Welcome to our latest news section, where you can read all about the latest events and stories from around the school.
Here, you can also view 'The Warwickian', our termly celebration of all things Warwick School.
Yesterday, we held our Christmas Concert in Warwick Hall, which certainly put us all in a festive mood. The Big Choir opened the concert with the powerful song Power In Me, which they will also be singing at Young Voices in the New Year. We were treated to performances from all our ensembles, from jazz to rock, film music and traditional Christmas pieces.
On Thursday, 20 November, teams representing Warwick Junior School and Warwick Prep School travelled to Bablake School for the Warwickshire Primary School Team Championships, to compete in mixed teams.
Diego, Ansh, Alyssa and Lily finished in joint-second place. All gave a great account of themselves, with Lily finishing as the team's big hitter with 3 points from the 4 team matches she played. James, Leon, Alex and Ellie were the convincing winners of the Zonal with a 100% score. James, Alex and Ellie each won all of their 4 games for the team. Furthermore, both teams qualified for the final which will take place in the New Year. Well done to everyone who took part!
In assembly this week we discussed Advent and the build up to Christmas. When asked what the boys had put on their Christmas list there was a wonderfully retro response – a BMX, some vinyl LPs and a polaroid camera. I think I probably had those on my list when I was 10 years old! I talked to the boys about the symbolic meaning behind the candles in an advent wreath and the focus on peace, love, joy and hope. The boys were asked to reflect on those people around the world whose Christmas list wouldn't include toys and games but rather friendship, happiness and an end to conflict. I challenged the boys to think about how they could spread peace, love, joy and hope this Christmas.
Joy was certainly in abundance this week with a fantastic U10 and U11 Rugby festival on Wednesday afternoon with the boys playing with great determination, skill and team spirit. On Thursday afternoon, we witnessed a festive celebration of music at the Christmas Concert with jazz, rock, rap and classical performances from boys across the Junior School. Masterminded by Mrs Glover, the skill and enthusiasm of the boys was fantastic to see. Well done to you all!
This week has also seen the launch of our Reverse Advent Calendar collection for the local Trussell Trust food bank. Fitting with the theme of spreading peace, love, joy and hope in the build up to Christmas, this initiative – which is being led by our school council – has had an amazing response. The front hall is full of donations, and we will continue to collect donations until the end of term. Thank you for all your support.
John Bond
On Wednesday, 3 December, we proudly hosted our annual Rugby Festival for our U11 and U10 teams. The event brought together over 450 pupils from 15 schools, with teams travelling from as far afield as Beaconsfield, Winchester and Cheltenham to join us for an afternoon of competitive rugby.
The festival was a true showcase of everything that makes rugby at Warwick so special – teamwork, respect, and a passion for the game. The standard of play on display was exceptional, with every match played demonstrating impressive skill and determination from all involved. It was wonderful to see so many boys enjoying the game and creating lasting memories with their peers.
A huge thank you goes to everyone who made this event possible. To our dedicated staff, the grounds team for preparing immaculate pitches, and the referees who ensured fair and enjoyable matches throughout the afternoon. Your hard work and commitment were instrumental in making the festival such a success.
We are incredibly proud to have hosted an event that celebrated everything that was great about school rugby. We look forward to welcoming everyone back next year for another fantastic day of rugby at Warwick!
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On Tuesday, twelve Warwick pupils took on the famous Beachborough Run, a demanding cross-country course featuring farmers’ fields, streams, and even a stile! Previous winners have included Henry Pollock and our very own Mr Stapelton!
Six Junior School runners were joined by six Warwick Senior School boys, all of whom began their cross-country journeys at Warwick Junior School. The U13 team finished an impressive fourth, while the U11 team secured seventh place against strong competition.
A special mention goes to George in Year 5, who was the first Warwick Junior School runner home – a fantastic achievement on such a challenging course. Well done to all of those who took part!
Emotional literacy for children is the ability to identify, understand, express, and manage their own emotions, as well as recognise and respond to the emotions of others. It is a crucial skill for healthy development; helping children manage stress, build strong relationships, and develop empathy. You can foster emotional literacy by labelling emotions, encouraging emotional expression, using games to explore feelings, and modelling empathy.
Label Emotions
Sometimes children can struggle to explain how they are feeling, and this can result in them acting in an angry or frustrated way. By identifying and accepting a child’s current emotion, it can help them to understand how they are feeling and begin to develop a better understanding and control of those emotions. Ultimately, this will enable children to express their feelings in a more positive way.
For example, you could say “You seem so excited” or “You’re crying, you must be sad”.
When children learn the words for their emotions, they can tell you what they’re going through. This means they’re less likely to use their behaviour to show how they are feeling.
Read the guide below and click here to find out more tips for supporting developing emotional literacy.
Boys will be taking part in a spelling challenge at home from Friday, 5 December until next Thursday, 11 December. It will be an interclass competition, with boys competing against the other two classes in their year group.
The challenge will start after school on Friday and will close at 8am next Thursday. The way this ‘Battle of the Bees’ will work is that boys should log onto Spelling Shed at home and play the challenge that has been set for them. The more times they log on and play, the more points they win for their class. There is no test, it is measured solely on how many times they play (and subconsciously learn the words, hopefully!).
The class in each year group with the most points will win a prize in the final assembly next Friday.
