PRIMARY
NEWS
A MESSAGE FROM OUR HEAD OF PRIMARY Junior School (Yr 3 – 6) & Pelicans (Nursery – Yr 2)
Dear Parents,
Recently I wrote about the importance of children retaining a sense of awe and wonder as they experience their learning journey through school life and beyond.
What struck me this week was how true this is of adults too! I have witnessed an incredible sense of joyful community this week as parents and teachers have worked together to create something special. The inaugural International Day was a breathtaking celebration of our school community, not only in recognising our rich, cultural community but also a master class in collaboration and collegiality. Well done and thank you to all who participated.
Building further school strength, we gathered earlier this week to showcase our new House Team chants. The students demonstrated real pride as they gave an energetic performance with impressive enthusiasm. Standing in the centre of the action, I was fortunate to get a 360 degree view of the event, and it was an incredible experience of which I felt incredibly proud of the children and teachers.
As adults in the lives of children, whether as parents, teachers, or caregivers, we have a responsibility to remain curious, reflective, and open to learning ourselves. When children see us embracing new ideas with joy and wonder, we model the values of lifelong learning and inspire them to approach the world with the same confidence and curiosity.
Wishing you a week ahead full of awe and wonder.
Kephren Sherry
Head of Primary School
Pastoral Primary School News
MRS STELLA RAINALTER
Assistant Head of Primary (Pastoral)
House Cheer Showdown!
Last week, students gathered proudly in their Houses to practise their House cheers in preparation for the upcoming House Fun Day and Sports Day celebrations. Together with their House Leaders and House Captains and Vice Captains, the sessions were filled with energy, teamwork, and plenty of House spirit as students learnt the chants, actions, and rhythms of their cheers together. It was wonderful to see students across different year groups encouraging one another and building a strong sense of belonging within their Houses.
On House Fun Day morning, students gathered at the playground for an exciting House Cheer Showdown filled with enthusiasm, energy, and House spirit. Each House proudly performed their cheers, with students eagerly showing off the chants and actions they had been practising over the past weeks. The atmosphere was lively and supportive, with everyone listening attentively and cheering one another on.
A big thank you to our judges — Mr Stromsater, Mr Sharma, and Ms Sherry — for helping us crown this year’s winners.
Results:
Congratulations to all Houses for their hard work, teamwork, and fantastic spirit throughout the cheer competition.
House Captains on Cheer Showdown
House Captains on Cheer Showdown and House Fun Day.
Charity (Yu-Xi): Garuda
The students in in my house were very enthusiastic doing the four races. Even though we barely got first, their level of excellence and diligence always stayed the same, and I think that I’m very proud of that.
My favourite moment was when the Year 4’s did a gigantic hula hoop race, and I really saw how united our house was. They never stopped wanting to win.
They showed lots of enthusiasm especially the year 1’s. Despite the fact that we were not winning (and they were probably really tired), they cheered their friends on and did their best.
Overall, I want to say of good job to those who have participated and well done!
Lorenzo, Naga
Naga worked together and were happy even if they were last. They had to hold on to the first place in the hoola-hoop race and the sponge race. I am proud that they were energetic and a smile was always on their faces. My favourite moment was when Naga won and when we had all of the year 4’s, student councils and house captain in their houses, and did a long hoola-hoop race. My house showed courage and they always focused on their task. When they were starting to lose, they did not give up and always tried their best. I believe that Naga can continue being like this.
Miles, Singa
I think Singa did really well by giving the house cheer competition all they had, and doing super good at the three races. My favourite part of the day was when Year 3’s and 4’s were screaming the Singa cheer as loud as possible. I was also really excited to see the Year 2’s and 1’s get lots of points for Singa. Keep trying your best………and win!
Izzy – Harimau
I think today my house were really good at working well together. I think at every station they tried their hardest and put so much effort into their work.
What stood out to me was not how much we won or lost but how we didn’t lose hope when we didn’t perform as well.
I would like to say to my house that no matter if we win or lose, we are still the best house.
House Fun Day continues!
On Monday was Primary School’s House Fun Day — a morning of friendly competition, team spirit, and a whole lot of noise.
Primary School Teacher (4C), Student Council Lead
The day was brought to life by the Student Council, who dreamed it up as a way to make Sports Week exciting for every child, not just the most athletic. And judging by the energy on the playground, they got it exactly right.
The action began with a House Cheer Competition, where Garuda (Green), Singa (Red), Naga (Blue), and Harimau (Yellow) each took their turn to impress the judges — and each other — with their best chants, stomps, and roars. The enthusiasm was infectious, with teachers joining in the spirit by wearing their house colours throughout the day.
