Hongqi Celebrates Outstanding Musical Achievement 28th November 2025 Creative Arts Uncategorised We are thrilled to celebrate the fantastic musical success of former pupil Hongqi Z, now in First Year at Caterham School who has achieved his ARSM Piano Diploma with Distinction — an extraordinary accomplishment for a musician of any age, and especially impressive for someone so young. Hongqi’s exceptional musical talent was already shining whilst here at Copthorne. He passed his Grade 8 piano exam while still in Year 4, demonstrating remarkable skill, dedication, and musical maturity from an early age. In addition to his outstanding piano playing, Hongqi is a keen cellist, currently working at Grade 6, and continues to develop his musicianship across multiple instruments. Since joining Caterham as a Music Scholar, he has become a committed member of the Symphony Orchestra, contributing with enthusiasm and professionalism. Hongqi is eager to immerse himself even further in school musical life. He will also be joining the Boys’ Choir and the Film Orchestra, adding his talents to an even wider range of ensembles. His passion for music is clear to all who know him, and his aspirations promise an exciting future ahead. We send our warmest congratulations to Hongqi on his ARSM Diploma success and look forward to watching him grow and flourish as a musician at Caterham School. Well done, Hongqi!
Year 6 Investigate the Battle of Britain Through Role Play 21st November 2025 Global Uncategorised On Thursday, Year 6 pupils had a wonderful opportunity to learn and reenact the Battle of Britain with a hands-on workshop. The Year 6 Global question this term is ‘Why do we have wars?’ and they have been looking at the causes of both world wars and debating whether they were inevitable. This workshop allowed them through role play to understand how the war impacted on civilians, especially those in London. They also learnt how the Dowding system worked taking part in the Fighter command and the Filter rooms which helped them understand how enemy craft could be detected and then intercepted. Well done Year 6 – you really took it all on board and asked some super questions throughout the session.
What Colour is Love? 21st November 2025 Nursery Uncategorised In Butterflies, lower nursery class, we read the story What Colour Is Love? this week and talked about all the different colours we can see around us. The children had lots of fun making colourful handprints to help create our handprint Christmas tree. They loved choosing their paint colours and making their marks. We can’t wait to put all the handprints together to make our bright and cheerful tree!
£239 Raised for BBC Children in Need 14th November 2025 Uncategorised Last Friday, Copthorne Prep came together for a fantastic fundraising event in support of Children in Need. Our pupils took part in the Pudsey Penny Relay, a fun and creative challenge where each class competed to create the longest line of coins, measured per pupil, using spare change brought in from home. The atmosphere was full of excitement as classes worked together, carefully lining up their coins and cheering each other on. It was a wonderful opportunity for our school community to unite, have fun, and reflect on the importance of helping those less fortunate than ourselves. Huge thanks to our wonderful catering team who totally embraced the Pudsey spirit and also made us yummy cupcakes to sell. Thanks to the incredible generosity of our families, we managed to raise an fabulous £239 for Children in Need! A huge thank you to everyone for your support and contributions – every penny truly makes a difference.
Caterham School Early Offer Holders Catch up with Mr Jones 14th November 2025 Academic General Uncategorised We were delighted to welcome Mr Ceri Jones, Headmaster of Caterham School to Copthorne today. Mr Jones came to meet and chat to Year 6 pupils who received early offers to Caterham School starting in Year 7 next September. It was a great chance for Mr Jones to get to know the pupils and their interests and the children all said how much they had enjoyed the experience. Mr Jones meets all the children joining the senior school from the Caterham Family of Schools to get to know them better ahead of their new adventures at Caterham. Whilst here, Mr Jones also met with parents for an informal chat over coffee this morning and sends his thanks to everyone who came along to what was a really enjoyable morning. You can find out more about Early Offers to Caterham School here
“Power for Good” 14th November 2025 Uncategorised We’ve kicked things off with fantastic anti-bullying workshops from West End in Schools. This year’s theme, “Power for Good,” is inspiring our pupils to think about the positive actions they can take to stand up against bullying and support one another.The children have really enjoyed exploring how their words and actions can make a difference — using their power for good every day!
Year 3 Bring Lizard Street to Life! 7th November 2025 Uncategorised Year 3 were set a half-term challenge to recreate Lizard Street from our class text Krindlekrax — and we were absolutely blown away by their creativity! From paint and cardboard to lights and even LEGO, every project was bursting with imagination. The children loved presenting their creations to the class and explaining how they brought this wonderful story to life. Well done, Year 3!
Corky the Caretaker Visits Year 3 7th November 2025 Uncategorised Just before the half term break, Year 3 were thrilled to welcome a very special visitor straight from their class story Krindlekrax — Corky the caretaker! The children had been busy preparing thoughtful interview questions to find out all about his daring encounter with the fearsome sewer crocodile, Krindlekrax. They asked fantastic open-ended questions to gather as much information as possible. To everyone’s delight, Corky even brought along his favourite snack — chocolate biscuits!
Year 3 Try Out the Art of Mime 17th October 2025 Performing Arts Uncategorised Mime is this term’s drama focus for the Year 3s. We have looked at mime artists such as Marcel Marceau and even the great Charlie Chaplin to see how they were able to tell a story without speaking. Mrs Dodson has been very impressed with all the creative ideas Miss Humphries’ class have come up with. Well done!
Mixing colours, sharing kindness in Year 2 10th October 2025 Uncategorised Last week, Year 2 thoroughly enjoyed celebrating the Harvest Festival. The children were proud to perform their songs and poems for their families, and it was lovely to see such enthusiasm in their performance. This week, during their digital lessons Year 2 have been exploring and developing a range of skills using different applications. It’s been wonderful to see their confidence grow as they navigate new tools. In Art, Year 2 have enjoyed learning how to blend primary colours to create secondary colours. They have used these skills to paint seasonal backgrounds experimenting with colour mixing and showing great creativity. We have also continued our global learning, focusing on where food comes from, with a focus on chocolate. Our discussions around Fairtrade were particularly insightful, and we were impressed by the thoughtful opinions shared about fairness to farmers and ethical choices. The children showed great empathy and understanding, which sparked some very meaningful conversations. We look forward to next week and are excited about our upcoming celebration assembly.