Issue 18 Friday 17 March 2017  
Dr McNerney writes....

As Head of Merchant Taylors’ Prep, there are numerous occasions when I feel proud of our boys and the way in which they embrace the many opportunities that are presented to them. The last couple of weeks have been no exception and this newsletter is a wonderful compendium of the very many and varied events that happen at MTP, on top of our academic curriculum. Music has been a highlight recently, with amazing performances in concert at Merchant Taylors’ Hall in London, singing for their Royal Highnesses the Crown Prince and Princess of Serbia, to our youngest musicians performing in the Pre-Prep Recital, a vital step in becoming our accomplished musicians of the future.

Our community spirit has also been demonstrated admirably in the last couple of weeks with a really enjoyable PA Quiz Night (thanks to the PA Committee for a great evening and to the many families who came to support the event) and for the very well supported charity events run by Newton and Johnson Houses. Being active and generous members of a wider community is a very important part of our ethos at MTP.

I would like to wish Year 6 and Mr Hinton all the best for Bugsy Malone next week and I cannot wait to see the final performances. Tickets are still on sale if any families from other year groups would like to attend – we would be delighted to see you.

Finally, I wanted to let you know that Mrs Mortimer is leaving at the end of this term. After nine dedicated years with us, she is moving to another school for a fresh challenge and we all wish her the very best. We are currently interviewing for her replacement and will inform you once we have appointed.

Best wishes

Dr. Karen McNerney | Head of School

PREP NEWS
PRE PREP Y1-Y2
The MANOR
SPORTS
aRT
mvp mip
house
diary dates
MUSIC
MFL
 
PA
DRAMA
CHARITY
SCIENCE
EVENT
LITERACY
LITERACY
     
DIARY DATES

Monday, 20 March
U13AB Hockey v John Lyon School (a) 1430 - 1650
Y6 'Bugsy Malone' Technical Rehearsal

Tuesday, 21 March
U9ABC Hockey v St. Martin's (h) 1430 - 1615
Whole School Staff Meeting 0800 – 0830 Theatre
Y3 House Football Competition
Y6 ‘Bugsy Malone’ Dress Rehearsal

Wednesday, 22 March
Y6 Production of 'Bugsy Malone' 1900 – 2100 Theatre
Y7/8 House Football Competition

Thursday, 23 March
Y4 House Football Competition
Y6 Production of 'Bugsy Malone' 1730 – 1930 Theatre

Friday, 24 March
Clubs,Learning Support & Activities End for the Whole School
Comic Relief Assembly
U11AB Football v Belmont Prep (h) 1430 - 1715
U11CD Football v Belmont Prep (a) 1430 - 1700
Y5 House Football Competition 1430 – 1615

Saturday, 25 March
U11 Merchant Taylors' School Scrummers Rugby Tournament

Sunday, 26 March
Mothering Sunday

Monday, 27 March
Classics Visit departs to Rome 0600
Merchant Taylors' Combined Concert at MTS (pm)
Y3G Final Swimming Session
The Manor STEM Day

Tuesday, 28 March
Pre-Prep Stem Day

Wednesday, 29 March
Y3S Final Swimming Session
Y7 An Evening of Poetry & Prose 1630 Theatre
Y7 LAMDA Exams
Y3&4 STEM Day

Thursday, 30 March
Y5-8 STEM Day

Friday, 31 March
Classics Visit returns 2100
Term Finishes at the end of the School Day
Prep School visit to Kidzania

CONGRATULATIONS          CONGRATULATIONS

Rishaan Khanna 4M
Raiyan Qureshi  8N1
Pahal Jariwala 8N2

              Yash Kotecha 3G
              Raeef Mohammadi 4M
              Benjamin Ward 5J1
              Filippos Kyriakou 7J2
             Charlie Marshall 7N3
             Niels Redman 7L3
HOUSE NEWS  
House News March 2017

Ahead in the Y3 Pancake Race!

