From the Head
This week I’ve been out at the IAPS Headteachers’ conference in London, whilst school has had the busiest week of the term so far with Prep trips and visits week. I’m delighted that in place of my weekly musings you have today those of our fantastic Head of Years 5 & 6, who spoke eloquently and wisely to those parents who attended the Year 6 parents’ welcome evening.
In a mixture of personal anecdotes and wisdom, enriched through the counselling qualification she is coming to the end of, Rosemary gave all parents excellent counsel for how to support their child to promote resilience. I commend to you her wisdom.
Jill Aisher
Year 6 Welcome Evening: Resilience
Your children may have already, or will soon, come home with an “All About Me” form to fill in. One of the questions on the back page is ‘Where do you see yourself in 10 years’ time?’ The children have the chance to answer and parents may comment too. I was wondering about this and thought about my own two children who are roughly the ages yours will be in 10 years’ time – my son is in second year at university and my daughter in Upper 6th.
What I want for my children now is very different to what I may have answered 10 years ago. I urge you to give some thought to this question because answering it allows you to zoom out and perhaps focus on what is really important. What we all want is for our children to be whole and happy and we want to know that they have the inner reserves to deal with challenges that life throws at them. That resilience training starts now.
As form teachers in Year 6, we would like to focus this year on building resilience in the children we teach. We use growth mindset language in lessons and intend to use structured form times, as well as informal contact times, with our pupils to reinforce the idea of resilience.
Why do we need to build resilience?
When students have resilience
- they are open to learning because they believe that they can learn and improve
- they are receptive to assistance and coaching because they will not see it as a criticism of their abilities
- they are comfortable not understanding concepts immediately, or not mastering skills immediately, because they see learning as a pursuit of knowledge and know that motivation and effort are just as important as knowing how to do something
- they are happier (and we know that happy children are more emotionally available for learning)
Why particularly now?
Year 6 is a challenging year in many ways. There is a lot going on – entrance exams, physical changes, friendships reconfigurations, thinking about the future etc. They are going to need to bounce back from disappointments or setbacks. We want to encourage skills that will be required as they become more independent, deal with change and move into more demanding environments.
What can you do to help?
When your child comes home with a problem or is upset about something, there are a number of things that you could do to turn that situation into a learning opportunity.
Reframe the situation – Once at the white doors one afternoon, I overheard a mum asking her daughter about her day. The daughter replied that it had been a horrible day because they had played hockey in the cold and it was drizzly and she was wet and it wasn’t fun. The mum sympathised and said that that must have been awful and that she hoped her daughter didn’t catch a nasty cold because that would ruin their weekend. I watched them walk away. Just then another mum and daughter were leaving and again, the mum asked her daughter about her day. The daughter said the same as the first child – she had had to play hockey and it was cold and she got wet. This time however the mum’s response was very different. She said, ‘Oh, playing hockey in the rain! It’s a good thing you’re not made of sugar!’ Her daughter laughed and the two of them walked off to the car. Both girls had the same experience, but their mums’ responses made for a very different outcome. By interpreting the event in the positive, it allowed the child to put the experience in perspective and I wouldn’t be surprised if next time her daughter had played in the rain, she would tell her friends that she was pleased she wasn’t made of sugar. Her mum had reframed the event.
It may be annoying if you are perpetually optimistic, so listen first but then try to cast the situation in a more positive light. Teach your child that it is fine to have a bad lesson or a bad match but not to let that grow into a bad day or bad week etc. Encourage them to reframe too.
Listen don’t fix – help your child think about what they can do to bounce back. Our children want to be heard, rather than rescued. When we bail them out, we are teaching them that they are not enough. This can be disempowering and robs them of the opportunity to grow. When children find solutions themselves, it builds their self-esteem which is vital for building resilience.
Sometimes we swoop in because we are uncomfortable with struggle. I remember being on playground duty when my son was in Year 3 and seeing him sitting all by himself, while all the other boys were playing with a ball. I sidled up to him and asked him why he wasn’t playing. He told me that the boy who had the ball could decide who was in the game and my son had been told that he couldn’t play. My heart broke. After break, I phoned my husband and asked him if he would be able to pop out to the shops and buy Daniel a ball and drop it off at school, so that he would have it for lunch break! I’m not proud of this story. I swooped in and rescued, because I was uncomfortable with seeing my son on his own. He didn’t need to be rescued. At best, I should have left him to sort it out himself or if necessary, later chatted about a few ways he might have handled the situation differently if it bothered him.
