passion. The motion they were given was: ‘This House Believes Books are More Important than Television,’ a subject which they supported and which they, of course, won before an audience full of English teachers! No one knew any of the various topics until an hour before the debate started! In the morning events, Sophia Mason won her ‘Balloon Debate’ (where you are a character in a sinking balloon and you have to persuade the others not to throw you out) against eleven other prep schools. She chose to be Ariana Grande, and cleverly cinched the winning argument by pointing out she weighed the least so there was little point in evicting her! Molly Crichton bravely did ‘Just A Minute’ twice and Annabel Buff teamed up with a pupil from another school in the ‘mini-debates’ section. I was so proud of them all, as were the parents who were in the audience.  They were a great credit to Rupert House and several people commented on how wonderful they were.        

Independent school inspectors have found the quality of a Rupert House School education to be ‘Excellent’ – the highest grade on offer - in a report released following an ISI inspection of the school on 14-16^th January 2020. 

This was just one of the glowing tributes in the report that judged Rupert House School, an independent prep school for children aged 3-11 in Bell Street, Henley on Thames, to be  ‘Excellent’ in both headline categories:  the pupils’ achievements and their personal development.

Inspectors observed the pupils’ excellent personal development with regards to general behaviour, self-confidence, self-awareness and social skills, as well as noting that the children exhibit ‘extremely proficient communication skills’.  They attributed this strength of self-confidence and resilience to the teachers’ encouragement and ‘have a go’ attitude.

Staff were also commended for their ‘highly enthusiastic’ and ‘highly effective’ teaching, offering a high level of challenge and support.

The school was praised for its attitude towards learning and achievement.  Pupils’ achievement is deemed to be ‘Excellent’ overall with their reading, writing, comprehension, mathematics, knowledge and understanding all being advanced for their age.  Non-academic achievements were adjudged to be ‘outstanding’.

The report highlights the strong emphasis placed on the Arts and Sport by leadership and governance. It also states that ‘Rupert House fully meets its aim to deliver excellent opportunities for every pupil’ and underlines the fact that ‘pupils are highly successful in obtaining places at the destination schools of their choice’.

Mrs Lynas, Head, is extremely pleased with the findings. She said: ‘This report has recognised both the commitment and the caring approach of our excellent staff team and the personal development and rounded achievements of our pupils.  The inspectors were quick to perceive what a magical place this is.  I couldn’t be more delighted with the outcome.’

You can read the full inspection report here

Our Kindness Week was a HUGE success: the children managed to achieve over 1,000 acts of kindness in just over 4 days, which was astonishing.  Many thanks, indeed, to Leonie Brown for instigating this and to all the staff who encouraged the children and helped display all the multi-coloured hearts around the school so beautifully.  There is nothing more important than learning to be kind, so the initiative will certainly continue.
 
Heart FM Breakfast show, with Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden, came to visit us, LIVE, in assembly on 31st January, as our 1,000 Acts of Kindness matched so well with their 1,000 Feel-Good deeds!   We also had a rather exotic producer with us for an hour or two, which livened up the morning, and the local press came along to catch the fun.  All rather nerve-wracking for Mrs Lynas, but it went very well in the end and the children were great.  

You can listen to the show on demand and Rupert House is featured approximately 2 hours and 5 minutes into the Breakfast Show.

On Thursday 17th January, Year 1 took part in the RSPB’s Big Bird Watch. Children recorded lots of Red Kites, Wood Pigeons, Magpies, Crows and Black Headed gulls in addition to a small number of Robins, Collared Doves, Blue Tits and Chaffinches.

Year 4 welcomed Rabbi Zvi Solomons to school today to consolidate their learning on Judaism.  The Rabbi is a regular visitor to Rupert House and asked the girls some insightful questions about religion and spirituality in general. He was incredibly impressed by the girls’ mature and thoughtful questions about Jewish practices and customs. Year 4 enjoyed wearing and learning about the significance of some of the garments Jewish followers wear, as part of their faith.