The Pancake Races on Shrove Tuesday and the annual Poetry Recitation competition were recent House highlights. Raeef Mohammadi (4M) was the worthy Beale winner for Wren in Y3/4, Benjamin Ward (J1) first in Y5/Y6 and Filippos Kyriakou(J2) first in Y7/8 for Johnson. House Football will be equally fiercely contested next week. House Tutors extend best wishes to Year 7 LAMDA candidates, our Classics enthusiasts who head to Rome on March 27th and the Year 6 cast of ‘Bugsy Malone’ who will play to packed houses and to many Old Terryers from the original cast of ‘Bugsy Malone’ 2012.

Newton raised £500 for the London Air Ambulance, Johnson celebrated St Patrick’s Day with treats today and we are currently supporting the Marie Curie Daffodil campaign as a school.  Comic Relief next Friday will showcase the best jokes from each tutor group and something red worn for mufti.

After Easter, Livingstone will hold their Sports Challenge to support Mr Denham in the London Marathon and his Alzheimer’s & Dementia Research charity and Wren will have their Yard Sale.

Heads of House

SENIOR LEADERSHIP TEAM
From the SLT Corridor

As we approach the end of another very busy Spring Term, we cannot help but look back at the many opportunities our boys have had to represent the School, their families and themselves with great distinction. Some amazing work is happening across the School, and it is always a delight to pop into lessons and see what the boys are learning. Only today, I saw Ms Burke demonstrating Science experiments using solid Carbon Dioxide with Y4. It honestly looked like magic, and the boys absolutely loved it! Y7 have been building rocket cars with Mrs Hibbert for IT. Y6 are in full Bugsy mode and we cannot wait for next week’s show. Y8 have completed astounding Crest awards under the guidance of Mr De Vynck. Y5 were using iPads in RS with Mrs Pollock. Y3 had a lovely time at Verulamium, and, during their Archaeology day, they buried two objects each. We look forward to seeing what becomes of these. All of this is simply a snapshot and it has all happened in the past week!

We are very grateful to our outstanding teachers who never cease to amaze us with their hard work, dedication and creativity.
SLT commendations for February 2017:
Rahul Patel 7J3 – for English and History
Aarian Malhotra 6W2 – for English
Sahil Patel 7N2 – for PE
Raj Shah 8J1 – for PSHEE and Johnson House

We look forward to seeing many parents and Old Boys at next week’s production of ‘Bugsy Malone’. Our Year 6 and Mr Hinton have worked tirelessly. Having seen some of the rehearsals we can guarantee a high quality and entertaining musical experience to all who attend.                       

Mr M Hibbert | Assistant Head of School & Mr A Crook | Deputy Head

NEWS FROM PRE-PREP
From The Manor

It has been a very exciting term in at the Manor. The boys have thoroughly enjoyed our topic of “Off We Go!” and have been curious to learn more about journeys and different vehicles.

In Nursery the boys have been using their imagination to act out stories involving train journeys and fire engines. In the photograph the Nursery boys are collaborating to build their train. All the boys have created their own Mondrian art work inspired by train tracks and the photo shows some of the Reception class collaborating to create their own Mondrian masterpiece.

This week to conclude our topic everyone walked to Moor Park station to talk to the station master and look at the station environment. The photographs show both the Nursery and Reception boys outside the station.

We are also looking forward to a visit from the crew and fire engine from Rickmansworth fire station this Friday. The boys are so excited about their visit and we will include photos in our next newsletter.

Mrs S Funnell | Head of Pre Prep

From Year 1 and Year 2

As part of our topic work the boys in Year 1 have been using their imagination to write a story about an adventure in London. They have thought about the characters in their story and have taken time to write a story plan before starting to write about the adventure. The two story starters below give an example of the exciting pieces of work that all the boys persevered to produce.

Richard in London By Reev Shyam
On Saturday morning it was raining and all the plants were growing ready for Spring. Richard woke up he was excited, today was the first day of Spring! He went downstairs and ate breakfast. After breakfast Richard went back upstairs and changed his clothes. Richard was more excited now because Dad told him they were going to London. Richard couldn’t believe his eyes! They were going to the London Eye….. (to be continued)

Buddy in London By Krishen Patel
It was a great day for Buddy to go to London. He was going into London because he wanted to see all the skyscrapers and learn all about them. They stopped at Paddington Station and he saw brakes making sparks on the tracks so he knew his train was coming. There were signs everywhere. He was very, very nervous because he thought he might fall on the train tracks. He couldn’t go past the yellow line until the train had stopped. He couldn’t wait until he got to the Shard…. (to be continued)

The boys in Year 2 have been exploring weight and length using a variety of apparatus to support their learning. As the photographs show, the boys faced practical challenges to solve including class challenges to measure the playground and a wiggly line that turned out to be over 7 metres long! We can also see them exploring weight and balance in the classroom and measuring in the woods.

