Simba - Issue 45 by Bablake

Issue 45 | Spring 2022

News from BKHS Bablake Preparatory and BKHS Pre Prep School

hat does it mean to be excellent?

During the course of the Spring Term, we have focused on exploring the meaning of excellence; we have discovered that incredible feats of success have been achieved by ordinary people like you and me. One characteristic that sets these individuals apart is the unrelenting determination to achieve their goals. Throughout our journey, we have seen that excellence is not necessarily only found in the extraordinary occasions, but in the small things, the decisions made each day and the attitudes in every moment. Naturally, as human beings, perfection is not achievable, but we might just clasp hold of excellence in the pursuit of perfection. Throughout our exploration, we have found that excellence begins with a choice, the choice to be the best version of oneself each day and the courage and awareness to constantly improve. Former American President Barack Obama once said, “We need to internalise this idea of excellence.” Not many of us spend a lot of time trying to be excellent. Excellence is a way of being; it is an approach in every situation; it is the way we arrive at school and the way we leave school. We have discovered that developing self-awareness is the first step to achieving excellence, knowing oneself. Intertwined within this mindfulness is our growth mindset approach, highlighting the importance of setting objectives, being adaptable, positively outwardlooking and having a learning attitude. These fundamental elements make up the essence of what excellence means to us at Bablake Preparatory School.

Mr Lorrian Holder Headmaster

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Nursery

The children in Nursery have had fun looking for signs of Spring around the grounds of The Grange this term. They have enjoyed using magnifying glasses and binoculars to search for minibeasts, insects and flowers and have had a lovely time outside, finding lots of different things on their adventures around the grounds and through the ‘big’ Forest School.

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Reception Tea Party Celebrations The Reception children have had a wonderful time learning all about food this term. They were surprised to find that a tiger had visited their classrooms and left a mess while searching for something to eat. The tiger also left a copy of The Tiger Who Came to Tea. The children have done a lot of wonderful work this term based on the book and decided to have their own tea party to celebrate. They invited their own special teddies to join them for their Teddy Bear Tea Party. Mrs Robinson

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YEAR 1

Space Day We had a fun-filled Space Day in Year 1 to round off our topic this term. The children dressed up and zoomed all around the school to complete different activities. First, they had to work hard as a team to make papier-mâché planets, which was lots of fun and very messy. The children also had to put on their ‘creative heads’ to design and decorate shortbread planets – yum! They were able to learn all about constellations and used spaghetti and marshmallows to create 3D models. Finally, the children were able to put their recycling materials to good use to make some amazing junk model rockets. It was lots of fun but there were some very tired astronauts by the end of the day!

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YEAR 2

Around the World Day The children in Year 2 enjoyed the opportunity to celebrate different cultures and countries around the world. They came to school for Around the World Day dressed as a representation of their chosen country and brought in a number of interesting facts that they had researched at home.

The children took part in a wide range of activities to celebrate the diversity of the many different cultures around our wonderful world. They created colourful dreamcatchers, having learned about their significance to the Native Americans. They learned about African tribes and the symbolic use of masks and then went on to design and make their own masterpiece. In Music, they explored national anthems from around the world and in Computing they used clues to research which city or country was being described in their Passports to the World.

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School News An author came to visit… Our Pre Prep pupils were treated to a visit from the wonderful author and illustrator Chloe Inkpen. The children sat in awe of Chloe as she read her stories; she engaged the children in actions, then taught them how to draw characters and create their own stories. A magical day!

ART EXHIBITION It is always refreshing to see our pupils’ artwork on display. This year’s selection included Roman Mosaic paintings, Ammonite ink drawings, Miro style paintings and sculpture, Viking Clay, Victorian still life paintings, John Piper panels and Chris Kenny inspired map collages. The exhibition celebrated the creativity of our children, their technical expertise and their love of the visual world. It was also a huge pleasure to see our magical new elephants taking pride of place. They will bring us joy for years to come! Mrs Jeffcoat

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INFORMAL MUSIC CONCERT In February, a selection of our talented pupils performed in an informal concert in the Senior School. Amongst the performances were the school choir, guitar solos and duets, piano, flute and clarinet solos. All of the children gave an excellent performance, showing their potential and the hard work they’ve put in to learning their instruments. Miss Sainsbury

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FOREST SCHOOL As Spring has begun to arrive in the spinney, we are taking every opportunity to get outside and get a bit muddy. We have been experimenting with different materials to create paintings, using the forest to provide our ‘brushes’ and mixing colour and nature to have a bit of fun.

