See what's happening in school
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Ashtead Pre-Prep - British Science Week
15th March 2019Investigating, discovering, testing and experimenting has been the ‘order of the week’ here at school over the past few days. The teachers have carefully woven many exciting Science activities into this week’s curriculum and the children have loved it!
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Ashtead Pre-Prep - Wonderful World Book Day
8th March 2019Yesterday the school was filled with excitement and laughter as everyone arrived as amazing characters from their favourite books.
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Ashtead Pre-Prep - In the Winter Wood
15th February 2019The Rising Reception children had a very exciting morning yesterday as it was the first time that they had ventured out on a school trip. Their destination was the Polka Theatre in Wimbledon.
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Ashtead Pre-Prep - Year One invite a Relative to lunch
15th February 2019Year One were very excited to be able to invite a relative for lunch this week. The children had been busy preparing menus, flower arrangements, gifts and a little surprise for their guests.
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Ashtead Pre-Prep - National Gallery Visit
8th February 2019Yesterday Year One had a very exciting visit to the National Gallery in London. Our wonderful guide showed the children three paintings and invited them to imagine stepping into the paintings.
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Ashtead Pre-Prep - STEAM Week
1st February 2019It has definitely been full STEAM ahead this week as we totally embraced this addition to our curriculum.
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Cancelled Sports Practices Today
31st January 2019Due to the weather conditions our grass pitches and astroturf remain frozen. We have considered the forecast for this afternoon but it seems there will be little improvement to enable us to continue with our after School practices later today. As a result, the following sports practices are cancelled:
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Ashtead Pre-Prep - Doctor on Call!
25th January 2019Reception had a visit from Dr Bell this week for our ‘People who help us’ topic. Dr Bell chatted to the children all about the process of going to the doctor’s, from sitting in the waiting room to leaving with a prescription for medicine.
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Ashtead Pre-Prep - Activity Morning @ Downsend
25th January 2019Year One had a very exciting STEAM themed visit to Downsend on Tuesday.
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Ashtead Pre-Prep - After School Clubs
18th January 2019This week saw the start of this term’s After School Clubs programme.
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Ashtead Pre-Prep - A Flying Start!
18th January 2019First Steps have been up in the air this week as they fully immersed themselves in their Talk4Writing book, ‘The Blue Balloon’, by Mick Inkpen.
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International Thank You day 2019
11th January 2019Today the children thought about who they wanted to say thank you to and why as part of International Thank You day and our All About People topic. Children shared thank yous with their friends and teachers in school and many children have taken thank you cards home to share with families and siblings.
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Ashtead Pre-Prep - Thank You DAPA
11th January 2019The mud kitchen is very popular with all of the children. At the last School Council meeting the children asked if they could have a mixing surface by the existing mud kitchen to make their pies and potions.
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Ashtead Pre-Prep - Full STEAM ahead!
11th January 2019At Ashtead Pre-Prep we are delighted to announce that we are a fully fledged STEAM school.
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Welcoming our Patron of Reading 2019
10th January 2019Pre-Prep Epsom were both delighted and excited to welcome Elli Woollard, an author and the schools Patron of Reading for 2019 to assembly and then a Q&A with Reception and Year 1 today.
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Downsend + Christmas Special - Santa's Grotto
19th December 2018What a fabulous day the children at Downsend + are having today with the Christmas Special including a visit to meet Santa in his amazing grotto!
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Ashtead Pre-Prep - Elf Extravaganza
7th December 2018Hi Ho Hi Ho it’s Christmas time we know!’ sang the First Steps Elves as they entertained their parents this week at the Elf Extravaganza.
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The DPA Christmas Fair
7th December 2018The DPA would like to sincerely thank all Downsend parents, children and staff for contributing to the overwhelming success of our Christmas Fair.
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Ashtead Pre-Prep - A Maths Day for Superheroes
30th November 2018Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No it’s a swarm of super mathematician heroes, lead by their super Head Teacher - Mathatron!