Lastly, this week we all enjoyed a Music Recital in the Pre-Prep Hall. It was the first time many of the boys had performed in front of an audience and I was so proud of how they played so confidently.  The photograph in the music section shows the boys waiting for the recital to begin.

Mrs S Funnell | Head of Pre Prep

EVENT
MTS with St Helen’s Arts and Creatives Networking Reception

The 2017 Arts and Creatives Networking Reception for alumni and parents of Merchant Taylors' School including the Prep School and St Helen's Schools will take place from 6-9pm on the 11th May 2017 at London's Cartoon Museum, W1CA 2HH.

This is a fantastic opportunity to network with those working in the arts and creative industries, including media, design, publishing, marketing, communications and the performing arts.

We are delighted that Martin Rowson (OMT 1972-1978), Guardian cartoonist and trustee of the Museum, will be speaking about his work at the event. Tickets must be booked in advance and cost £10 per person. Tickets can be booked using the following link: https://development.mtsn.org.uk/pages/MTS_Event_registration

SPORT 
Latest sports news

Congratulations to Year 5 and 6 pupils Oliver Browne 6W1, Georgios Kyriakou 5J1, Tyler Horsfall 6L2 and Jack Groves 5W2 on completing the recent U11 St Martins Road Race. Oliver was placed highest in 7th position with Georgios just behind him in 10th, this was a great effort considering that the boys were competing up a year group too.

Well done to our U8 and U10 Football teams recently competing in tournaments at Gayhurst and Berkamsted Schools. Both sides narrowly went out to golden goals and penalty shoot outs in semi-finals. Our U11’s are competing this weekend at the ISFA Regional Competition at John Lyon, and the U13’s are looking to build on recent successes at the Belmont Football Tournament, we wish you good luck!

A group of boys from Years 5-8 recently attended a Match Day Coaching Package with Watford FC which included attending the Watford v West Ham fixture afterwards. A fantastic afternoon was had by all, a highlight for many included meeting club mascot Harry the Hornet! Well done to all boys who attended the day.

Recent weeks have seen fixtures at all ages against UCS, Radlett Prep, Gayhurst, Thorpe House, Davenies and a first ever fixture with Highgate School. This week begins our annual House Football competitions in which every boy will take part from Y3-8 before the end of term, Year 6 will be kicking us off on Friday afternoon, may the best House win!

Don’t forget to stay up to date with details all sports fixtures by following our Twitter account @MTSPrepSport

Mr J Denham | Sports Coach


PARENTS' ASSOCIATION
Spring Time

Spring is finally here and with that the PA are busy organising a host of fantastic events for everybody to get involved in.

Quiz Night
Our much-anticipated Quiz Night was a great success with more than 80 participants. Thanks to Simon from Quiz Club, Mr McConnell, Mrs Crossan, and Dr McNerney for their help on the night and thanks to Thomas for providing a delicious supper for all to enjoy. The teamwork and sportsmanship on the night was very special and seeing both parents and boys taking part made this a wonderful evening. We hope for this to become an annual event and to see lots more participation next year.  Well done to Team Insignis for winning both the overall and the table quiz competitions.

Summer Fair
We are really excited about our upcoming MTP Summer Carnival, please save the date on Sunday 7th May. This will be a day to remember with rides, stalls, face painting, and lots more to entertain kids of all ages; our flagship fun family day out and a way to enrich our community here at MTP. Tickets will be available on Wisepay from Saturday 18th. Additionally, please see flyer below for more information.

The PA are currently compiling a list of interest for anybody that would like to advertise in our programme. If you are interested in running a stall at this event or would like to sponsor one of the fairground rides please contact the PA on mtppa@mtpn.org.uk A follow-up email will be set before the Easter break providing more details on the sponsorship opportunities.

Finally, the PA is always in need of volunteers, if you would like to help out at the Summer Fair, please speak to one of the PA members or email to the PA email address (given above).