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Primary Maths Challenge

Congratulations to Anay, Year 6, who achieved a Silver Award in the bonus round of the Primary Maths Challenge. He scored 20 out of 25 marks — only one mark off a Gold Award. This is an amazing achievement, as the competition is run on a national and international level. Anay ran out of time, so was unable to finish the last question, but it was a great experience and he was happy to have done so well in such a large-scale competition.

HOCKEY COUNTY CHAMPS! Lyla, Year 6, has been playing in goal for the Old Silhillians U12 hockey club this season and the team came out on top in the Warwickshire County Championship, winning all of their games and earning them a place in the Midlands Championship. Lyla was especially thrilled to have had no goals scored against her for the entire tournament — she saved every shot!

Lessons learned from Louie The Prep School had a special visitor just before Christmas break — Louie the miniature poodle. Louie came into school to support Miss Young in her assembly where she talked about differences, disabilities and respect for others. Louie has a few disabilities of his own as he is blind, deaf, diabetic and has no teeth. Louie absolutely loved meeting the children and they were all extremely sensible around him. Importantly, they also learned a vital lesson from having Louie visit; they realised they would never think any differently about Louie due to his disabilities and differences and, of course, this thinking should also apply to our friends and classmates.

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Charity UKRAINE COLLECTION We want to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone for your donations to our Ukraine appeal.

Ariana, Rayhan, Suri, Sophie and Larysa worked hard to organise this and actively encouraged everyone to support this worthy cause. The donations were sent off to the Polish border with help from Khalsa Aid and Langar Aid, two Coventry based charities that support victims of natural and man-made disasters around the world.

COMIC RELIEF We raised over £1000 for Comic Relief! Pupils dressed in red to support the cause and Year 4 provided the treats for our cake sale. We even ran out of Red Noses before the end of the week because of high demand!

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WORLD BOOK DAY This year pupils at the Prep School were ‘dressed to impress’ for World Book Day and they were able to visit our Book Café to review books and look over a ‘taster menu’ of titles. The Pre Prep pupils were dressed smartly as well and there were some book characters to spot around the School. The pupils were able to visit the Book Bakery and they were served by the Head Boy and Head Girl with cupcakes, drinks and a high five!

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BUTTERWORTH HALL SPRING CONCERT

Music of the past, present and future was celebrated at our Spring Concert in the Butterworth Hall at Warwick Arts Centre. Our Year 5 and Year 6 pupils joined forces with BKHS King Henry VIII Senior and Prep pupils to take part in an extravaganza of songs and instrumental items, culminating in a rousing ‘Rock Medley’ that brought the audience to its feet. Miss Sainsbury

“An honour to play a part in such an amazing event!”

“How wonderful to see everyone on stage together!”

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Music was my first love And it will be my last. Music of the future And music of the past. To live without my music Would be impossible to do. In this world of troubles My music pulls me through.

“My whole family came to see me and they all thought it was great. Even my little sister stayed awake through the whole thing!”

John Miles

“That concert made the children shine like sparkly stars!”