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Year 8 Play - The Addams Family
30th November 2018They’re creepy and they’re kooky…mysterious and spooky…they’re the children from Year 8 who entertained us all last week with their production of “The Addams Family – The Musical”.
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Ashtead Pre-Prep - Keeping Safe
23rd November 2018Helping the children to learn how to look after themselves and keep safe is a priority and a very important life skill. All the classes have taken part in Road Safety Week and practised the rules of the road.
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Ashtead Pre-Prep - Nursery Rhyme Week
23rd November 2018‘Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall’ was definitely one of First Steps favourite rhymes as they celebrated National Nursery Rhyme Week.
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Local Schools Public Speaking Competition
23rd November 2018On Wednesday evening Downsend hosted Manor House and St Teresa’s for a Public Speaking competition for Year 5's and Year 6's with each school providing a team for each age group.
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Year 4 & 5 Bake Off
22nd November 2018There was another amazing array of Bake Off entries by Year 4 & 5 today! Mrs Kirkham had as tough a time trying to judge this week's entries as she did with last week's Year 2 & 3 bakes.
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Ashtead Pre-Prep - Multi-Sports Club
16th November 2018Statistics show that being active makes children feel happier, confident and more sociable.
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Year 7 Art Trip
16th November 2018On Thursday Year 7 visited Watts Gallery to look at some paintings and sculptures, make some art and find out about George and Mary Watts. We had a wonderful day at the gallery!
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Year 2 & 3 Great Downsend Bake Off!
15th November 2018Wow! What an amazing array of Bake Off entries by Year 2 & 3 today.
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Ashtead Pre-Prep - Diwali
9th November 2018Today was full of fun and excitement as all the children enthusiastically learned about and celebrated the Hindu festival of lights - Diwali.
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Odd Socks Day
9th November 2018Today at Downsend was certainly a colourful one as everyone sported their best odd socks!
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Pre Prep Ashtead Raise Funds for Stripey Stork
7th November 2018Congratulations to Ashtead Pre Prep - what a fantastic sum you raised for Stripey Stork!
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Remembrance 2018
5th November 2018Year 1 had a thoughtful morning at the opening of the Garden of Remembrance at Bourne Hall with the Mayor of Epsom and Ewell and other Epsom and Ewell school children. They listened to songs and poems and planted their own wooden poppy in the Garden.
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Jersey Tour 2018 - Day 2
20th October 2018Day 2 was all about the 7S's - swimming, shopping, sun, sand, sport, strikes, spares and sleep!
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Jersey Tour 2018
19th October 2018The day started very early leaving Downsend at 5.15am. The bus was full of excited children and adults who left school with high expectation and the day certainly lived up to all the hype.
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Downsend Pre-Prep Ashtead - Celebrating World Space Week
12th October 2018This week the children have had lots of opportunities to celebrate Space Week.
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Brilliant Basics
8th October 2018Over the last four years there has been a dramatic improvement at the school on the sports pitches and this is all down to a change to the provision of sport and a team of staff who embraced it whole-heartedly.
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Downsend Pre-Prep Ashtead - National Poetry Day
5th October 2018We were in the ‘zone’ on Thursday as poetry, rhythm and rhyme could be heard in every corner of the school. National Poetry Day gave us a wonderful opportunity to share some favourite poems.
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Red, White & Blue Day
5th October 2018A sea of red, white and blue children greeted Mr Thorpe on the turret this morning, as we began our special day of events to commemorate 100 years since the end of the First World War.
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Downsend Pre-Prep Ashtead - Delicious!
28th September 2018Tasty treats came to school yesterday with nutritionist Julia Hayes. Platters of interesting fruits and vegetables were shared with the children as they learned all about different foods that keep us fit and healthy.
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Circus Adventure Week
28th September 2018The Lower School was awash with amazing acrobats, stupendous strongmen and crazy clowns to name but a few of the marvellous characters on show during Circus Adventure Week.
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Pre-Prep Epsom European Day of Languages
27th September 2018Pre-Prep Epsom have had lots of fun learning new languages as part of European Day of Languages.