As always thank you so much for your continued support.

Parents' Association Committee
     
SCIENCE IN THE NEWS  
Year 3 Plant Dissections

 

As part of their ongoing learning about green plants and how to care for them, the boys in Year 3 have taken a closer than usual look at the inner workings of a plant.  With careful precision the boys identified the individual parts of each flower and then carefully snipped them out before presenting them to their classmates on a prepared dissection mat.  The communication and collaboration skills used by the boys, and the independence they showed to complete the task, were particularly impressive.

Mr D Goddard | Y3 Teacher

Pupils of the Month

Pupils of the month for perseverance are:

Aarian Bahanda 4M
Bioluwatife Abolade 5J2
Aaryan Soni 6N1

Miss C Burke – KS2 Science Teacher

Spring is springing

Y8 boys enjoy the RAF Physics demonstration at MTS.

It is wonderful to see the Y3 boys dissecting flowers to learn more about their inner working, and especially poignant as the days start to lengthen and the daffodils share of their sunny bounty. As the days get warmer the plants take this as a signal to rise from their winter sleeps. Seeds start to germinate, bulbs push new growth into the light of day, and the buds on the trees start to open up for a new season of photosynthesis. As we enter this bountiful season more insects will start to appear, and so too other animals involved in the cycles of life.

This is a wonderful time to observe nature in all its unfolding glory, and we encourage our pupils to look at the changes around them, and to think about how and why these changes are taking place.

Please share your observations and ideas with your Science teachers in lessons, and you are also encouraged to start a nature diary. Your garden is a great place to begin: What new signs of growth do you see? What birds can you spot? Can you identify the more common birds? Are the squirrels becoming more active? These are just a few questions you could ask, and you are encouraged to look at your natural world with these kinds of questions in mind, and maybe to keep a record of your observations and accompanying research.

On the theme of being observant, the Y7 pupils have been taking note of how they learn in Science, and continue with a process of interactive learning. In our pursuit of intellectual curiosity, they are being given an opportunity to inform the way that Science education takes place. Based on pupil feedback we now have an interactive learning notice board in Lab 2. This is an investigation into how the boys learn, and they will be charting their progress on topic outcomes, as well as the learning behaviour of small study buddy groups. The boys are enjoying the opportunity to take a hand in shaping their learning, and it is gratifying to see how they are taking ownership of this concept.

KS3 boys have also been learning outside of the classroom, and we thank the Science Department at MTS for inviting our pupils to visit. On Friday, 10 March, the Y8 class attended a RAF physics lecture and demonstration aimed at promoting engineering. The presentation was very professional and it was wonderful to see Physics learning contextualised from a careers perspective. On Monday, 13 March, Y7 were invited to the annual MTS Science Fair. The three departments each put on amazing displays and interactive activities, once again demonstrating that there are many applications to the work we do in class. Thank you very much to the MTS Science Department for involving us, and to our boys for their exemplary behaviour, and engagement with these valuable opportunities. Thank you also for the large container of dry ice (solid carbon dioxide) which greatly entertained pupils from Y4 to 8 in lessons.

Finally, could you please send in some old newspapers to school for our highly anticipated STEM inset days during the last week of term? The free papers e.g. Metro and Evening Standard would be ideal for making into hard-wearing building materials.

Mr H De Vynck | Head of Science

Astrophysicist with Y5
This term I made a 'rare' foray out of the Maths department in order to return to my roots as an astrophysicist. Year 5 and I  spent a very enjoyable couple of lessons discussing some of the weird and wonderful, off syllabus, aspects of their recent ‘Space’ topic. Our discussion encompassed everything from dark matter to supernovae and dwarf planets to galaxies! We also looked at a scale model of the solar system: the Sun was a 1p coin, the Earth was a grain of sand and we worked out that the next 1p coin (for the nearest star) would be somewhere near Rome!
Mr J Greenish | Maths Teacher

The Science Team

   
ART
Y8 Artwork

Mr D Roach | Head of Art and Design

LITERACY
LITERARY FESTIVAL
Day 1

Piers Torday launches this year's Literary Festival.

Thank you to Luka Hinton, 6N2, who suggested we invite Piers to visit us, as he was so inspired by 'The Last Wild" when he read it in Year 5.

