HPS Headlines

Maths:

Year 3 have been consolidating their understanding of multiplication and division, applying the inverse operation, using mathematical terminology, and employing the formal written method to multiply two-digit numbers by one-digit numbers. They have also been working on adding and subtracting fractions.

Year 4 have been investigating the four operations and how to apply them to fractions. They have explored dividing fractions by integers and mixed-number fractions, using mathematical terminology such as 'finding the reciprocal.'

Year 5 have explored the similarities and differences between the four operations and fractions, recognising how their understanding of HCF and LCM is key to efficient calculations. They have been applying mathematical terminology to their reasoning and problem-solving, identifying appropriate strategies to manipulate fractions and solve increasingly complex problems. Boys in Years 5 and 6 also participated in the bonus round of the Primary Maths Challenge. High scores were unanimously achieved, and the Maths department looks forward to awarding Silver and Gold certificates in recognition of this achievement.

Year 6 have recapped equivalent fractions and are now focusing on identifying and calculating fractions of given values by dividing and multiplying. They are also moving on to finding equivalence between fractions, decimals, and percentages, with links to probability.

Year 7 have engaged in fluency practice for long multiplication and are now applying those skills to reasoning and problem-solving questions. They will soon begin the same for long division.

Year 8 have undertaken a recap of percentages and are now working through fluency exercises to solidify their understanding. They will then apply those skills to investigations involving percentage concepts. Boys in Year 8 are also diligently preparing for their mock ISEBs after the half-term holiday.

In celebration of NSPCC Number Day, our boys at Homefield enjoyed a week of solving maths puzzles, participating in virtual mathematics game shows, cracking codes, solving riddles, and working collaboratively to promote and develop their critical thinking skills. They had great fun solving puzzles and maths-based escape rooms. The Lower School boys looked fabulous as they paraded, showcasing their brilliant millinery - inspired number hats. A grand total of £294.21 was raised through generous donations from the Homefield community. Well done, boys!

Meanwhile, boys in Years 7 and 8 are eagerly awaiting the results of the IMC. All boys worked diligently to complete this UKMT nationwide challenge and should be highly commended for their resilience. Great effort, boys!

English & Drama:

The English and Drama department are incredibly proud of all the boys in the Upper School for their hard work during their poetry module over the last six weeks. The quality of original poetic compositions and the depth of analysis demonstrated across classic texts is collectively remarkable. The commitment, passion, and enthusiasm for poetry has been truly heartwarming to see - a good omen for the forthcoming units of work.

Meanwhile, Year 6 have greatly impressed Mrs Auty and Miss Fitzgerald with their efforts and contributions during rehearsals for the summer musical, demonstrating astounding acting, singing, and dancing skills.

The department is also thrilled to note that Book Week is just around the corner. With special competitions, the after-school book fair, and the annual book character costume contest (3rd–7th March), we are delighted to celebrate literature with all our boys, from Nursery to Year 8!

French:

We begin exposing the boys to the French language in Nursery, and in the Spring Term, we’ve used Ours Brun, Ours Brun, dis-moi ce que tu vois? by Bill Martin to help them learn their colours in French. At the other end of the school, Year 8 have been tackling opinion writing, explaining why they like or dislike certain films, TV shows, and books, in preparation for their mock exams after half term. Meanwhile, Year 3 are improving their speaking skills, explaining which body parts hurt, and Year 4 are learning how to describe what their house looks like.

Art & DT:

There’s lots of exciting development happening in Art and DT! Year 3 will be experimenting with shapes, ink, water, and photography for their Op Art project, while Year 4 have successfully assembled their picture frames. Year 5 are working on their bento boxes, and Year 6 are busy constructing their maze walls, which are looking fantastic. Year 7 are preparing to start their oil paint portraits, and Year 8 are nearing completion of their oil paintings before moving onto their giant megacity constructions. Great progress, everyone!

Senior Science:

Year 3 have been learning how to keep their teeth clean and healthy and have set up an experiment to find out how different liquids affect tooth decay, using eggshells to model teeth. Year 4 are exploring what makes a balanced diet and understanding what different types of food are needed for the body.

Year 5 have started their unit on energy, learning about different types of energy and how one type can be transferred to another. Year 6 have completed their acids and alkalis unit and enjoyed creating some fantastic revision games to help them prepare for their end-of-topic assessment.