On Tuesday 13th November, we were excited to welcome Team GB and Reading Hockey player, Jo Ellis, to officially open the school’s new all-weather astroturf pitch. Our Chair of Governors, Charles Lowe, accompanied by other governors, parents and children from local primary schools were invited along for the occasion. Jo Ellis spoke to the children before cutting the ribbon across the entrance to the pitch.
 
Jo has represented GB & England 87 times. She played in the Beijing Olympics in 2008 as part of Team GB, she was European Bronze medalist in 2009 with England, part of the GB Hockey Centralised Programme from 2009-2011 at Bisham Abbey and she then captained the World Cup Masters Gold medalist team in 2018.
 
Twenty eight Year 4 pupils from both Nettlebed and Valley Road Schools then joined our Year 4 girls for a hockey masterclass held by Jo Ellis, accompanied by our own Olympic hockey internation, Ms Nicholson.  The children had a great time practising their dribbling, tackling, shooting and defending skills. They then had the chance to watch Jo in action as she demonstrated the different methods of shooting at the goal followed by a Q&A session and a delicious match tea.

Year 2 tested their creativity and resourcefulness this week by making authentic Victorian toys. They gathered materials from home and have followed well thought out plans to put them together. We’ve had doll houses, spinners, tea sets, a rocking horse and much more!
 
They also went on an adventure into the past, at Milestones Museum, where they went shopping in a Victorian shops, explored a Victorian train station and tried not to get the cane in school! The children really enjoyed seeing the real steam engines and machinery and imagining life as a Victorian!

The talent of the Lower School never ceases to amaze and they excelled themselves with a fantastic production on Monday and Tuesday of this week.  Despite the climbing temperatures in the hall the children were just super and remembered their lines and songs.  The play was written by Anne Wheeler and Susie Newman as we wanted to engage the children with the need to look after our planet and they certainly succeeded in that, as anyone who witnessed the final song ‘Earth We’re In It Together’ will testify.  Jennie Breen wrote some of the music.  Thank you to everyone for all their hard work  - you were just amazing. 

Alison Shawcross

At the end of a very busy week at Rupert House the children showed their PSB skills off beautifully in Rupert House’s Got Talent. Collaboration, independent working and presentation skills were seen in abundance. On the lawn, in the sunshine, there was singing, dancing, musicians playing, acting, gymnastics and comedy, an enthusiastic and attentive audience and a happy, encouraging panel of judges.

A huge congratulations to all the entries and to the student council for coming up with the idea, creating posters and sign-up sheets, helping to organise and judging in such a positive way. 

Choosing the winning acts was the final, incredibly difficult act for our student council this term. The winners were...

• Libbie White, Mia Rosai, Jemima Brewer, Hope Hawkins, Madeleine Tooley and Sophie Pendlebury, amused us all with the duck song.
• Darcey Hogan, Charlotte Lumlock, Ellie Dent and Tilly Heverin sang and told us a lovely story.
• The granny gymnastics from Freya Hillman, Mary Yan and Millie Cullen-Highway was very funny
• Leila Cranstoun, Malika Stubbs, Annabel Buff, Chloe Pendlebury and Molly Crichton sang and danced a super routine.

And a huge well done to all the other entries who practised and worked so hard on their acts. We all loved watching them.

On Saturday 12th May a group of brave Teachers and Assistant Teachers from Rupert House walked the 26.2 mile Moonwalk around London in aid of breast cancer research. The 'Rupert Ramblers', made up of Mrs Lynas, Mrs Burns, Mrs Lamb, Mrs Stirling and Mrs Newman, walked through the night raising a total of nearly £2000 between them. Mrs Newman said "we thoroughly enjoyed the experience and felt it was a big achievement. It was wonderful to support and encourage each other throughout what was a long night, and we developed a real camaraderie. It was hard work, but worth it knowing how much money we have raised for such a worthy cause. For both of these reasons it was very emotional crossing that finishing line. The organisation of the event was excellent and we were helped through the night by an army of cheery volunteer marshals. Would we do it again? Ask us when the aches and blisters have subsided!"