The dust is finally settling on the most action packed literary event the school has ever hosted.
With some very well-known names attending over the two weeks we were literally spoilt for choice when it came to considering what were the highlights.

Piers Torday made a big impression on the boys. Many, who were not already familiar with his books, were inspired to buy at least one and were clamouring to start reading his award winning ‘Last Wild’ trilogy or his newly published ‘There May be a Castle’, which is proving to be very popular with boys and staff alike.

“I really liked the way he combined humour with serious information”
“The best author I have ever met”
“Truly inspirational”

Theatre of Widdershins on Wednesday

Thrills, spells and romance were the order of the day when Andy returned and delighted Years 2-8 (and staff!) with Rapunzel and the Tower of Doom in a packed theatre.

Furry Tales for the little ones in the Pre Prep Hall - Nursery - Year1 discover the magic of number 3

Andy Lawrence returned with the Theatre of Widdershins for his tenth Bookweek/Literary Festival at our school. He is so popular with the boys that the Year 7&8’s were pleading with me to allow them to see him again before they left the school. Andy kindly agreed to present two different shows to accommodate the demands of the whole school. On Wednesday morning Years 2-8, along with all the staff, squeezed into the Lalani New Barn Theatre for a revival of Rapunzel and the Tower of Doom, which Andy last brought to the school in 2009. As ever we were spellbound by the pure magic and sheer artfulness of his puppetry and performance. Laughter and wonder filled the hour, as Andy made even more fans amongst the newer boys and staff.

In the afternoon Nursery - Year 1 enjoyed their own intimate presentation of Furry Tails. There was non-stop fun and giggles as Andy entertained them with his unique versions of The Three Little Pigs and Goldilocks and the Three Bears and the boys discovered the very special power of the number three.

 “I’m going to really miss not seeing him next year!”
“I’m going to take the whole family to see him”
“The best magic puppets in the world”

Thursday

Shweta Aggarwal introduces the boys of the Manor and Pre-Prep to globe trotting Dev and Ollie. The two Ollies meet up.

The boys enjoyed making and flying their kites just before Storm Doris arrived!

Local author, Shweta Aggarwal, spent the day with Nursery - Year 2 on a very blustery Thursday.
It was most appropriate that the sessions focused on her book about the kite festival in Gujarat, Kite Crazy! and involved the boys in kite making and flying! All the boys were shown pictures of the real festival before being introduced to her characters Dev and Ollie, whose adventures around the world to discover unusual festivals are colourfully illustrated in three picture books.

“Shweta’s enthusiasm and energy is infectious”
“It was great that Shweta was so hands on helping the boys make their paper kites”
“I hope we can explore Colour Crazy with Shweta next time”

Week 2

Master Storytellers Hugh Lupton and Daniel Morden mesmerise years 5-8 with Classic tales of Achilles, Odysseus and the Greek myths.

The end of the first week was the, now traditional, Dressing Up Day. It was wonderful to see so many more boys and staff getting into the spirit of the event. A huge thank you to everyone who made costumes, masks, improvised with clothing or found an outfit. The sun shone on the most colourful dressing up day yet. Watching Mr Tickle running round the playground making everyone laugh and then to be greeted by my Three Musketeers in the LRC were moments I will never forget.

I am also very grateful to the P.A. members who gave up time to help at the after school Book Fair during the week, by serving snacks and drinks to the many who attended.  It is always nice to meet new faces and we all felt the move down to the theatre lobby worked very well. Over £2,000 was spent on buying books during the Literary Festival, half of which was raised at the Book Fair. Travelling Books will now supply another £600’s worth of free books for the school.

The following week the festival continued with two more fantastic days of storytelling and literary magic.

On Monday 27th February, Years 5-8 were treated to, not one but to, two storytellers, who also happen to be two of the best storytellers you could hope to listen to. Mr Waddington and I were very excited about securing Daniel Morden and Hugh Lupton on the same day to hear their renditions of some Classic Tales, live. The boys were already familiar with the stories but they were mesmerised for a whole hour by the delicious wordplay. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many of them so focused and hanging on every syllable.

“I loved the way they used the instruments as well, it was so haunting”
“Storytelling is cool”
 “Can we get them to come back soon?”