Year 7 are continuing with the topic of sound and have learned how sound is produced by different instruments. Year 8 are busy preparing for their Spring Term mock exams by revising the science syllabus. Good luck, boys!

Geography:

The boys in Year 2 are studying the importance of the Amazon Rainforest and the value of its biodiversity and life within rainforests. In Year 3, the boys are continuing to explore Grid References and created a codebreaker homework, which they then swapped and attempted in class. Year 4 have moved on to study our transport unit and have been considering appropriate transportation options for different locations. Year 5 have been exploring the journey of rivers and their features, producing some amazing presentations for their homework! Year 6 are identifying different ways to measure weather and why this is important. Year 7 are studying population patterns and understanding what migration is. Year 8 have been researching the most sustainable modes of transport and examining their carbon footprints!

Well done to all the boys for sharing their fabulous ideas and the effort they have put into their learning.

History:

Some highlights across the school in history recently have been our fantastic talk from Gerry Hahlo last week with Year 7 and 8. They learned so much from Gerry's family history, interwoven with the global history of the Holocaust. Both teachers and boys were greatly moved by his family story. Year 6 have worked on some fantastic homework about Hampton Court Palace in preparation for our trip in the summer term. Some boys whose efforts deserve extra special commendation are Advik in 6P and Leo in 6H. Year 5 are learning about WW2, and Jeff in 5S produced a fantastic word search and quiz all about the Battle of Britain. Well done, boys!

TPR:

Many of our boys across the school have continued to deepen their understanding of a range of faiths and reflect on their significance to believers.

In the Lower School, Year 1 boys have explored philosophy through their five senses, while Year 2 have learned about the importance of belonging and how it makes us feel. In Year 3, the boys have begun studying Hinduism, including its origins, key beliefs, and concepts. In Year 4, the boys have been learning about the mosque as a place of worship and the five pillars of Islam.

In Year 5, the boys have consolidated their knowledge of the events of Holy Week for Christians and will soon begin studying Judaism as their Faith focus. Year 6 boys have delved deeper into the ethical teachings of Buddhism, focusing on the five moral precepts. Year 7 have continued to explore the life and thoughts of Plato as a key philosopher and have also examined the life and thoughts of David Hume.

Our Year 8 boys have continued to explore Sikhism, focusing on the nature of God and service as key teachings.

STEAM:

Year 1 have finished making their model cars, while Year 2 and Year 6 have started work in preparation for their Network Rail engineering program. Years 3 and 4 have been refining their Leaders Award entries, and Year 5 have been researching what is meant by their carbon footprint in preparation for calculating their own carbon footprints next half term.

Nursery:

Nursery had a fantastic time celebrating Number Day! They were busy counting cars, completing number puzzles, matching quantities to numerals, practising number mark-making, and more!

The boys also participated in a wellbeing workshop for Children's Mental Health Week, where they learned about emotions and how they make our bodies feel. It was wonderful to see the boys engaging with the topic and showing an understanding of both their own emotions and those of others.

Nursery are also making excellent progress with their phonics! This week, they learned the 't' sound and the rhyme, "down the tower, across the tower," to help them remember how the 't' sound looks. They had lots of fun building tall towers and playing with turtles in the water!

Reception:

This week in Reception, we have been learning all about Valentine's Day. We discussed what love is and how it makes us feel. It was heartwarming to hear the boys’ thoughts on love, with examples like: "I love my Mummy because she gives the best cuddles," "I love my friends because they play with me," and "Love makes me feel happy." The boys created lovely Valentine's Day cards for their Mummies, sharing what they love most about them. It's been a truly heartwarming week.

Literacy:

Continuing with our Antarctica topic, this week we explored what a fact file is. We looked at non-fiction books and learned that facts are true pieces of information. The boys spent time using Kiddle, a child-friendly version of Google, to research animals from the polar regions. Their task was to create fact files about either a polar bear or a penguin. The boys demonstrated impressive knowledge, and we were all impressed by the facts they selected to write down. Their writing is also progressing wonderfully, with improved use of special friends, finger spaces, and longer sentences. Well done, boys!

