Year 3 and 4 pupils from Warwick Junior School and Warwick Prep School came together for another exciting Link Day!

Year 3 pupils took part in an exciting STEAM activity at the Prep school where they became engineers for the day and worked together in teams to design and build paper rollercoaster marble runs.

Year 4 pupils were at the Junior School where they were given the mission to undertake spy training! Pupils took part in a ‘fitness test’ through an agility course, deciphered codes and even designed a prototype escape vehicle.

The pupils worked collaboratively together and demonstrated critical thinking, confidence and a lot of creativity! Our Link Days continue to be a fantastic way for the Junior School and Warwick Prep to regularly come together and to build new friendships.

This week we have been supporting Children’s Mental Health Week and working with the boys within the theme for the week ‘This is My Place’.

To know our place and really feel part of our environment is a basic human need. It can have powerful and long-lasting impacts in lots of areas of our lives, including our physical and mental health, education, employment and relationships. When we feel that we belong, it empowers us to contribute to the world and make a real difference and plays a vital role in our mental health and wellbeing.

Children of all ages crave consistency, predictability, structure, safety and connection, and all of these form part of a feeling that we belong – where children can know that ‘this is my place’.

Simple things that you can do at home:

1. Help children to recognise their emotions by noticing, naming and accepting the feelings and emotions that they are currently experiencing – this helps children feel listened to rather than shamed or misunderstood. 
   
   E.g. 'I’m sorry that this has happened, I can see that it’s made you feel sad' or 'this homework looks tricky; I can see that you look frustrated'.
    
2. Enjoy and embrace family traditions.  This could be a pizza then a board game on a Saturday night or curling up in bed together for a story every evening.  These family rituals help children to feel part of something more than just themselves.
    
3. Praise with ‘See it and Say it’. Praising or acknowledging children for their effort, their values, their attitude and their contribution rather than for their performance or its outcome, helps them to build their internal sense of self-worth.  Children will then learn to recognise that we see them for who they are, not purely what they have achieved.
    
4. Repair the ruptures.  Revisiting and repairing after tricky moments, reminds children that they still belong even when things go awry. Done consistently, repairing after conflict or rupture builds children’s sense of safety, belonging and security. It’s also great modelling to show children that we all make mistakes, and that we take ownership and apologise and repair.
    
5. Encourage contribution and inclusion.  We all develop a greater sense of belonging when we feel involved, useful and included. Asking for our children’s input, giving them age-appropriate family chores and giving them the opportunity to make certain decisions all help them feel respected, seen, competent and connected.

Read more in the full article.

On Friday 30 January 2026, Aqua held their Charity Day to raise money for the Red Panda Network.

As a reminder, the Red Panda Network (RPN) is the world leader in efforts to save red pandas and their habitat. The global red panda population has declined by 50% in the last 20 years and there may be as few as 2,500 remaining in the wild.

Habitat loss is the #1 Threat. Why do we want to save them?
Red pandas are the only species remaining in their family — they are an actual living relic of the past. Saving them is important to protect the world's natural history and global biodiversity.
The red panda is an umbrella species for the Eastern Himalayan Broadleaf Ecosystem, one of the most biodiverse places in the world. This means protecting them protects other animals too!
This ecosystem is home to more than just red pandas and bamboo; equally important species like the clouded leopard and Himalayan black bear roam these forests. And the pangolins!

How did our Charity Day help?
Our goal for the day was to raise £350, so the Red Panda Network can plant 500 trees to save the habitat of the red pandas, the pangolins and their friends!

What did we do?
We had great fun doing lots of activities to do with red pandas, all while raising money to help them. These are some of the things we did:
• £1 to wear something red
• Pin the tail on the red panda
• Beat the poachers
• Spot the red panda
• Guess the name of the red panda (it was Rolo!)
• 3D worm fidgets for sale
• Art and story competitions

Did we make enough for our goal though?
We were pleased to make a grand total of £483 to help reach our goal for the planting of trees to save the red pandas. Thank you for all the donations for the red pandas!

By Ted, Aqua House Captain

Anxiety is a normal emotion – it’s one of our body’s natural reactions to stress. 

For young people, some level of anxiety is normal as they grow up and learn to navigate the world. However, it’s important that they have the tools to manage feelings of anxiety and can tell the difference between normal emotions and more severe anxiety which is interfering with their everyday life. 

What are the signs of anxiety in children?
When young children feel anxious, they cannot always understand or express what they are feeling. You may notice that they:

• become irritable, tearful or clingy
• have difficulty sleeping
• wake in the night
• start wetting the bed
• have bad dreams
• often have stomach aches or headaches

In older children you may notice that they:

• lack confidence to try new things or seem unable to face simple, everyday challenges
• find it hard to concentrate
• have problems with sleeping or eating
• have angry outbursts
• have a lot of negative thoughts, or keep thinking that bad things are going to happen
• start avoiding everyday activities, such as seeing friends, going out in public or going to school

Important things that children need to learn about anxiety:

• that anxiety is a normal emotion 
• that different people may experience anxiety differently and in response to different stimuli 
• anxiety can affect our bodies as well as our minds 
• strategies that help them to regulate strong feelings  
• coping strategies that could help people in different situations 

Useful resources:

Watch to help children understand anxiety, along with some tips about how to manage these feelings, using child-friendly messaging.

For more information, visit NHS advice for parents.

Seven ways to support children who are worried.

Our Year 3 pupils performed on their scheme instruments to an audience for the first time on Wednesday!

The atmosphere was one of excitement and anticipation, with a bit of trepidation in some cases – exactly what this experience is designed to offer the boys. You could see the pride on their faces after each performance, as well as how much they grew in confidence.

We will be working on extending the range of notes they can play and developing their ability to read notation, alongside reflecting on their professionalism in a concert setting and improving practice technique. This will ensure they are ready to join a music ensemble in the Summer term and perform in Warwick Hall.

We hope they are thoroughly enjoying the experience of learning an instrument and all that it can offer to their life at the School.

This year we will be celebrating World Book Day in the Junior School slightly differently. Due to the change in date of the Year 6 Residential, we will be holding our World Book Day a week early on Thursday, 26 February, as we want everyone to be included in the fun! 

We recently asked our School Council to provide a student voice on what the boys would like to do for World Book Day and had lots of excellent, thoughtful feedback. Their top suggestions were: 

• Book Themed Hats 
• Dress Your Teddy as your Favourite Book Character 
• Decorate a Potato as your Favourite Book Character 
• Extended Opening of the Library on World Book Day 

These were all such good ideas and presented so convincingly that we have decided to include them all in our celebrations! 

So boys may choose to either create a book-themed hat or decorate their teddy or a potato as their favourite book character. In addition, the Library will be open to read and borrow books on Thursday, 26 February and Mrs Evason will have plenty of book-themed quizzes, puzzles and colourings available.

This year book tokens have gone digital. You are able to download a token which entitles each pupil to a free special edition World Book Day book from the beginning of February. The token is for individual use and is valid from 12th February – 15th March 2026. Happy Reading!  

Access your book token.