Friday Headlines

the weekly newsletter from EHS

Nursery to Year Six Highlights

23 May 2025

It has been another jam-packed week in Prep, filled with lots of exciting activities to inspire creativity, curiosity and exploration. Take a look at the gallery below for some of this week's pictures!

All Square!

In Nursery, the theme has been ‘squares’. The girls learned that a square has four equal sides and four corners. They had lots of fun creating their own squares using four lolly sticks and they practised tracing square shapes on the interactive table using their ‘Peter Pointer’ finger. The girls’ learning continued outdoors as they went on a shape hunt around Westbourne, spotting square-shaped objects in the environment. To round off the week, the girls built on their shape knowledge by sorting circles, triangles, and squares with increasing confidence.

World Bee Day

Our Kindergarten girls had a wonderful time celebrating World Bee Day with lots of fun and learning! They explored a buzzing bee tuff tray where they spent time building a hive. Then, they got creative making paper plate bees and had to carefully print the black stripes on their yellow bees using pompoms! The girls also enjoyed a bee symmetry game, matching wings and patterns to find perfect bee pairs. Some girls chose to work on their pencil control skills and completed bee colouring pages, carefully tracing and colouring buzzing bees and bright flowers. They were interested to share non-fiction books all about the life cycle of a bee as well as learning how bees make honey!

Reception's Magical Discovery

It was an ordinary morning in Reception - until something extraordinary was discovered tucked away in a quiet corner of the classroom. We stumbled upon a mysterious, green egg, wrapped in straw and cracked in two. No one had seen it before but the excitement from the girls showed how keen they were to share their ideas of where it might have come from! Some thought it might be a friendly dinosaur looking for a new home, while others imagined a magical creature like a unicorn. The egg became the focus of our writing lesson for the morning. Some wonderful ideas included:

“It had come from the jungle and now lives in a tree by itself.”

“It came from the jungle. It came from South America because the egg was a bit cracked. It was green. It was lovely and it was green. I will play with it.”

“I found an egg. It was green. A dinosaur came out. I took it to the zoo.”

After they had written their description, the girls drew impressive pictures too. Who knew one little egg could lead to so much learning and fun?

Practical PSHE

This term, Year One are learning all about how to take care of themselves during their PSHE lessons. Last week, the girls learned how to wash their hands properly, and each of them had a turn practising this during the lesson, it was lots of fun! This week, we are focusing on healthy eating and the importance of fuelling our bodies with the right foods. The girls enjoyed making delicious fruit kebabs, which they happily ate at the end of the day.

Martineau Gardens Explorers

Year Two greatly enjoyed their visit to Martineau Gardens, taking their Science learning out of the classroom. Denise and James were the tour guides and they knew so much about minibeasts and plants! We were proud that they praised the pupils’ knowledge too.

2S started the day in the wildflower meadow with Denise learning about plant adaptations. They then moved to the vegetable garden and orchard where they increased their understanding of which parts of different plants are edible and even got to sample herbs, vegetables and fruits. Although they had already encountered multiple minibeasts, they completed their morning actively searching for them, brushing them carefully into pots so they could study them closely.

2R started their day in the gazebo learning from James about parts of a plant and why bees, butterflies and other flying minibeasts are so important. They enjoyed a fun demonstration when two of the class dressed up as a butterfly and a bee! Next stop was the woodland area to discover how to identify the different types of trees using their leaves. The pupils even tried identifying them blindfolded! Pond dipping was a highlight, enhanced by the high number of newts discovered! The pupils handled these and the other creatures they found confidently and sensitively, receiving many compliments from James.

Year Two met for lunch before spending the afternoon doing the alternate activity. Both classes spoke so enthusiastically about their day and learned a great deal. Many pupils are already planning return visits with their families when they will have the chance to act as tour guides themselves!

Playscripts Galore

Year Three have been exploring the fascinating features of playscripts. The girls didn’t just read scripts—they brought them to life through lively class performances. 3K enjoyed exploring ‘The Proper Princess Test’, while 3L had fun with the imaginative ‘Breakfast with Ublob’. As they stepped into character, pupils discovered the key features of a playscript, such as how dialogue is presented, the purpose of stage directions, and the use of scene numbers. Acting out the stories helped deepen their understanding and encouraged imaginative thinking. Inspired by the original scripts, pupils then continued the adventures of the characters by writing their own scenes. To develop their comprehension skills, they also tackled a playscript-themed reading activity which allowed them to reinforce everything they had learned.

Paul Klee Inspiration

Paul Klee is a famous artist who worked in the style of cubism. The use of shapes within an imagined picture. He also liked to draw quick simple pictures of animals but he hid another animal within the picture. This was to show real life, for example a cat will chase a mouse! The Year Four girls worked in pencil and soft pastels to add colour and warmth and created the most wonderful pieces of artwork, inspired by Paul Klee.

Cranedale Reflections

Year Five have been enthusiastically rehearsing for their class assembly, performed to families and friends, where they shared the highlights of their wonderful Cranedale residential trip. Through acting, singing, and heartfelt reflections, the pupils brought their favourite memories to life, many of which brought smiles to the audience’s faces. The Year Five staff would like to extend a huge thank you to all families for supporting the trip. The week away offered a fantastic opportunity for the girls to deepen their Geographical and Scientific knowledge through hands-on experiences beyond the classroom. As the end of term approaches, the girls are working hard to complete their Cranedale booklets, which they will proudly bring home once finished.

A Celebration of Curiosity and Commitment

After weeks of hard work and determination, Year Six have proudly shared their completed Independent Learning Projects. From Dogs to Sea Animals to The RMS Titanic, the range and depth of the topics has been truly impressive. The girls have demonstrated excellent transferable skills – planning and managing their time, thinking critically, researching effectively and communicating clearly. Many chose creative and original ways to present their findings and it was a joy to see their completed work. It has been a wonderful example of independent learning in action. Well done, Year Six.

Back to Friday Headlines