Maths:

In Maths, we’ve been exploring shapes and how we can use them in different ways. The boys already have a strong understanding of basic shapes and can name many 2D shapes. To deepen their knowledge, we’ve been exploring how different shapes can be combined to create new objects or pictures. The boys have made mosaic pictures, created beautiful patterns, and even went on a shape hunt to find as many shapes as possible. Our learning was linked to our STEAM topic of Space, and we made shape rockets as part of this.

Year 1:

Well done to Year 1 for completing another half term. It has been a busy one, and the boys have shown great resilience in battling through all the illnesses. We are definitely ready for a well-earned rest and recharge.

In English, the boys enjoyed planning their own diary entries for each day of the week, linked with Through the Magic Mirror. They used their imagination to come up with a different world for Toby to visit each day. After planning, they wrote some entries into their writing books.

In Maths, we focused on finding the difference between two amounts by counting on or subtracting. We then moved on to shapes, focusing on 2D and 3D shapes. The boys identified the different shapes and their properties.

In History, we learnt about Marie Curie and Mary Anning. The boys found this topic interesting and retained a lot of information about these heroic women. They are looking forward to after half term when we will focus on significant males.

We were impressed by the boys' fact files and thought it was a great way to end our topic on extreme weather in Geography.

Have a lovely half term, and we’ll see you back on Monday 24th February for the second half of the Spring term. We have lots of exciting things planned!

Year 2:

The boys in Year 2 have had a busy half term, deepening their knowledge across a range of subject areas. We are really pleased with their continued positivity and enthusiasm for learning!

In Maths, the boys have been deepening their understanding of fractions, with a particular focus on finding unit and non-unit fractions of amounts. In English, the boys completed their non-chronological reports on the Rainforest, enjoying bringing their learning to life through these reports. After half term, they will move on to a new core text, The Secret Explorers and the Rainforest Rangers by S. J. King.

In History, the boys have loved learning about historical and modern-day explorers and comparing their adventures. In Geography, they have been exploring human and physical features in South America, as well as considering why rainforests are important today.

We hope all our families have a great half term break, and we look forward to welcoming the boys back afterwards!

Nursery:

Caleb – for listening to instructions and respectfully following them. Eesa – for consistently making good choices across all aspects of school life.

Reception:

Nathan – for his enthusiasm, participation, and incredible progress in his phonics and reading. Theodore – for always being motivated to learn and making excellent progress in all areas of his learning.

Year 1:

Azai – for focusing extremely hard on his handwriting, sentence structure, and presentation. Rian – for his hard work in maths. Aarin – for excellent participation and knowledge of the four seasons in science. Arib – for his endeavour in every subject. Vihaan – for showing an incredible level of maturity and responsibility during a PE lesson this week.

Year 2:

Alexander – for continuously showing enthusiasm and positivity towards his learning. He has been a lovely addition to 2H! Dylan – for always exemplifying our Homefield values and being extremely helpful to both his peers and adults! Arjun – for working hard and being mannerly. Ali – for producing a wonderful piece of writing based on the Rainforest.

Year 3:

Ryan – for his endeavour and resilience in Junior Orchestra, always striving to perform on his violin to the highest possible standard. Edward – for his endeavour in lessons to contribute in class discussions. Rohan – for consistently demonstrating all our Homefield values throughout his lessons and around school. Well done for a great half term!

Year 4:

Mirsub – for his endeavour and resilience throughout the String Day event when faced with challenging music. Miss Fitzgerald was particularly proud to see him rise to these challenges, gaining confidence as the day progressed. Rohan – for his endeavour in his English and French lessons, always giving 100% effort and working independently on a challenging piece of work in French. Ivaan – for consistent endeavour and a positive attitude in his French lessons. Alex – for consistently demonstrating all our Homefield values throughout his lessons and around school. Well done for a great half term!

Year 5:

Kenzo – for fantastic effort and progress in English and responding well to feedback about behaviour in maths. Yusuf – for engagement, endeavour, and resilience across all of his learning this half term. Well done for being our Homefield Hero of the half term!

Year 6:

Ethan – for showing endeavour in science. He has worked extremely hard on the acids and alkalis topic in practicals and written work. Maximilian – for superb written work in French and an excellent poem in English. Faiz – for engagement, endeavour, and resilience across all of his learning this half term. Well done for being our Homefield Hero of the half term!