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Ashtead Pre-Prep - Afternoon Learning for First Steps and Rising Reception
21st September 2018Awesome! This is how one of the Rising Reception children described their afternoon school this week. Miss Hodgkinson and Mrs Lockyer are a dynamic team, planning and organising a varied range of interesting activities which capture the imagination and curiosity of our youngest children.
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Ashtead Pre-Prep - First Steps are Flying High
14th September 2018Mrs James and her team are delighted with the way all the children in First Steps have settled into school as they are really starting to explore their environment with confidence.
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Ashtead Pre-Prep - New Classroom for Rising Reception
7th September 2018During the summer holidays the school has been as busy as usual - not with children, but with contractors!
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New Early Bird Facility Opens on Monday, 10 September 2018
7th September 2018We are pleased to announce that the new Early Bird Facility will open on Monday, 10 September from 07.55 to 07.55.
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Ashtead Pre-Prep - World Vision: Sponsoring Education for three children in Albania, India & Ethiopia
6th July 2018All the children and staff would like to say a massive THANK YOU to DAPA for offering us the opportunity this year to support three amazing children with their education.
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Ashtead Pre-Prep - Leavers Assembly
29th June 2018Wow - what an amazing performance from Year One this morning at their Leaver's Concert.
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Charity Assembly
28th June 2018In assembly today Jenny Graham, one of Downsend’s Charity Representatives, presented Liz Mullins from The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity a cheque for £17,459.00.
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Year 7 Trip to Normandy
28th June 2018Year 7 spent a sunny week in the beautiful Chateau du Baffy in Normandy. Our first full day was an historic one; we enjoyed learning about the events of the D-Day landings in WW2 at the Bayeux Memorial Museum followed by a reflective visit to the Bayeux British War Cemetery.
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A Celebration of Public Speaking
28th June 2018Last night we were treated to a Public Speaking extravaganza which saw teams from Years 5 – 8 and even featured a staff team of Mrs Sutton, Mr Thorpe and Miss Friend. It was lovely to be able to showcase what we have been up to in the club and it was great to be able to share this with a sizeable audience.
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Year 8 Two Day Play
22nd June 2018As part of their ACE programme, Year 8 participated in the Two Day Play. On Thursday morning, they had nothing; on Friday afternoon, they performed three plays to an audience of Years 5-7 plus staff!
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Ashtead Pre-Prep - Grandparents' Tea
22nd June 2018Last week the children in Reception were busy getting ready for a very special event… Grandparents Tea!
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Year 7 Careers Development Workshop
19th June 2018Year 7 pupils had a great day yesterday learning about potential future careers, discovering more about their own skills and how they might fit into a future career choice.
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Ashtead Pre-Prep - Rising Reception visit Birdworld
15th June 2018Rising Reception were very excited when they arrived at school yesterday as they were going on their first all day school trip to Birdworld.
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Ashtead Pre-Prep - Stripey Storkathon
8th June 2018The children arrived at school for Charity Day on Tuesday morning full of excitement and ready to take on the challenge of the Stripey Storkathon obstacle course.
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Ashtead Pre-Prep - Under the Sea
25th May 2018This week Reception visited the Brighton Sea Life Centre, in great anticipation for a new topic 'Under the Sea'.
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A Parcel to Tanzania
24th May 2018The children at Epsom Pre-Prep have been working really really hard to put together some exciting things for their friends at the Bridge Nursery in Dar es Salaam.
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Ashtead Pre-Prep - Down on the Farm
18th May 2018There has been a real Hullabaloo in First Steps this term as they have all been down on the farm, finding out about the animals in Giles Andreae’s story ’Farmyard Hullabaloo’.
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Maths Competition
11th May 2018On Tuesday 8 pupils in two teams took part in a United Kingdom Maths Trust inter-schools competition at Halstead Prep. There were 7 rounds of puzzles, algebra, BIDMAS, logic which all required team work or paired work, speed and agility.
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Ashtead Pre-Prep - Superb Singing
9th May 2018Today, the children in Reception and Year One put on a show-stopping performance when invited to perform for Evergreens at St George’s Church.
