Our Bumblebee pre-schoolers have been learning all about firefighters. We were very fortunate that one of our Butterflies’ parents kindly brought in his firefighter uniform for us to look at and try on, it was very exciting! . In our Expressive Arts and Design area, we used the colours of flames—red and yellow to explore colour mixing and created vibrant orange! We then made some fiery pictures !

We are delighted to introduce our newly appointed Form Captains, who have been chosen through a pupil vote by their peers. This achievement reflects the trust and respect they have earned within their forms, and we congratulate them on taking on this important role.

Throughout this term, our Form Captains will represent their classmates in regular meetings, acting as a voice for their forms and sharing ideas on how to enhance school life. They will play a key part in suggesting improvements, raising concerns, and helping to build a positive and supportive school community.

We look forward to seeing the leadership, teamwork, and creativity our Form Captains will bring to their roles.

As part of their Rainforest topic in Art, Year 3 created beautiful clay leaf prints. The children carefully rolled the clay to an even thickness before pressing leaves into the surface, making sure the leaf’s texture was clearly transferred. They then trimmed the clay into neat shapes.

Once the tiles had been fired for the first time, the children applied underglaze to highlight the leaf details, wiping away the excess to reveal the texture. Finally, each tile was coated in a transparent glaze to give it a smooth, shiny finish.

The children were delighted to see their finished tiles emerge from the kiln this week after their second firing.

As part of our Global studies, Year 3 explored Ancient Roman buildings to help us understand what everyday life was like in Ancient Rome. The children learned about important structures such as the Colosseum, Roman baths and the Circus Maximus. We discovered that the Romans were incredible designers and builders, creating buildings that were both impressive and practical. The class especially enjoyed learning about how Romans spent their free time and the importance of entertainment in Roman life.

The Prep ended the term on a high with an action‑packed House Competition Day! Pupils from Rendall, Sale, Newton, and Workman went head‑to‑head in a series of fun and creative challenges designed to test teamwork, problem‑solving, and resilience.

Activities included:

Building the tallest marshmallow–spaghetti tower

Designing a boat that could float and carry the most counters

Constructing a structure strong enough to withstand an earthquake simulation

Blindfold bridge‑building, encouraging communication and trust

Out on the field, Mr Pinnock kept the energy high with a lively game of football darts, which proved a huge hit with everyone.

The day concluded with the much‑anticipated House Singing Competition, where each house showcased their enthusiasm, collaboration, and school spirit.

It was a fantastic day filled with excitement, creativity, and—most importantly—teamwork. Well done to all the pupils for their brilliant effort and positive attitude!

This week, Copthorne Prep was delighted to host the second round of the Primary Cup Chess Competition, welcoming teams from Ardingly College, Blackboys, and Lancing Hove. Our pupils competed in Group F, which proved to be an exceptionally competitive pool of talented young players.

Across three intense rounds of play, our children demonstrated superb focus, strategic thinking, and resilience. We are thrilled to share that Copthorne Prep finished top of the group, scoring an impressive 10 points out of a possible 12, securing our place in the finals later this year at Ardingly College.

Every Copthorne pupil who took part should feel extremely proud of their contribution. Their teamwork, concentration, and sportsmanship were noted throughout the morning, and it was wonderful to see them supporting one another in between rounds.

We are very much looking forward to seeing our team represent Copthorne Prep in the Primary Cup Final at Ardingly College later this year. It promises to be another exciting stage of competition, and we have every confidence that our pupils will continue to shine.

A huge congratulations to all the children involved – we are incredibly proud of you. We look forward to sharing more chess successes with you soon!

Our family-friendly transport network for pupils includes those stepping up to our senior school at Caterham. The Copthorne-Caterham route allows families to drop and collect current Copthorne Prep and Caterham pupils here at Copthorne in one go: Caterham School pupils then hop on the 25-minute shuttle to get to school and the same in reverse at the end of the school day back to meet their family at Copthorne. Find out more during Caterham School Early Offer presentations, Senior School Guidance meetings or ask directly at Reception. 

Community and families are central to school life at Copthorne and an ethos of partnership to improve educational opportunities for all is one that we share with the Caterham Family of Schools. Copthorne Prep continues to build partnerships with local schools within the community and it was a pleasure to support Baldwin’s Hill Primary School this week with transport to the Gravetye Estate where they had the opportunity to spend some time outdoors, learning all about the woods and the wildlife within it. They also created some wonderful art and poetry inspired by nature. Smiling happy children is what our school is about!

If you would like to know about the partnership work within our Family click here