Reinforce the message that it is ok to find something difficult, that it’s ok for them to get things wrong, struggle to find an answer, get into trouble, experience consequences. On that note, receiving a yellow card is not fatal. It is an opportunity to reflect and find a better way. Struggle, mistakes, discipline is not just ok – it’s important, valuable, necessary.
Model resilient behaviour – children are sponges, let them see you struggle and persevere, use language of resilience at home.
With us working on building resilience in class and on the field and parents supporting us at home, I trust that this will be a year in which we see your children grow and flourish.
Rosemary Baisch
News from Pre-Prep
• Parking/Drop Off – Please don’t leave your car in the drop off only area
• Harvest Festival Friday 4th Oct. Donations gratefully accepted
Mrs Crane has cheered up our Friday with a staff Macmillan coffee morning this morning. Thank you, Mrs Crane and all the staff who baked, rather than faked their cakes!
Please could you be mindful in the morning to only use the drop off lane if you are staying with your car and your children are happy to walk down the bridge without you. If you need to take your child into the playground please park in the car park.
Our Harvest Festival will be on Friday. We have already had lots of donations for the Trussell Trust food bank. We have supported the Swanley food bank for several years now and they are always pleased to accept your generous donations. We have even had a donation arriving from Australia this week!
As the weather is rather rainy now please could you make sure we have your child’s school coat sent in everyday.
Overheard: Were these peas grown by a local farmer?
Have a lovely weekend.
Zerrin Leech
On this week’s Message Board
Please log into our Parents’ Portal and click into the Message Board to see new important information as follows:
- Youth Mental Health First Aid Workshop with West Kent Mind
- Booking open for St Michael’s families for October’s Senior Schools Fair
- October Half-Term Sports Camps – Hockey and Football
- Links to dance instructions from European Day of Languages assembly
On this week’s Community Events page
Please log into our Parents’ Portal and click into the Community Events page to see important community information as follows:
- Youth Mental Health First Aid Workshop with West Kent Mind
- October Half-Term Sports Camps
Pre-Prep Awards

Gold Stars
Edgar B for wonderful number writing
Winston G for writing beautiful letters ‘t’ and ‘i’
Peter S for trying really hard in phonics
Arya G for trying hard in maths and always having a go
Nina T for always being polite and having beautiful manners
Aadhya S for fantastic work on her family tree
Thomas G for impressive work in doubling 2 digit numbers
Lawson B for 100% effort in every lesson
Cleo B for a super enthusiastic attitude and always working with a smile
Zi Chen for a hardworking attitude, following instructions and a lovely smile
Olanna for fantastic effort in swimming
Charlie M for his enthusiastic approach to school life
Elizabeth A for drawing an amazing African giraffe picture
Jake L for writing a very descriptive postcard about Sunny’s adventures
Herbie F for fantastic ideas when writing a postcard for Sunny
Archie B for always putting maximum effort into everything he does
Music Awards
Music Practice Cup: Lev
Music Practice Award: Zi Chen
Star Violinist Cup: George W
House Point Cup
Windsor House with a total of 168 points
Lev collected the Cup on behalf of Windsor House
Headteacher’s Stars
S Gibbinson For making an excellent dinosaur scrapbook
News from Prep
Cognitive Ability Testing
From Monday 30th September – Monday 7th October, all children in Years 4 – 7 will take part in the CAT4 digital assessments. They will take the tests in the ICT room along with the rest of their form.
The assessments will take up to 4 lessons and will be led by Miss Booth. We conduct the CAT4 in order to gain a deeper understanding of pupils’ developed abilities, likely academic potential and learning preferences. The data is gathered through a series of computer based tests, which assess a pupil’s ability to reason with and manipulate different types of material through Verbal, Non-verbal, Quantitative and Spatial Reasoning tasks. The pupils cannot prepare for these tests as it is a measure of their cognitive abilities.
