We’re thrilled to announce the winners of our half-term Sumdog competition! A huge congratulations to our top five maths stars: Nikolaos (1st), Faeqah (2nd), Haaris (3rd), Rishik (4th), and Meera (5th) – fantastic work! Sumdog continues to be a favourite among our pupils, and it’s easy to see why. With fun, interactive games that adjust to each learner’s ability, it’s a powerful tool for building confidence and boosting maths skills. We’ve seen real progress among those who practise regularly – so whether you’re already a fan or just getting started, keep up the great work and get ready for the next challenge!

Some of our Year 6 children were lucky enough to attend a local Prep School Book Awards this week. Since October last year, some of our Year 6s have been reading the carefully chosen five books, and recently voted on their favourite. After all the votes from all participating schools were collected, we found out that bestselling children’s author Helen Rutter had won the overall award. We got to meet Helen and take part in an exceptionally inspiring workshop with her. A thoroughly enjoyable and informative morning was had by all.

Judged for its impact from over 2000 multisector entries, RileyBot was chosen as the winner for its embrace of new technology engaged to further children’s teaching, learning and educational outcomes.

The judges visited Caterham Family of School, Copthorne Prep for the day earlier in the month to see Rileybot in action as part of their assessment for the awards. At the visit they talked to both teachers and pupils to gain their views on integrating technology alongside the all-important human teachers in the room .

RileyBot is a ground-breaking AI powered tool to support children’s learning and is built with children’s wellbeing and safeguarding at its core. It is the only AI bot suitable for children aged from Reception to Year 13.  RileyBot is a subject specialist in every subject and speaks over 50 languages.

The AI powered robot has been developed by teachers and machine learning engineers at Caterham School and is in use at all Caterham Family Schools as well as East Surrey Learning Partnership Schools.

Unlike mainstream AI models, RileyBot acts like a teacher, guiding broader thinking, building problem-solving skills and encouraging pupil curiosity. It supports children to reach the answer and problem solve themselves, rather than simply doing the work for them.

When a pupil is ‘stuck’, be it in the classroom or when completing homework, they simply ask RileyBot app for support. Rather than giving an outright ‘quick fix’ answer, as other AI models do, RileyBot acts like a friendly, supportive teaching assistant available for children in addition to their inspiring human teacher. RileyBot knows each individual pupil’s age, learning stage and any special educational needs they might have and guides their learning, giving them alternative routes to understanding and finding a solution.

In classrooms, RileyBot enables pupils to engage in independent learning and supports teachers to differentiate their lessons for each child in their care. For fast learners RileyBot provides instant extension work and also has a range of features to support children with Special Educational Needs including specialist fonts, tailored speeds and full voice interaction.

Having been developed by teachers, RileyBot has wellbeing at its core. Parents and teachers can see their child’s interactions and be put at ease by built-in wellbeing alerts which flag concerns to both parents and teachers. RileyBot teaches pupils how to interact with AI in a healthy and safe way.

RileyBot is quickly gaining acclaim in education cirles and beyond. It was one of three initiatives to be showcased at the House of Lords at the National School Awards in December 2024.

Amidst the excitement of Nativity rehearsals and our festive Copthorne Christmas events, Year 2 has been hard at work diving into the wonders of space.

This week, the children took an inspiring journey as they learned about Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman to travel to space. Her story of perseverance, determination and boundless curiosity, left a lasting impression on the class.

The children used their new iPads to research Mae Jemison and created amazing fact files that highlighted key information about her incredible achievements. A special shout-out goes to Isabella and Hanny, whose fact files truly stood out.

In addition to their space exploration, Year 2 has been getting hands-on with 2D and 3D design in their Digital lessons. The 2D nets they carefully crafted are now being transformed into stunning 3D space mobiles. The challenge doesn’t stop there; the students are also developing their skills in woodworking by sawing the wood to create fixed or rotating axles for their mobiles. It’s inspiring to see their creativity in full gear.

Stay tuned for more out-of-this-world projects from Year 2!

Many congratulations to our Year 6 pupils who have already secured and accepted offers and scholarships to Caterham School for September 2025.

We are thrilled that five scholarships have been awarded through a highly competitive process – a testament to our pupils’ hard work and the preparation they have gained.

Copthorne Prep is now in a unique position of having the multi award-winning Caterham School as its senior school. This means that, whilst we continue to prepare children for their choice of senior school across a broad range, our pupils also benefit from early offers and a smoother transition for those choosing Caterham School.