"BEST WORLD BOOK DAY EVER"

Korky Paul left everyone in awe. The boys were spellbound watching his speed and skill as an illustrator.

By the end of the day Korky had produced a cartoon character for ten classrooms.

The final day of our biggest literary event ever ended on a real high note. For the special 20th anniversary of World Book Day we were privileged to spend the day in the company of the world famous illustrator Korky Paul. Whether Korky was drawing, telling jokes, wearing golden underpants on his head, reading a story or signing a book (over 140 of them!), we all had such big smiles on our faces. The staff felt as honoured as the boys to be present watching an artist at work and we will treasure the ten paintings of Winnie, Wilbur, Dorky Dawl, Snorky Snorle… that Korky created for the school.

“Best World Book Day Ever”
“That was just brilliant”
“I’m going to remember this day for a very long time”

Dressing Up Day
Y2
Y1  
Y3 - characters from Beast Quest     Y4 
Y8 Head Librarian and Deputies as the Three Musketeers     Y3 Rian, sporting his handmade Wilbur Mask
Storm Doris blew in Mary Poppins on Dressing Up Day! Harry Potter takes on his nemesis with the help of Dumbledore

Best Dressed Day ever!

 

Thank you to all those who supported the events in so many ways.
With much appreciation.

Mrs S Smith | Learning Resources Manager

LITERACY
Beale Poetry Recitation

Yet again The Beale Poetry Recitation has been a closely fought battle and a highlight of the school calendar.  During this competition, all boys in Years 3  to 8 choose a poem they enjoy, learn it by heart and then are picked by fellow house members to represent their house.  Congratulations to all the boys who were selected to represent their house.  The performances were enjoyed by all and the range of poems, interpretation and the confidence of performances impressed the judges.  In particular, congratulations to Raeef Mohammadi in Year 4 Wren for his impressive performance of The Scorpion by Roald Dahl, which saw him take 1st place in the Year 3/4 competition.  The Year 5 /6 competition saw a particularly strong field of entrants, but it was Ben Ward in Year 5 Johnson who took first place with The Witch’s Life by Anne Sexton.  The week then ended with our Year 7 & 8 entrants and this time saw Filippos Kyriakou for Year 7 Johnson walk away with first prize with A dream within a dream by Edgar Allan Poe.

Very well done to everyone who took part and a special thank you to our judges – Dr McNerney, Mr Waddington and Mr Hinton.

Mrs C Ly | English Teacher

MUSIC
Music News

Musicians at Merchant Taylors’ Prep constantly amaze me.  I am forever throwing more and more challenges at them and they always rise to the occasion.  This month a group from school went to Merchant Taylors’ Hall in Threadneedle Street and performed at the annual Hall Concert.  Niels Redman 7L3 and Charlie Marshall 7N3 represented the school by performing solos and I was so impressed with how they both encompassed what it is to be a Merchant Taylors’ Prep boy.  Not only was the standard exceptional but also the confidence these boys demonstrated was outstanding.  We wish both boys luck this term as they go on to sit their music exams.  The Senior Choir, not to be shown up, then performed as part of the Merchant Taylors’ Young Voices Choir and sang beautifully. 

Last Saturday I took a very small Senior Choir to perform to the Serbian Royal Family at a fundraising concert in Northwood.  The boys performed beautifully and were very well received by the audience.  I want to thank the boys who performed: they put in a lot of extra work to ensure they were ready for this performance and showed what class a small choir is capable of.

This week we have also hosted our Pre Prep Music Recital and once again our very youngest performers did not let the side down as they performed on a variety of instruments with confidence. 

As I write this we are looking forward to the Merchant Taylors’ Music Day this Friday (17th) when our Orchestral players will be going to Merchant Taylors’ to participate in either orchestra or big band performances.  I wish them all the best.

Music Exams are next Thursday and the timetable can be found in the Music Department or in the School Office.  Can I remind those who are sitting to keep practising especially scales, sight-reading and aural?

Advanced warning - the MTS Spring Serenade Concert is on April 26th and promises to be an amazing concert.  Even if your son is not performing it will be worth coming along.  Please contact me for details regarding tickets.  Young Musician of the Year will be on 9th May in the Lalani New Barn Theatre.  It will be a wonderful evening so please keep the date free.