The children will all wear headphones, which will enable them to hear instructions for each task as well as read them on the computer screen. The pupils really enjoyed this format over the last three years and felt comfortable with the set up. They will all do the assessment in the ICT room with Miss Booth and Mr Halford so it is a very familiar setting for doing computer-based work. Pupils will be given a short break between each test (and will also have their full break during the morning of the assessment). I will speak to each class the day before their assessments to explain the process and answer any questions they may have.
A key reason behind organising these tests at this time of year is to provide us with baseline data and a benchmark that we can track progress against. This will enable us to be confident that the progress made by pupils each term and each year is good or better than those in other schools.
For further information and sample reports you can visit the GL assessment website
https://www.gl-assessment.co.uk/products/cognitive-abilities-test-cat4/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMInMne2ezu5AIVC9TeCh16SgICEAAYAiAAEgK-E_D_BwE
Mrs Bridges
Photos of Trips Week
We’ve had a wonderful week of trips and experiences in Prep school. Click on the links below for an insight into our fun!
Year 5 visit to Herstmonceux Observatory
Year 6 at the Roald Dahl Museum
Year 7 travel to the past and the future with the Code Show
Remember to keep an eye on our “Latest News” for articles and photos, including Year 8’s geography field trip.
Sports News
Match reports and Players of the Match can also be found in the News section of SOCS. Please log in to see the nominations or click this link: http://www.stmichaelsprepsport.co.uk/News.asp?Id=982.
Players of the Match, week commencing 23rd September 2019
Team |
Name |
Given for: – |
1st Football |
T Adesanya |
For controlling the tempo in the middle of the pitch |
2nd |
C West |
For giving a solid defensive performance |
3rd |
T Bulley |
For having a great attitude and never giving up |
Colts A |
J Wiseman |
For giving a superb defensive display |
Colts B |
L Poracchia |
For great goal-keeping |
Colts C |
K Loukam |
For showing great pace and scoring 2 goals |
Colts D |
E Green |
For giving great effort throughout |
Colts E |
L Lattimer |
For giving his all throughout the game |
Colts F |
L Clapham |
For excellent goal-keeping |
U9 A |
J West & D Booth |
For making a superb effort |
U9 B |
J McDonald & G Dulski |
For showing great determination |
U8 A |
A Lutzow |
For showing resilience and never giving up |
U8 B |
X Staples |
For having a “never giving up” attitude |
U8 C |
O Nathan |
For good goal-keeping |
|
|
|
U13 A Hockey |
E Collings
P Parker-Swift |
For superb, solid defending
For displaying great skills on the ball |
U13 B Hockey |
C M Pape
L Summers |
For great defending
For scoring a goal and showing great tenacity on the pitch |
U11 A |
V Medlen |
For giving a good all-round performance |
U11 B |
F Merralls |
For scoring a hat-trick |
U10 A |
E Bingham
I Pennington Legh |
Voted for by the opposition
For all-round good play |
U10 B |
A Stevens
A Ulens |
Voted for by the opposition
For showing good movement and spacing |
U10 C |
R Bedzrah
A Madgett |
Voted for by the opposition
For great tackling |
U9 A |
A Clapham |
For all-round good play |
U9 B |
M Elliott & N Ogle |
Voted for by the opposition |
U9 C |
M Murray & O Padilla |
Voted for by the opposition |
U8 A |
No Match |
|
U8 B |
No Match |
|
Senior School Open Days
These can now be found on our Senior School page.
Upcoming events include Bennett Memorial Diocesan School, Bishop Challoner School, Bromley High School Christ’s Hospital, Cobham Hall, Haileybury, Kent College Pembury, King’s Canterbury, King’s Rochester, Radnor House, St Edmund’s School, Sevenoaks School, Skinners’ School, Tonbridge Girls’ Grammar, TWGGS, Walthamstow Hall and Whitgift School.
We’re delighted to announce that our Senior Schools Fair will return to St Michael’s on Thursday 17th October 2019. Keep an eye on our Senior Schools Information page for details. Booking is now open via the link on the Parents’ Portal or in the email sent to families.