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Ashtead Pre-Prep - Living Eggs in School
4th May 2018Last week we received a very special delivery and it wasn't long before 10 little eggs won their place in many hearts.
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Marvellous Minibeasts
4th May 2018This week Year 2 headed off for the wilds of Godstone to visit Bay Pond Nature Reserve as part of their current Science studies about living organisms and their habitats.
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Ashtead Pre-Prep - Fabuleuse Journée Française!
27th April 2018Bonjour! Pre–Prep Ashtead was an array of bleu, blanc et rouge on Tuesday as we celebrated French Day. Wonderful outfits complete with berets and even a baguette, skipped in through the front door!
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Barbados Trip 2018
27th April 2018Over the Easter holidays, thirty one Downsend pupils from Year 7 and 8 and seven Downsend staff headed to the paradise island of Barbados for a cricket and netball tour. It was a truly magnificent experience for all.
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Year 8 Sports Leadership Day
27th April 2018This academic year, all Year 8 pupils have worked hard to complete every element of The Young Leader Award which has been written and developed by Sports Leaders UK.
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Ashtead Pre-Prep - Talk for Writing
20th April 2018We are always looking for new ways to fire the children's imaginations and to develop their writing skills even further. On Monday all the staff took part in a Talk4Writing workshop which gave us many inspirational ideas on how to encourage the children to enjoy stories and become storytellers.
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Ranmore Spring Term Winners
20th April 2018Congratulations to Ranmore for winning the Spring Term House Competition, we hope the children enjoyed their treat.
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Downsend Ski Trip 2018
20th April 2018Well the term ‘climate change’ certainly had relevant meaning this year! What a difference a year makes! Where there was mud and grass last year in Prato Nevoso, it was firmly covered by a layer of at least two metres of snow this year.
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ASE Arabic
23rd March 2018Mr Rhys Roberts, a former pupil of this school and Reigate Grammar, kindly gave his time to come and teach the scholarship group some Arabic and also to share his experience of living and working in Jordan.
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Year 2 Victorian Day
23rd March 2018Year 2 travelled back in time to the 1880s last Friday for a taste of school life during Victorian times.
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Year 6 Evacuee Morning
16th March 2018On Wednesday Year 6 had an Evacuee morning, which everyone really enjoyed. One of the most fun activities was a tasting session. This included trying Juice or Lemonade and a variety of biscuits and cakes made from real wartime recipes.
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Downsend Science Week 2018
16th March 2018In a week were we lost one of our Science heroes, it seems fitting to be celebrating everything about Science. This week was all about being curious, inspiring Downsend students to make sense of the world around them and about shining a light on Science.
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Lancing Poetry Competition 2018
9th March 2018Once again the sun shone on us as we ventured over to Lancing college to take part in their poetry competition.
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Artist Of The Week
9th March 2018Year 5 have been learning about the printmaking process of collagraphy.
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World Book Day at our Pre-Preps
7th March 2018Stories came to life as their characters arrived at Ashtead Pre-Prep last week.
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World Book Day 2018
7th March 2018The Lower School has been awash with books, traditional fable telling, quizzes and stunning writing as our younger children embraced a week-long celebration of the power of reading.
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Year 6 Visit the Globe Theatre
23rd February 2018On the Friday before half term, Year 6 travelled to London to spend an exciting and informative day at the Globe Theatre.
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Year 4 Curriculum Collapse Day
23rd February 2018Year 4 enjoyed taking part in an 'Iron Man' themed curriculum collapse day on Wednesday, to bring to life the book that they are studying in English.
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Rumble in the Jungle
9th February 2018Earlier this week, our intrepid Year 2 explorers visited The Living Rainforest in Newbury where they discovered an amazing array of plants and tropical rainforest animals
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Ashtead Pre-Prep Receives Millie’s Mark – a new quality mark
8th February 2018Ashtead Pre-Prep has received national recognition for going above and beyond the minimum requirements in paediatric first aid. The school is the first in the area to receive this prestigious award and we are all delighted. With its robust processes and documentation, the Pre-Prep staff at Ashtead strive to keep children safe by minimising risks and accidents and giving parents that greater reassurance. Ashtead Pre-Prep
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Choral Concert at Epsom College
1st February 2018Some of our singers participated in a performance of Ian Assersohn’s Dies Irae last Sunday evening.