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YEAR 3

ROMAN SOLDIERS IN TRAINING This term, Year 3 travelled back in time to learn how to be Roman soldiers. During their visit to the Lunt Roman Fort in Coventry, the children learned how the Romans defended the fort against attacks from the Celtic tribes of Britannia in 60AD and discovered the Romans’ most deadly weapon, the Scorpion! The children were shown the Romans’ sophisticated armour before learning how to throw a pilum (spear) and fight using a scutum and gladius (shield and sword) in the training arena. Finally, the children had to work as a team to defend themselves using their scutums against the teachers, who were armed with boulders and spears, albeit foam ones! Mr Powell

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YEAR 4

LIVING THINGS As part of the Year 4 Science topic Living Things, we were able to make use of our wonderful spinney to conduct an invertebrate hunt. The pupils prepared for the hunt by designing their own classification keys to help them categorise each of the organisms. We are so lucky to have such a special place to explore and learn about habitats, bringing learning to life. Mrs Lunn

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YEAR 5

Experiencing new religions and culture Year 5 enjoyed a very welcoming and informative morning at the Gurdwara Guru Nanak Prakash in Coventry. It was fascinating to consolidate what we had learned about Sikhism in the classroom with a real experience in a Sikh temple. We were welcomed into the prayer hall where we could be peaceful and contemplative. Later on, we were able to use some traditional instruments and make some noise. Our pupils were beautifully behaved throughout, showing their skills in empathy, understanding and acceptance. Mrs Jeffcoat

Life as a Victorian Just before Autumn Term ended, Year 5 celebrated a Victorian Christmas as part of their Humanities work. In English, they wrote biographies of the famous Victorian novelist Charles Dickens and completed a book study of his novella, A Christmas Carol. They made delicious peppermint creams with Miss Young, took part in parlour games with Mrs Danes and played with some old-fashioned Victorian toys before making their own Zoetrope projector. Miss Love

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YEAR 6

Darwin Day Darwin Day brought considerable excitement to Year 6. The children relished meeting the animals including cockroaches, a corn snake, a honey bear, an owl and a kinkajou (a nocturnal animal which lives in the Amazonian rainforest). Pupils also watched Mr Norman carry out the dissection of a mackerel and managed to locate the major organs. Although the smell put some off, the children seemed to enjoy the demonstration! Pupils also had the opportunity to look closely at how locusts are adapted to their natural environment — the insects were certainly very obliging and were full of energy!

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Boys’ Sport It’s a Team Effort!

Under 11 The U11s have played really great football this year and have had some excellent results, beating Eversfield, King Henry VIII and Warwick! The VERY wet and muddy match against Eversfield will be particularly memorable as the boys had to travel back in bin bags to keep the minibuses clean!

It has been great to welcome back a full programme of football this term and every boy has played in a fixture! We have played 51 matches and have travelled all over the Midlands representing BKHS Bablake Prep. It has been a pleasure to see how well the teams have performed and behaved and the boys really have acted as great ambassadors for the School. We have enjoyed many victories and great success, with over 75% of the matches played seeing us undefeated. Each A team has lost only two matches across the whole term!

Under 10

Behind this success there has been enthusiasm from all pupils, who clearly want to play to win but we have seen many other elements which have led to this incredible term of football. We must commend the staff who continuously go above and beyond teaching and coaching during lessons. Their dedication and support for all of the extra practices and club is invaluable to the programme. Mr Roberts, Mr Norman, Mr Powell, Mr Anderson and Mr Holder — thank you.

Under 9

There is, of course, another team of people which ensures that we benefit from great facilities. Mr Kilroy heads up the grounds team and this year the pitches that have been prepared have been absolutely top class. In fact, visiting pupils have described the Under 10 and Under 11 pitches by saying they are ‘like playing on carpet’ and ‘better than Wembley!’ — High praise indeed! Mr Kilroy’s time and dedication into producing fantastic facilities to train and play on in often very challenging circumstances is nothing short of outstanding.

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The U10s have arguably been the team to beat this year and they continue to play exceptional football. Mr Roberts has been very impressed with their attitude and their ability to play exciting passing football. The A and B team are undefeated, and the C team also won two of their matches. This team will be a tour de force next year and we already cannot wait!

The U9s have some quality players in their team and the A team is undefeated with good wins against Balsall Common, King Henry VIII and Eversfield. It is clear that they are going to experience even more success in the future. The B team won matches against Eversfield and Warwick and the boys have really improved as a group of players. Under 8 The U8s have undoubtedly shown the most improvement. After a daunting start just after Christmas, the boys have gone from strength to strength, culminating in both the A and B team winning their matches in a fixture against Warwick. The A team also beat Crackley Hall and King Henry VIII and there have been some truly memorable moments for all the boys. Well done to all.

