Bridgewater School – Prep. Department

Please find Bridgewater Prep’s first virtual assembly coming live (ish) from…  Mr. Rooney’s spare room!  Apologies for the slight technical hitch after about 14 minutes – some of the crowds in the room clapping stood on the wrong wire.

One activity that you might like to try over the Easter break is to make a Wish Jar.  Decorate an empty jar and then each day or week they write down something you wish you could do, a friend you’d like to see, a place you’d like to visit etc. that, in these present circumstances, you are unable to do.

Then when all this is over, you can open the jar and make your wishes come true!

Mrs. Hadgianni explains the idea to Prep VI White in this video.

The nation has only just become used to the new national PE Teacher Joe Wicks and his daily PE classes – many of our children (and grown ups!) have been participating in his classes as a morning motivator every morning at 9.00am.

However, the is an even newer fitness craze taking place right on our doorstep!  The daily key worker fitness activities, led by Sid – Sid’s Circuits!  Look out for his YouTube channel starting soon!

On a final note, for this term, Mr. Altdorf would like to pass on a big thank you from himself, Miss Kelsall, Miss Armstrong and Mrs. Williams for the fun, the games, the walks around Worsley Woods and the laughter with the Prep children of key workers over the last two weeks.  They have been amazing to be with and they will be missed.

Happy Easter everyone – stay safe!

Little did we know that the MCFC U11 football tournament on Friday 6th March would, in all likelihood, be the last time the team would compete for Bridgewater Prep. Events around the world have taken a tragic and worrying turn for the worse and have and will continue to have an impact on all aspects of society. Sport is usually one of the ways in which nations and different cultures come together. Political and religious differences and all kinds of boundaries are put to one side. However, even the power of sport can do nothing but watch and wait and prepare for when normality can return once more.

Although in the greater scheme of things school sport would appear somewhat trivial, for those who commit to hours of practice week in week out in readiness for events and competitions, this is as big a loss as any. The U11s have had a fabulous year, becoming the ISA Northern Basketball Champions, collecting five gold medals in the AJIS Indoor Athletics, taking bronze in the Salford Cross Country League and in football, the team were on the brink of even greater success. Having finished runners up in the ISA Northern 5-a-side competition, the team were looking forward to going to the National Finals at St George’s Park in May. Meanwhile, the team were in the semi-finals of both the ISA and the AJIS Cups.

With 20 schools taking part in the MCFC tournament, this was going to be an excellent opportunity to have a run out before the matches that lay ahead. Bridgewater had a tough group to navigate if they were going to go through to the knock-out rounds. Up first was Forrest Park and Bridgewater took charge of the game very early on. George was rarely troubled in goal and Harper and Craig were in control of every situation in a defensive capacity. Matteo dominated the midfield and ensured the team retained and turned over possession frequently. David caused problems for the opposition back line, whilst Josh and Regan provided threats from out wide. Jackson, Jaydon and Thomas came on to add more energy to the team as the game wore on, but Bridgewater were never under any threat and collected the first win of the group. A 5-0 win with Regan, Josh (2) and man of the match Matteo (2) was no more than the team deserved.

In the next game, a much tougher opponent lay in wait, Altrincham Grammar School. Both teams went for the win that would boost hopes of qualifying further and either team could have won the match. Bhargav made his debut in the Bridgewater goal and made a vital save early on. In the end, a long throw from Matteo was volleyed home superbly by Harper. The 1-0 win eased the pressure on needing a big result in the following game against St Ambrose. The game followed a similar pattern to the Altrincham game and was another tense affair.  Bhargav was once more outstanding in goal and Craig was a rock at the heart of the defence. With time running out and both teams looking to bank a vital point, Harper strode forward and hit a rocket into the top of the opposition net. Another 1-0 win meant a point in the final game would be enough to win the group and qualify for the quarterfinals.

In the fourth and final game of the group, Terra Nova went after Bridgewater from the kick-off to try and top the group. George resumed keeper duties and made several key saves, whilst at the other end, Regan, Josh and David had chances to win the game. With Alfie missing for the tournament, Matteo was outstanding in midfield, but he was visibly tiring as the game concluded in a 0-0 draw. Bridgewater had finished top of the group, but the effort it had taken took its toll in the quarter-final against Manchester Grammar. The team conceded an early goal to their illustrious counterparts and try as they might could not get back in the tie. In the end, Manchester Grammar progressed to the semi-finals with a 2-0 win over a valiant Bridgewater team.

If this is to be the last time the team play together for Bridgewater Prep, they can console themselves with the thought that their achievements this year are already ones to be proud of. We can only hope that there will be some cricket, rounders, tennis and athletics to come before the academic year comes to an end. If not, I hope to see the team play in Year 7 as their journey is just beginning. Perhaps the words of a famous football song is now more appropriate than ever for us all and I can safely say to Bridgewater sports lovers of all abilities: “You will never walk alone.”

Dear Parents,

The transformation of Bridgewater Prep in to a ‘virtual’ school in just 5 days has been miraculous. It has been extremely heart-warming to see how all sectors of our Prep community have contributed to this new chapter of our wonderful school.

As a parent who has had to work from home many times in the past I can fully sympathise with families who have to find a balance of meeting work deadlines, home schooling deadlines and keeping the household ticking over. Please remember that virtual learning does not have to follow strict school timings. Please allow your children to enjoy the outside where possible. I have taught dozens of twilight lessons on school residential trips over the years and have often found them to be productive after an enjoyable and energetic day outside.

It is our intention to have 100% interaction with our pupils before the Easter break. If you are struggling with any technical issues please contact your class teacher and they will signpost your issue to the appropriate person.  I will personally contact any parents of children who are not working daily by the end of the week to offer support.

It is important that I use this opportunity to ensure that everyone is aware of the initiatives provided by Prep staff for education, interest and fun over the next week and in to next term.

Google Classroom: All our teachers, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 pupils have had excellent training from Mr Suter in preparation for this challenging time. Daily lessons are taught and work is marked by teachers. Please contact your class teacher if there are any issues with this.

Prep Blog:. The Prep Blog: https://bridgewaterprep.org/ is of course a platform for news and information but is also provides so much more. Mr Suter has been building this excellent resource for learning over several years. It is full of useful activities, links, websites, activities and suggested reading lists (Amazon are providing stories that are free to stream on your desktop, laptop, phone or tablet using the following link  https://stories.audible.com/start-listen ). Early Years have used the Prep Blog to provide a daily message from their teachers packed with challenges and work for their young learners.

All these pages can be found in the Blog menu at the top of each page. The blog also contains every news page from several years back if people would like to reminisce about ‘normal’ times in days, weeks and years gone by. We look forward to adding many ‘normal’ features in the years to come!

Bridgewater Newsletter: This was emailed to all parents on Thursday March 26^th. It is also contains many suggestions for activities for the whole school.

As you can see in the department has provided a wealth of challenges, teaching and learning in less than a week. We have many more exciting teaching aids available to us which we will introduce gradually.

Yours sincerely,

Mr. Rooney

Head of Prep Department and Deputy Head

You’ll find this challenge in your Google Classrooms – please someone do more than Mr. Altdorf!

Created by children to inspire hope and help boost morale, pictures of rainbows are appearing in windows across the country. Please send us a photograph of yours for our virtual gallery and let’s help spread positivity.

Please tweet your pictures to @BridgewaterScho or email suterl@bridgewater-school.co.uk and saundersc@bwslive.co.uk

Prep I recently created these rainbows in their Computing class using Microsoft Paint – they were learning how to use different brushes at the time.