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Year 3 Greek Week
1st February 2018Year 3 were transported back in time for Greek Week last week through an array of exciting cross-curricular learning opportunities.
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Success at the Rotary Club Public Speaking Competition
1st February 2018A few weeks ago Downsend hosted the first round of the Rotary Club’s National Public Speaking Competition. There were six teams taking part in the Intermediate section and just two in the Senior section. The teams came from St John’s, St Teresa’s, Manor House and, of course, Downsend who fielded two teams from Year 8.
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Downsend win the 2018 National Science Quiz
1st February 2018On 26th January, the Downsend Science Quiz team travelled to the Oxford University Museum of Natural History to compete in the national finals of the Quiz Club Science competition.
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Ashtead Pre-Prep - P4C
5th January 2018P4C, which is short for Philosophy for Children, is a new addition to our Year One curriculum this year. During the weekly sessions, the children are asked one question that is the focus of a philosophical enquiry or dialogue.
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Cognita Chef Swap
15th November 2017Ruben Lopez the Head Chef from El Limonar International School – Villamartín and Vanessa Chavez our Commis Chef from Downsend Prep are taking part in a Cognita Chef swap this month.
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Downsend Launches New Senior School And GCSE Expansion Plans
9th November 2017There is now a greater choice for Surrey pupils heading towards their GCSEs with the announcement that Downsend School in Leatherhead will expand to include a Senior School from September 2020.
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Egyptian Week
13th October 2017What an exciting week it's been! Year 3 has been transported back in time for our Egyptian week. On Thursday, the school was awash with Pharaohs and mummies as the children came in dressed up for our Egyptian day, and they enjoyed workshops lead by the Open Box Theatre Company and the creation of scarab beetle artefacts.
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Ashtead Pre-Prep - Forest School Fantastic!
11th October 2017Muddy wellies, BIG smiles and hot chocolate stained faces returned to school after Reception and Year One had a wonderful time at Forest School.
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Ashtead Pre-Prep - Fruitilicious
9th October 2017This week there was much excitement in school as we welcomed a very special visitor. Julia, a nutritionist from Thomas Franks, came to talk to us about healthy foods.
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Parent feedback programme at Downsend wins award for innovation and excellence
9th June 2017A ‘Voice of the Parent’ programme run at Downsend School in Surrey, part of the Cognita group, has won a 2017 Confirmit ACE (Achievement in Customer Excellence) Award. This is the second year that this programme has been commended, with the ongoing feedback received from parents directly inputting into the continuous improvement in schools such as Downsend.......
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USA Day in the Canteen!
26th May 2017Downsend Prep School Pupils enjoyed a delicious American themed lunch in the canteen today....
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Year 1 Visit Wisley
26th May 2017Year one from Leatherhead Pre-Prep visited Wisley Gardens this week to learn more about plants and the different climates they can grow in, such as deserts and rainforests. They were able to examine some exotic plants with equally exotic names like the Lobster Claw plant and the Red Hot Cats' Tails. The various cacti were popular too and everyone had a go at taking a
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Early Morning Mandarin at Downsend
26th May 2017A Surrey languages teacher is bringing a small part of China to the classroom with her online interactive Mandarin lessons, live from Beijing. For the last few weeks, Susie Taylor, Deputy Head of Languages at Downsend School, part of Cognita Schools, has treated her Year 8 pupils to an interactive Mandarin lesson live from Beijing using Zoom and a webcam. From the comfort
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Downsend's Double Dekker
26th May 2017Keen swimmer and Surrey schoolgirl Lauren Dekker, a Year 7 pupil at Downsend School, has won a Gold Medal at the IAPS National Swimming Championships for the second successive year. The prestigious, long-standing event, held at K2, Crawley, allows pupils to compete in both individual and relay events, all of which were hotly contested. Lauren and five other Downsend girls had qualified for the
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House News!