The Year 5 and 6 boys participated in a workshop hosted by The Young Shakespeare Company. This year’s session focused on Romeo and Juliet.
The boys had a fantastic time engaging in the workshop, where they explored the main characters and key events of the play. They even had the opportunity to play some of the lead roles themselves! Not only did the boys have a lot of fun, but they also gained a deeper understanding of this iconic work by William Shakespeare.
In their DT lessons, year 3 have been exploring strong shapes for construction. They explored the strength of triangles and tetrahedrons when building. 3B made some brilliant bridges using these concepts.
Using only paper straws and masking tape, the bridges were strong enough to support weight much greater than the total mass of the bridge.
This week, some of our Junior School Librarians unveiled a great selection of new books that are now available to borrow from the library!
Highlights include the much-anticipated sequel to Katherine Rundell’s Impossible Creatures, The Poisoned King, the newest adventure from the Skandar Universe, The First Unicorn Rider, as well as the latest Diary of a Wimpy Kid title, new books by David Walliams, and additional stories from the Bletchley Mystery series. We’ve also added exciting new graphic novels and some engaging non-fiction titles on topics such as AI and chess.
Some of our Librarians have taken the time to browse the new books and offer their recommended picks:
"This is a great book because it has a very intriguing title – I enjoy Maz Evans books so am looking forward to reading this one!"
"This is full of brilliant facts and records - you will never want to stop reading it!"
"I would recommend this books because David Walliams is a hilarious writer and the cover of this one looks fun and exciting!
"I would recommend this because it is full of laughs and a really nice book to read."
"This magical mystery is great for fantasy lovers. The book will keep you guessing at every page turn!"
"I recommend this book because it contains cyphers that contain secret messages for you to solve and is a great mystery."
"I would recommend this book because the title sounds like it is named after a fun game. This book is great for people who like to read mysteries."
This week I set the boys a challenge. In line with our current learning strength, Communication, I talked about how we communicate to others through our actions and behaviour. This includes our manners and how we greet other people, keep good eye contact, and actively listen and respond to each other. I especially asked the boys to think about how they walk into school in the morning and the importance of saying ‘Good Morning’ and interacting with others. It was therefore pleasing to see so many boys heed this message, with cheery good mornings, positive eye contact, a smile and even the occasional, ‘How are you?’ and ‘I hope you have a good day’; well done boys.
Continuing this theme, it was wonderful to hear such positive feedback on the Year 6 boys who went on the Rugby Tour last weekend. They represented themselves and the school fantastically well. It was a hugely enjoyable tour for both the boys and staff, not just in playing some competitive fixtures but also watching Wales v New Zealand in Cardiff. Well done to the boys and thank you to Mr Homan for organising the tour and Mr Burchett, Mrs Shepstone, Mr Stapleton, Mr Withington, the Goodrem family and Mr Herringshaw for accompanying the boys.
Across the school, boys from all years have embraced new opportunities and challenges this week, including senior school interviews, music exams, and swimming and rugby fixtures. Year 5 and 6 boys thoroughly enjoyed their visit from the Young Shakespeare Company and Ventis House ran a very successful Charity Day today for the charities, Crisis and Marie Curie. Tonight, our PAWS association also ran the first, and very popular, Year 3 and 4 Film Night; thank you to all the PAWS volunteers for organising and running the event.
Can I also take this opportunity to remind parents that all children should be supervised in the morning before the gates open at 7.45am. We are also noticing a number of boys coming into school without coats. As the weather turns colder and wetter, please ensure the boys have coats in school.
Today, we also said goodbye to Mrs Hardstaff who has worked at the school for a number of years. She has supported the boys both as a Teaching Assistant and as a Lunchtime Supervisor. We thank her for her commitment and dedication, and wish her every success in the future
This week, we had the wonderful news that Mr Homan and his wife have had their first child, a baby boy, Declan. Everyone is doing well, and we obviously wish them every happiness together.
Wishing you an enjoyable weekend with your families,
John Bond
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Children’s daily lives can be exhausting! Every day, they are surrounded by stimuli; new learning, people, places, sights, sounds, concerts, fixtures, in school clubs, out of school clubs, parties, after school and weekend sports sessions – the list goes on. And that’s without mentioning the highly visually stimulating online games and activities that many children play.
All of this is happening alongside each child’s brain and body growing and developing, so the need for children to have proper rest and ‘down-time’ is vital.
Whilst physical rest is important, mental rest is as equally vital. Rest is crucial for children's physical, cognitive, and emotional development, supporting growth, consolidating memories, and boosting the immune system.
Ensuring that children to have time in the evenings, at the weekend and during the holidays to rest, enables them to unwind physically and emotionally, allowing them to be physically and mentally healthier and more energised for the following days.
Resting doesn’t specifically mean sleep. It can also mean children having quiet, calm time without any pressure to be ‘doing something’. For some children this could be reading, playing with Lego, kicking a ball around in the garden on their own.
However, good quality sleep is also important. The Sleep Charity UK, recommends that, as a general rule, children aged between 7- and 12-years old need 10 to 11 hours of sleep a day.
When children are resting or sleeping, their brain is still actively working, helping them process information from the day. This is also the time when the brain stores old memories, so a good night’s sleep is vital for this processing to occur. In school, children who sleep well and have regular rest, generally have a better attention span and are better able to function during the day, consequently helping their learning.
Visit The Sleep Charity UK to find out more about the importance of sleep.