Year groups then rotated through four fun relay stations: the three-legged race, the sponge relay, the hoop race, and the ball waddle race — with house points up for grabs at every turn. Classes cheered each other on, and the competition was fierce but full of smiles.
House Fun Day was a wonderful reminder that Sport Week is about much more than winning races — it’s about belonging, cheering each other on, and having fun together as a school community. A brilliant start to what will be a fantastic week.
JUNIOR
SCHOOL
MELANIE MEDHI
Junior School Assistant Head (Academics, Yr 3 – Yr 6)
Maths Enrichment Week
Maths Week will take place during the first week of June and is designed to give children a richer, deeper experience of mathematics. Rather than focusing on speed or routine methods, the week is built around thinking, problem-solving and explaining ideas clearly.
What is the purpose of Maths Week?
Our long-term goal is to help children become confident mathematicians who can think, reason and communicate their ideas. This approach is part of the Cambridge “Thinking and Working Mathematically” strand, which focuses on:
- Exploring different strategies
- Explaining reasoning clearly
- Spotting patterns and making connections
- Persevering with challenging problems
What will your child be doing?
During Maths Week, lessons will feel different from usual. Children will take part in four main types of activity:
- Problem-solving (NRICH tasks)
Children will work on rich mathematical problems from NRICH. These problems often have more than one solution and encourage deep thinking.
- Children will explore ideas in pairs or groups
- They will record their thinking clearly
- Some solutions may be submitted and published
- Strategy games and tournaments
Children will play games such as noughts and crosses, Connect 4 or team-based strategy games.
- The focus is on developing winning strategies
- Children will test, refine and discuss their ideas
- Some classes will take part in knockout competitions
- Puzzles and investigations
Children will solve puzzles that require logic, pattern spotting and perseverance.
- These build confidence and resilience
- Children experience satisfaction from solving complex challenges
- Maths games (including some iPad activities)
Children will play interactive maths games that reinforce key concepts in an engaging way.
What will learning look like?
You may notice that your child:
- Talks more about how they solved a problem
- Uses diagrams, models or explanations rather than just answers
- Works collaboratively with others
- Makes mistakes and then improves their thinking
This is intentional. In Maths Week, the process is just as important as the final answer.
How can you support at home?
You can support your child by:
- Asking “How did you work it out?” instead of “What’s the answer?”
- Encouraging them to explain their thinking
- Playing simple strategy games together
- Praising effort, persistence and clear explanations
Focus on thinking, not just getting the answer right.
Maths Week is about helping children see mathematics as something to explore and enjoy. By developing their ability to think, reason and explain, we are building skills that will support them far beyond the classroom.
Writing Up Mathematical Solutions
During this year’s maths week, the junior school are going to be thinking and working mathematically on a range of maths puzzles and problems from Cambridge University’s NRich Maths Department. https://nrich.maths.org
Nrich sometimes shares “live problems” and invites students to send in their ideas and solutions. Some of these are then published for others to read and learn from.
What’s the difference between an answer and a solution?
An answer is just the final result. A solution explains how you worked it out, what you noticed, and why you chose your method. NRICH prefers solutions because they help others learn how to think like mathematicians.
What makes a good solution?
A good solution is mathematically correct, shows clear thinking and explanation, and helps others understand the process, not just the result. Even if it’s not perfect, a clear explanation is valued.
How are solutions shared?
NRICH publishes a mix of solutions, starting with simple ideas and building up to more advanced thinking. This helps all learners feel confident to try.
Tips for students
- Explain your thinking clearly and keep it simple.
- Include diagrams, photos, or workings if helpful.
- Use colour to make your work stand out clearly
- Look at other examples to improve your own style.
Why this matters
Learning maths isn’t just about getting the right answer. It is about explaining your thinking, trying different methods, and learning from others. This is how students become confident problem-solvers and mathematicians.
During maths week, we will be asking students to write up their solutions to the live problems and rich tasks on the Nrich website. There will be small prizes for clearly explained solutions and students will have the opportunity to have their solutions published on the Nrich Cambridge University website.
More information about writing solutions can be found here:
https://nrich.maths.org/articles/submitting-solution
Good luck to all budding mathematicians! We hope you enjoy maths week 2026!
PELICANS
ALEXANDRA SOUTHWELL
Pelicans Co-ordinator (Nursery to Yr 2)
I recently spent time gathering pupil voice across Pelicans, speaking with children from Nursery through to Year 2 about their learning experiences in school. It was incredibly positive to hear how happy and engaged the children feel within their classrooms and wider school environment.