Girls’ Sport It has been wonderful to be able to play a full sporting programme this term and I have been so impressed by the girls, as they have all been enthusiastic and committed to each sport and activity. All girls from Year 3 to Year 6 have shown great improvement in lessons and excellent commitment to the many lunchtime and after school clubs. I am so proud of them; they continue to be super ambassadors for the School and thoroughly deserve the success they have achieved over the term.

HOCKEY The teams continued strongly this term, achieving wins against Arnold Lodge, Croft and Eversfield and a creditable draw against Solihull. We also participated in the In2Hockey Warwickshire County Tournament, where the girls played well, fighting for every ball and running until they were exhausted. They drew with Solihull and narrowly lost to Warwick and Croft, finishing third in the county. Well done to everyone.

NETBALL Netball continues to thrive at Bablake. We have won 80% of our matches played by our nine teams across the age ranges, with four of those teams unbeaten for the whole season! Despite a few cancellations, we have had an incredibly busy term with many fixtures and tournaments still able to go ahead across all four age groups, with pupils achieving a great deal of success.

Under 11 In friendly matches, the U11 A team won against Bromsgrove, The Croft and Solihull. At the Warwick Tournament, the girls played well and won against Stamford and RGS The Grange in the pool matches. They went through to the semi-finals where they lost to The Croft and then narrowly to Warwick, to finish fourth overall. A great effort. The U11 B team has continued its unbeaten record with wins against some really tough teams throughout the season. Well done girls! The IAPS Regional Bee Fives Netball Finals at Uppingham was a fantastic day. There were 30 of the best schools in the region competing in this tournament. The pace of play was incredibly fast and intense, and the standard was amazing. Playing Bee Netball with only five players on a team was a new experience for our U11 girls but they wholeheartedly embraced the new rules. They played five matches and showed true grit and determination.

Under 10 The U10 A and B teams have also played well, beating Eversfield and Bromsgrove. The U10s played Bee Netball brilliantly in the Warwick Tournament to beat Oxford High Prep, Stamford, Warwick Prep and King Henry VIII, narrowly losing to The Croft to finish runners up in the tournament.

Under 9 The U9s have played with great determination and strength of character, achieving fantastic wins against Eversfield, King Henry VIII, The Croft, Oxford High Prep and Fairfield. They played Bee Netball brilliantly, finishing runners up in the Warwick Tournament. A fantastic effort.

Under 8 The U8s enjoyed playing their first ever netball match this term. The A team had a super win against Crackley Hall and the B team drew against Crackley Hall A Team. A great start for these girls!

Well done to everyone who has competed in sports teams this term and a special thank you to all the parents for your support at matches, whatever the weather! I also want to thank Mrs Kilroy, who has been wonderful this year, supporting the teams and coaching the U11s in matches. Thanks too to Miss Adcock, Mr Powell, Mrs Hancock and Mrs Dawson, who have all helped out over the year, as without you all I could not run all the fixtures, practices and tournaments. Mrs Haywood

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CROSS COUNTRY Everyone enjoyed the cross country races and all 64 runners for Bablake finished the mile-long course, which truly was an excellent effort. BKHS Bablake Prep came out on top as overall winners for the day! The U11 boys led from the front from beginning to end and earned a clean sweep, with Morgan coming first, Nicky second, Louis third and Hugo fifth. This meant that they easily won the team competition too. An amazing performance, well done! The U11 girls also ran brilliantly, with Portia finishing second, Lyla seventh, Scarlet eighth and Jessica twelfth; they finished runners up to Warwick in the team competition. The U10 boys ran really well with Charlie finishing third, Jude fourth, Haroun fifth and Austin seventh; they finished runners up in the team competition. The U10 girls ran with determination to finish in third in the team competition, with Amy finishing eleventh, Catherine twelfth, Fleur fourteenth and Jasmine eighteenth.

BKHS Bablake Prep

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