Little Phoenix The Newsletter of Yarm Pre-Prep Number 311

4th December 2020 Mrs Speight’s message ...

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Christmas has arrived in Pre-Prep and the children were extremely excited when the trees arrived. Decorating the tree always gives us the opportunity to think of others and each child’s message was about happiness, sharing and caring. Very many thanks for your most kind donations for the Food Banks, our children are so eager to help those who are hungry or homeless. If you haven’t already done so, there is still plenty of time to bring in a donation, thank you again for your generosity. The inquisitive nature of our children became very apparent with the arrival of the cameras and lights for the filming of their nativities. I can’t recall any who have been overwhelmed or ‘star struck’. It never ceases to amaze me how the children can learn so many songs in such a short period of time. For those of you who haven’t already done so from Reception to Year 2, there is still time to read your child’s reports prior to the Google Meets with teachers next week. This is the perfect opportunity to catch up on both progress and achievement this term. Have a super weekend and I look forward to seeing you on Monday. Warmest wishes

Christmas Wishes Monday saw the arrival of our Christmas trees in Pre-Prep. As is tradition in Year 2, we were given the task of helping to decorate the tree in the Studio Hall. Following on from “Choose To Be Kind “ week, we wrote our Christmas wishes for the world on a sparkly bauble. One of our mottoes in Pre-Prep is, ‘We think of others,’ and this was certainly very true in our messages from wishing that the homeless will have shelter at Christmas to hoping that poverty will disappear. It has been most heartening to see the bags full of tasty treats arriving for ‘Little Sprouts’ and our children have certainly demonstrated a caring attitude. Many thanks to our parents for their generosity.

Christmas Crafts

The children in Nursery have been so excited to decorate Nursery ready for Christmas. They have been writing letters to Santa, making Christmas crowns and decorating the tree. When learning songs to sing as part of our Christmas performance, we have been extremely impressed with their concentration. You're in for a treat when you see the Nursery Christmas performance. The children are all ready to be filmed next week.

Festive fun With the arrival of Advent the Christmas spirit is truly in the air at the Pre-Prep. The children in Reception have been thinking carefully about the true meaning of Christmas and decided to decorate the tree in the Studio Hall with wishes emblazoned on stars. From hugs for everyone to a world filled with kindness, the children thought carefully about what would make the planet a better place.

Sharing is caring The children in Year 1 have loved using outdoor equipment during their playtimes. The Year 1 team have been so impressed with their sharing and team building skills. It has been lovely to watch them interacting with each other and making the most of being outdoors.

Christmas Collection for Billingham & Stockton Borough Foodbank and Little Sprouts

Monday 30th November - Thursday 10th December

This year we shall be collecting items to donate to Billingham and Stockton Borough Foodbank and Little Sprouts to help and support local families over the Christmas period. The following items are required by the foodbank: Christmas food gifts, chocolate, biscuits and toiletries such as shampoo and shower gel.

Donations open from Monday 30th November and will be kept in year group areas. The closing date is Thursday 10th December. Please ensure any items are brought in in carrier bags.

Christmas Jumper Day

Friday 18th December is Christmas Jumper Day. These are to be worn over school uniform. We look forward to seeing all the children looking very festive.

Toby

Omran

Edward

Isla

Imogen

Christmas Cards

Cards can be sent to children in their year group bubble. In order for us to quarantine them prior to sending, please can they be sent no later than Monday 14th December. They will be delivered from Wednesday 16th December. May I politely request that chocolate coins are not placed in them. Many thanks for your support.

Reminder

There will be no After School Care provision on the last day of term, Friday 18th December. All children should be collected at their allocated pick up time on this day.

Nursery and Reception—3.15pm Year 1—3.20pm Year 2—3.30pm

2020/2021 Term Dates

Autumn Term, 2020

Finish - Friday, 18th December 2020 (after school)

Spring Term, 2021

Pupils return - Monday, 4th January 2021

½ term begins - Thursday, 11th February 2021 (after school)

Pupils return - Monday, 22nd February 2021

Finish - Friday, 26th March 2021 (after school)

Summer Term, 2021

Pupils return - Thursday, 15th April 2021

Bank Holiday - Monday, 3rd May 2021

½ term begins - Thursday, 27th May 2021 (after school)

Pupils return - Monday, 7th June 2021

Finish - Friday, 2nd July 2021 (12 noon)

Hi, my name is Wendy, I’ve been the catering

manager at Yarm Prep for four years and I love it!

I’m passionate about food and creating tasty,

healthy meals. When I first trained as a chef my

mentor told me “Your food is only as good as the

ingredients you use, you get out of a dish what you

put in.” I’ve carried this with me throughout my

career. We use fresh quality ingredients in our

dishes to make them the best they can be. I’ll be

sharing some of my dishes in the Phoenix Flier

every so often. Below is one of my favourites.

Peri Peri Sauce

A garlicky lemon infused tangy sauce is perfect for

so many dishes and due to the High street

revolution of Nando’s it goes down a storm with

the children. It can be used as a marinade for meats

& vegetables, finishing glaze or as I prefer it an

accompaniment for Chicken Espetadas

Ingredients

Makes approx. 500ml

2 large red bell peppers, char grilled or 800g tin of

fire roasted peppers

1 large red onion, char grilled

2 tsp garlic puree

125ml lemon juice

80 ml red wine vinegar, or apple cider vinegar

zest of one lemon, finely grated

2 red chillies or 1 tsp chilli powder

2 tsp smoked paprika, or plain paprika

2 tsp dried oregano

2 bay leaves

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

To finish

80ml lemon juice

Zest of one lemon, finely minced

Instructions

Start by roasting the red peppers and onions. This

can be done on a gas grill or on a grill pan. You want

to get good char marks on the outside of the

peppers and onions. Don't worry if they are not

fully cooked, they will get fully cooked in the sauce.

Chop the peppers and onions and add them to a

food processor or blender. You can use a stick

blender if that is all you have on hand, just take the

time to get the ingredients well pureed.

Add the garlic, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, lemon

zest, red chilis, smoked paprika, oregano, salt and

pepper to the food processor with the grilled

onions and peppers and puree until smooth.

Transfer the sauce to a medium saucepan, add the

bay leaves and simmer slowly for 20-30 minutes.

Let the sauce cool to warm. Remove the bay leaves

then return the sauce to the food processor again.

Add the additional lemon juice, red wine vinegar

and lemon zest. Puree for another few minutes

until very smooth. Slowly add in the olive oil in a

thin stream as the processor is running.

Look out for

Peri Peri on our

new year

menu.

Wendy Wallace