Mrs C Hawkes | Director of Music

SPEECH AND DRAMA
Bugsy Tickets still available

Y6 Production of Bugsy

Wednesday 22nd March at 7pm
Thursday 23rd March at 5:30pm

Tickets available through WisePay

CHARITY


Every year, thousands of people across the country join their effort to get behind the Great Daffodil Appeal. This March, we will be selling daffodils that will help us raise as much money as possible in aid of the Marie Curie Cancer Care charity. All the money raised will go to this great organisation that provides care and support in their own homes to people with all terminal illnesses, .
Thank you in advance for your contribution!


sport-relief-logoWe will be holding a Mufti Day on Friday 24th March. All the money raised for Sport Relief will be spent by Comic Relief to transform the lives of disadvantaged people, both at home in the UK and across the world’s poorest communities.  In the last two years, Sport Relief cash has helped to enable over 189,000 children to attend school and get an education, 16,500 people get the support they need to improve their mental health, over 734,000 children to be given life-saving vaccines and funding for 23 projects that support people living with dementia.

Boys will be asked to make a contribution of a pound to this worthwhile cause, for the privilege of wearing something red with their Mufti Day clothes and bringing a joke for their peers. More details can be found here.
We thank you for your continued support!

Charity co-ordinators

CLASSICS
Y3 go back in time

Y3 spent the morning of 10 March at the Verulamium Museum in St Albans.
Verulamium was the third largest town in Roman Britain.  The boys explored exhibitions about merchants and markets, making a living, recreational activities, Roman homes, food, and burial rites.  They examined the details of Roman coins that were excavated from the town.  They completed a monumental arch, admiring the skill of Roman architects and builders.  They handled artefacts and learned about life 2000 years ago just a few miles away from MTP.

A particular favourite for the boys was playing a board game with counters, similar to ‘noughts and crosses’: the idea that children played the same game 2000 years ago sparked many animated discussions.  The painted ceiling in the reconstructed Roman home was admired for its colourful birds, and the odd leopard’s head was also spotted!

The boys found many links to the Roman family they have met in their Minimus Latin course, such as the wax tablet on which Iulius and Flavia might have written the poetry dictated by their tutor Corinthus, and jewellery that Lepidina might have worn.
It was a pleasure to share the boys’ excitement in their discoveries.  Sincere thanks to Mrs Scales and Mr Goddard for organising this visit, and to Mrs McManus and Mrs Mather for their support.

Post scriptum: On 16 March, Y3 boys put a variety of objects into 2 boxes which they buried deeply (with Mr Lake’s help) in the woods.  Look out for an update of what they discover when they dig up their boxes in the autumn term.

Mrs N Pollock, Y3&Y4 Classics teacher

MFL
Most spoken languages

We would like to congratulate all the Year 8 students who took their 13+ papers, they achieved outstanding grades in French and it is a real pleasure to see that hard work and determination pay off. Here is a non-exhaustive list of all the activities that they will get involved in before the end of the academic year:

  • Watching popular French movies and completing reading comprehension activities on each of the movies. Being exposed to authentic resources such as French movies and songs is a great way for boys to improve their receptive skills (listening and reading) and will help them a lot in achieving good grades at GCSEs and A-levels.
  • Writing and recording songs in French in order to ‘release’ an album of songs that they will have to ‘market’ to the current Year 7 boys. The idea is for the Year 8 boys to transfer their knowledge to other students via French songs on the following topics: leisure, holidays, school and home.
  • Researching online about various French-speaking countries around the world and designing PowerPoint presentations to introduce their chosen country to the rest of the class. This cross-curricular activity organised by both the Geography and MFL Departments will enable our students to learn more about the Francophonie (global community of French-speaking peoples) but also about the differences between life in France and in England.
  • Learning Spanish and German, respectively taught by Mr Kopel and Mr Crook, these taster courses will be extremely helpful for the boys when it comes to choosing one or several foreign languages at GCSE/iGCSE. Please see above a sample of the materials we use for our taster courses, they are mainly based on interactive videos that can be found on the BBC website.

Mr R Kopel | Modern Foreign Languages

EVENT