The children spoke confidently about their learning, sharing what helps them to succeed and describing moments they felt proud of themselves.
What stood out most was the children’s clear understanding of their own progress and achievements.
Many were able to explain what they are working on, how adults support them and what they can do when they find learning challenging. It was wonderful to see such enthusiasm, resilience and independence across all year groups.
These conversations are invaluable in helping us reflect on teaching and learning, and it was a pleasure to hear such thoughtful and positive feedback from our youngest learners.
Best Regards
Alexandra Southwell
Pelicans Co-ordinator
Nursery
The Nursery friends explored lights and colours this week as we continued our topic on Chasing Shadows. We used different translucent coloured objects and shone light through them to discover the beautiful colourful shadows and patterns we could create!
Reception
As part of our ongoing learning about parties and celebrations, the children explored the idea of planning an outdoor party. Together, we discussed what kinds of activities, food, and games would be suitable for a party held outside, and the children shared many creative ideas.
To bring this learning to life, the children enjoyed a special Plush Picnic Party outdoors. Each child brought along one favourite soft toy to join them for the picnic, creating a comforting and playful social experience. During the picnic, the children spent time relaxing with their friends, sharing conversations, and enjoying simple outdoor games together (Water and Ice and Catch the Flag).
We also included a fun nature scavenger hunt as part of our outdoor party activities. The children explored the environment around them, searching for things such as a butterfly, something colourful, or three different types of flowers.
N/R Bilingual
This week in English, the children reviewed vowel teams and explored words that contain different vowel sounds. We began by revisiting familiar vowel teams together and encouraging the children to think of and share words that use them, with support from our classroom vowel posters.
To reinforce their learning in a fun and collaborative way, the children took part in a group drawing activity. Sitting together in a circle, the class selected words containing vowel teams, such as “slide,” “tube,” “bike,” and “ride.” Each child then took turns adding to a shared drawing to complete the picture as a team. This interactive activity helped the children strengthen their phonics awareness, vocabulary recognition, turn-taking, and teamwork skills while making meaningful connections between sounds and words.
Year 1
This week, the children wrapped up their study of fractions with a fun culinary lab activity. They cut pancakes into halves and quarters, equally shared fruit amongst their groups and practised using mathematical language by requesting toppings on a whole, half or quarter pancake. The excitement was evident, with some children enjoying their pancakes straight away while others carefully saved them for later. The children also completed their Maths assessments this week and generally demonstrated a strong understanding of the concepts covered, with continued focus needed on missing number equations and recognising tens and ones.
In English, the class has started working on their fantasy stories, using their maps and planning sheets to guide the beginning of their narratives. We also explored the use of a, an, and the through How to Catch a Star, with children enthusiastically applying their understanding by creating their own sentences. Additionally, the class experimented with compound words, showing creativity and curiosity as they combined smaller words to create new ones.
Year 2
Growing, Propagation & Nature’s Palette
This week in our Farmer’s Market project, we began exploring “Nature’s Palette” — discovering how vegetables and plants can be used to create natural food colouring. We started with butterfly pea flowers, soaking them in hot water to create a beautiful blue colour. The children voted on what recipe we should experiment with first for our upcoming Farmer’s Market, and cheesecake was the clear winner!
On Thursday, we made our butterfly pea cheesecake. The children crushed biscuits for the base and mixed them with butter, then worked hard stirring and mixing the cream cheese filling, which took more effort than expected! Their patience and teamwork paid off, and after swimming on Friday, most of the children happily enjoyed tasting their colourful creations.
Year 1 & 2 Bilingual
YR 1 CEB
Bringing Data to Life in Maths
This week, the children enjoyed an exciting and active maths lesson focused on collecting and interpreting data. Working in small groups, they challenged themselves to see how many sit-ups they could complete in 2 minutes. Armed with timers and data tables, the children carefully recorded their results and began to understand how data can be collected to answer real-life questions.
The classroom was filled with energy, teamwork, encouragement, and plenty of laughter as the children supported one another throughout the activity. It was a wonderful hands-on learning experience that brought maths to life in a fun and meaningful way.
Yr 2 CEB
This week in Chinese, we focused on learning new vocabulary. We explored words related to boats/ships (船只). Through fun activities and practice, students learned to recognise, read, and understand these words in context. It was wonderful to see everyone engaging with the new vocabulary and building their Chinese language skills steplight by step. Well done, Year 2!
CONTACT US
The Perse School (Singapore)
58 Chestnut Drive S679301
office@perse.edu.sg
+65 6233 2183
www.perse.edu.sg