Christmas Newsletter 2022 – Lower School

Despite this term being very busy, festive and fun-filled, the pupils have worked hard and made excellent progress. We are very proud of their efforts.

The children have been involved in several performances, the first being the Peace Day celebration in September. The children shared pledges and recipes for peace with each other.

A Pledge of Peace by Rida in Year 4

“I pledge to keep on being kind to my friends, to use my kind words to everyone in my class, to respect other people and other religions, and to keep my hands to myself.”

A Recipe for Peace by Hamish in Year 3

“2 Cups of love
¾ Cups of honesty
2 Tablespoons of joy
1 Teaspoon of happiness and
A pinch of caring.”

Harvest Festival followed closely, and it’s one of my favourites as it’s a time to give thanks for what we have and think of those less fortunate than ourselves. We collected for our local foodbank in St Helens, and we would like to thank you again for your generosity.

Recently, we held a Christmas Carol Concert at St Ann’s Church in Rainhill. It was a wonderful event, during which our pupils sang a beautiful medley of carols and songs in between nativity readings.

Lastly, our Nativities are a favourite of all. Our pupils work hard to remember their lines, the songs and their places on stage. If you managed to see Lower School’s production of ’It’s a Census Get Me Out of Here’ or Pre-Prep’s production of ‘Is there a Baby in There?’ I am sure you will agree that the children were brilliant.

Head Prefects

Congratulations to Felami (Head Boy), Bani (Head Girl), Jack (Deputy Head Boy) and Emily (Deputy Head Girl) on their appointments. They are appointed by the Deputy Principal in collaboration with the Principal and based on the staff’s recommendations. The Head pupils represent the school at events, serve as a good role model, and share pupils’ ideas with the school’s leadership. The pupils above were chosen on the basis that they possess the following attributes:

1) A willingness to serve and to volunteer in key situations;
2) A sensible disposition and pleasant nature, allowing for good relationships with all members of the school;
3) The ability to lead, to show initiative, to be level-headed and honest in all situations;
4) To show caring and consideration of others around the school;
5) Ability to communicate with all age groups throughout the school.

Library Monitors

Year 2 – Oliver and Fatima
Year 3 – Anabelle and Ishaan
Year 4 – Riddhi and Sophie
Year 5 – Jasmyne, Maisie and Bani

Our library monitors will help Mrs Corcoran in our library, assisting with daily tasks, keeping the library tidy and organised, and ensuring books are returned on time so everyone can enjoy them.

Subject Ambassadors

Having spoken with their peers, our subject ambassadors will meet regularly with staff to discuss the topics they are covering.

School Councillors

School Councillors will meet regularly each term to discuss school and how we can improve it for our pupils.

Class Prefects

Class Prefects are responsible for making sure our pupils look presentable when walking around school, helping children line up after break times, and holding the doors open for the children. They are responsible for being respectful and role-modelling to the younger children. They help on the playground, ensuring the children have someone to play with during playtimes.

Year 2 – Akshara and Charlotte
Year 3 – Samarth and Lottie
Year 4 – Nuoxi and Corbyn
Year 5 – Maisie and Mia

Afternoon Tea with the Principal

The highlight of any pupil’s week is celebrating their hard work with Ms Bingley. Those who have received a merit or star of the week certificate come together at the end of the half term for an afternoon tea with Ms Bingley. Well done to all winners!

House Points

This term, we have continued with our house points system; pupils find out who is leading each week in assembly. This term, our leaders are:

Class Leaders Year 3 with 2,102 points
House Leaders Baxter with 4,626 points
Alexander came second with 4,520 points
Cholerton came third with 4,156 points
Merlewood came fourth with 3,852 points

Pupil Leaders

Jack Year 5 with 164 points
Rihaana Year 3 with 143 points
Charlotte Year 2 with 139 points

Playground Updates

After the most recent Parents Forum meeting, we were requested to look at the playground provisions for our Pre-Prep and Lower School pupils. 

We want to invite our pupils in both Pre-Prep and Lower School to send us their ideas. What would you like to see in the playground? Please sit with your child and fill out this Jotform. It will allow us to understand what equipment our pupils would like to play with most.

Playground Equipment Form

Parking Updates – Pre-Prep

Stop and Drop – In the new term, we will change our drop-off system for Pre-Prep. Parents Forum informed us that there is congestion at the Early Years drop-off point each morning. To ease this, we will be using ‘Stop and Drop’. Parents will park their cars, and pupils will exit and be met by a teacher standing at the top of the gravel path. They will then be guided to the teacher at the crossing, who will see them safely, and their final teacher will take them to their rooms. Parents are asked to arrive no later than 9:50 to take their child to the main office, as they must be registered there. We ask that parents who want to speak with their child’s class teacher email them to make an appointment for a meeting or telephone call.

Upcoming Events

Miss Deane is leading Wellbeing Week. She has worked hard to secure workshops for Pre-Prep and Lower School pupils. Our new catering company, Thomas Franks, is coming in to give a nutritional talk about how to stay healthy. We have weekly workshops that include yoga, emotional resilience, emotional intelligence, and positive thinking. The children will be given the tools to understand and manage their emotions and the support to think positively. They will also be given opportunities to understand how to be mindful and reflect.

Safeguarding

This term, Ms Gregory has been working on our new National Online Safety system. You may have received an email asking you to sign up. NOS (National Online Safety) is an amazing tool for schools and parents. You can access courses and information leaflets with advice on the latest online trends and dangers. Something so important to teach our pupils is to keep them safe. Ms Gregory and Mr Southward will be leading the Safeguarding team in the Spring term. If you have any safeguarding worries or queries, please email them to Ms Gregory or Mr Southward at msgregory@towercollege.com or mrsouthward@towercollege.com