September News – Sutton High Prep

Reception

“Play is the work of the child.” – Maria Montessori
Play is a purposeful, essential occupation through which young children actively make sense of the world. In Reception the girls have totally embraced their’ workspace’ and have been beavering away learning their phonics, numbers and understanding the world in which they live. The joy that they experience through play is infectious and through this they make mistakes and learn how to handle life’s disappointments – someone else has the doll that they have to have. This is how we cope with difficult situations and learn to share, empathise, and be a wonderful, rounded human being. There is a lot to learn from these fabulous four-year-olds. 

Year 5

In Maths, Year 5 have been learning to add and subtract 5-digit numbers, using practical resources to help us understand the methods before moving on to solving calculations independently.

 

In PSCHE, Year 5 have been working on refining their group working skills in a paper chain competition! They all agreed that listening, giving everyone a chance to have their voice heard and giving praise all helped their group work better as a team.

 

Year 6 – Maths at Oxford University

This week, we went to the University of Oxford for a GDST maths conference! We got on the bus at Wimbledon High School and began our journey with other girls from Putney and Wimbledon High. It was great to see some girls from different schools and listen to what they had to say.

We arrived after a couple of hours and started the day by listening to a welcome lecture by a mathematician who spoke about how fun maths is and all about maths and technology. She showed us how bar codes work and how you can calculate the final digit! After a break we did a team quiz which was very competitive and we won! We had our lunch and then it was time to take part in the second activity which was all about mathematical magic and finding patterns in a pack of cards – we loved it and have learnt lots of new card tricks which we practised on the coach home! The final session was an origami workshop where we used our folding skills to create 2-d pentagons which we then joined together to make a 3-D dodecahedron, without using glue or scissors. We had to use team work to succeed. We also noticed that in the maths building at Oxford University, everything was linked to maths – the café is even called ‘Café Pi’ and we took a photo in front of it!

After our sessions, we were feeling both tired and inspired! So, we got back on the bus and began the journey home, chatting about maths and magic all the way back. We had a great day and we now have a new view on maths!

– Year 6 Pupil

Sutton High Prep School

86 Grove Road, Sutton,
Surrey, SM1 2AL
T. 020 8225 3072

Sutton High Senior School

55 Cheam Road, Sutton,
Surrey, SM1 2AX
T. 020 8642 0594