10th February 2017Well done to all the top achievers below, especially to Tilly and Tom Q, who are providing hard to knock off the top spots! Keep up the good work! Positions Lower School Upper School Overall 1st Wisley Norbury Headley 2nd Headley Ranmore Norbury 3rd Ranmore Headley Wisley 4th Norbury Wisley Ranmore [...]
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Year 1's 'Starry Night'
9th February 20171VL at Leatherhead Pre-Prep have been creating their versions of Van Gogh's 'Starry Night' using oil pastels, following their recent visit to the National Gallery and learning to paint in the style of famous artists.
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Pre-Prep Leatherhead Visit Africa!
9th February 2017This week’s country on our journey around the world is Africa. This week we have been on safari around the school field on the hunt for African animals and made a tropical fruit salad ( including food tasting) having read the book 'Handa’s surprise'.
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Leatherhead Pre-Prep: Chinese New Year!
1st February 2017The children in Reception have thoroughly enjoyed learning all about China and Chinese New Year last week. They tried some Chinese foods using chopsticks, made lots of Chinese lanterns and dragons, but the best part was when the theatre workshop came to visit. They all enjoyed dressing up as the [...]
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Year 7 & 8 Study Centre
25th January 2017A typical Wednesday lunchtime in the study centre! Year 8 and Year 7 students using the space to get ahead with their studies - great atmosphere!
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Who has visited us in the snow?
13th January 2017We have been looking for evidence in the snow that animals have visited our school. We found lots of animal tracks. We think that some foxes have been playing in our playground in the snow!
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Adverse Weather Update 2
12th January 2017For Friday, 13 January 2017 - Thank you to all parents for assisting this afternoon with adjusting their schedules; we hope you have all arrived home safely. Having checked a number of weather websites, we are expecting further snow showers between 8pm and 10pm. There is then no more snow [...]
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Adverse Weather Update 1
12th January 2017We have checked a number of weather websites, all of which are suggesting that the rain forecast for later this morning is likely to turn into snow showers in the afternoon, probably between 5pm and 8pm. Although not necessarily heavy snowfall, the fact that it is scheduled for rush hour [...]
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We know how to hide a lion!
11th January 2017Reception and Year 1 had a great trip to the Polka Theatre to see 'How to hide a lion.' The children were absolutely engaged with the performance, especially when the big lion puppet was introduced. There was lots of laughter, excitement and anticipation as the children were waiting to see which [...]
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Welcome to the new Head of the Lower School
4th January 2017We are delighted to welcome Clare Kirkham as the new Head of the Lower School. Clare says "I am delighted to be joining Downsend as the Head of the Lower School today and look forward to working with the staff, children and families across all the Downsend schools. We have [...]
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Welcome to Epsom Pre-Prep's new Headteacher!
4th January 2017We are delighted to welcome Vanessa Conlan as the new Headteacher at Epsom Pre-Prep School. Vanessa says "I am delighted to be joining Epsom Prep-Prep as Headteacher this term and look forward to working with the staff, children and families at Epsom and across all the Downsend schools. We have [...]
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Pre-Prep Leatherhead Reception enjoy a visit from some owls!
2nd December 2016Pre-Prep Leatherhead Reception were very excited to have some visitors come to see them last week. After talking about our local area and the animals that might live in the local environment we were delighted that some of the owls from Huxley’s Bird of Prey centre were able to come [...]
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Years 4 & 5 Bake Off!
1st December 2016Well done to all Year 4 & 5 pupils who entered the Bake Off! There were some most amazing creations! And the winners are: Wisley: Bronwen R Y5 & Adam V Y4 Ranmore: Millie M Y5 & Olivia B Y4 Norbury: Elspeth W Y5 & Theo & Charlie B Y4 [...]
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We have a letter from the queen.....
25th November 2016In June this year we celebrated our Queen’s 90 birthday. These celebrations took place in the form of a special lunch and every child painted a portrait of her Majesty. These paintings were so magnificent that we took a photograph of them and sent them to the Palace. The Queen [...]