Year 7:

Jesse – for his vigilance and integrity. Jesse used his initiative to safeguard his peers. Rudy – for his outstanding rap which he wrote and performed for Mental Health Awareness Week.

Year 8:

Zachary – for his excellent contributions in French and for showing resilience and respect. Damon – for showing respect towards others and for his excellent contributions and creativity in English, TPR, and Geography.

🎨Fantastic work from Damon in Year 8! Here is his oil painting and laser-cut artwork for his Megacity project. Both pieces showcase his creativity and skill, with a great attention to detail and innovative use of materials. Well done, Damon!

On Tuesday, 4th February, twenty-one Year 4–6 Homefield boys took part in the Epsom College Prep Schools String Day. A total of 11 prep schools participated, and the combined orchestra consisted of over one hundred musicians! Our string players showed great endeavour and resilience when faced with challenging music from Pirates of the Caribbean and Lord of the Rings.

Miss Fitzgerald was extremely proud of how the boys embraced the opportunity and performed confidently to parents at the end of the day. Thank you to Epsom College for being fantastic hosts, and well done to all the Homefield boys who took part.

Q: Tell us about your current acting projects.
A: I'm in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat UK and Ireland Tour as an On-Stage Swing. That means if someone can’t perform, I step in and perform their role. In my role, I am on stage three times in every show and have one guaranteed performance each week as one of the 4 young brothers.

Q: When did you first get into acting?
A: I went to a Stagecoach summer camp one summer. We learnt the show Fame, and we performed it at the end of the week. I really enjoyed it.

Q: What’s been your favourite role so far?
A: I’ve enjoyed every role, but being an on-stage swing is great because I get to play different characters, not just one. I always have a guaranteed part each week too. I have to know everyone's songs, places, and movements really well!

Q: What role would you love to play in the future?
A: I played young Jimmy in Standing at the Sky’s Edge, and I really looked up to the actor who played older Jimmy. I’d love to play that role one day.

Q: How has acting helped your confidence?
A: It’s amazing! Trying something new can be scary, but acting has really helped me feel more confident.

Q: Are you ever worried about forgetting your lines?
A: Not really, I just try to concentrate and keep going.

Q: You’ve performed at some amazing venues. Which one was the most inspiring?
A: I love The National Theatre because it’s huge and always busy with different shows on in the different theatres there. The Globe is special too—there’s no modern technology, just acting! We’d even perform in the rain—the audience would still be there standing in their raincoats as there is no roof, right until the end!

Q: Would you like to do film or TV in the future?
A: I’ve had some auditions, but I haven’t done any TV yet. It’s something I’d love to try. I really love live theatre though.

Q: Why should other Homefield boys try drama?
A: It’s a great way to express yourself, build confidence, and have fun playing different roles!

Q: I am also very interested in performing. What advice would you give me?
A: Just be yourself and keep trying!

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat will be performing during the Easter holidays at Wimbledon Theatre. To see Luke on stage, find more information below!

Join us in celebrating World Book Day on Thursday, 6th March! Boys are encouraged to dress up as their favourite book character. We kindly suggest a minimum donation of £2 in cash, which will support Doorstep Library, a charity dedicated to providing reading opportunities for children in need.

Book Fair:
Dates: Monday 3rd March - Thursday 6th March
Time: 3.45 - 5.00pm
Venue: LRC

Please note no CASH will be taken at the Book Fair.
Keep your eyes peeled for a special Gifted & Talented project related to Book Week, which will be set over the half-term break.
For your convenience, below is a link to prepay for books from the Fair.

We’re pleased to promote The Debate Chamber's summer schools, offering young minds a dynamic space to explore their passions, sharpen their skills, and take bold steps toward their future careers. This is all part of our commitment to inspiring the next generation of thinkers, leaders, and innovators!

This academic year, we have held six charity fundraising events, raising a total of £2,288.72! A huge thank you to all our Homefield families for their generous contributions. Please see the breakdown below showing the amounts raised

Next half term, we have a House Charity Day, World Book Day, and Comic Relief to look forward to, which will hopefully take our total well past £3,000.

Western Road, Sutton, Surrey, SM1 2TE

+44 020 8642 0965

administration@homefieldprep.school