Preparatory News:Head Teacher's Message:

Try to make sense of what you see and about what makes the universe exist. Be curious and howeverdifficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. It matters that you don'tjust give up.    Professor Stephen Hawking

Wise words indeed from Professor Stephen Hawking who passed away on Wednesday this week. The worldhas indeed lost a great man.  These words resonate with the values of Hillcrest in terms of never giving up,always looking forward and demonstrating curiosity and determination.

Our Year 8 pupils have demonstrated great determination and resilience this week whilst sitting their mocks. Ithas certainly been a heavy week for them, but so important in terms of learning to use exam time effectivelyand get used to the formal structure of the Common Entrance Examinations.

We were very much looking forward to the Under 9's IAPS Hockey Festival on Thursday this week, butunfortunately, a sudden storm arrived and brought with it so much rain. The toads are really enjoying theweather out on the pitches!  Sadly we had to cancel this event and there is no time in the IAPS calendar toreschedule across all ten schools. We will have to look forward to this event next year.

Next week we will be undertaking a Creative Arts Culture Week. Each year group has been allocated acontinent and will be enjoying activities linked to their continent in the way of music, dance, art and DT. This will

culminate in the International Culture Day at our Secondary School on Saturday the 24th March. We hope tosee many of you there enjoying performances and fine food from around the World, all in the name of charity.

Next week we will have photographers in school capturing the week's events and also doing portrait/groupshots.

Hoping you manage to stay dry this weekend!Best wishes,

Vikki AldenHead Teacher Preparatoryvikki.alden@hillcrest.ac.ke

"Play builds the kind of free-and-easy, try-it-out, do-it-yourself character that our future needs."

James L. Hymes

We had an interesting parent workshop on Wednesday morning focusing on the importance of play. So oftenwe underestimate the endless learning opportunities that play can provide in the classroom. Our teachersunderstand that learning should be fun, inspiring and limitless. It is never 'just play', our children are buildingself-esteem, developing language, taking risks, collaborating, making discoveries, challenging themselves andhaving fun. I will be sending the presentation out to all HEY parents so please take the time to read through andcome and find me if you have any questions.

The wet weather has brought additional learning opportunities, we have even had frogs in Nursery 1! Ourchildren have been learning about rain and having a lot of fun jumping in muddy puddles. Please ensure yousend weather appropriate clothing so that the children can continue to enjoy this rainy period.The rains and colder weather have brought some nasty viruses which have spread through HEY. We will bemaking sure that our toys and learning resources are all sterilised over the weekend, with the classroom spacesdeep cleaned. The teachers have increased their focus on hand washing and good hygiene practices. We wishall our little ones who are suffering at home with coughs and colds a speedy recovery.

Next week we are inviting the Dental Doc team of dentists into HEY on Wednesday to speak to the childrenabout dental hygiene. They are also offering a free dental check-up for every child, the results of which will becommunicated to the parents. Consent forms have been sent home. Please ensure you return the completedform if you would like your child to be involved.Due to illness, we are moving our Playgroup and Nursery 1 Beach Party to Friday 23rd March. Hopefully allchildren will be feeling better and ready to party by this date.

Have a wonderful wet weekend!

Jenna RawlingsHead Teacher Early Yearsjenna.rawlings@hillcrest.ac.ke

Early Years News:Head Teacher's Message:

Prep Deputy Head Teacher News:

It has been a busy week with the Year 8 CE mock examinations. These will provide valuable feedback to theteachers and the pupils as we gear towards the Common Entrance examination in Term 3. The timetable for theexamination will be shared next week. Many pupils have started following a revision schedule and this isevident from their confident approach to the Mock sitting. Now is the time when energy and effort put intolearning, understanding and application will result in success. Teachers are offering revision sessions and theschedules for each subject are on the Year 8  Firefly page. I encourage Year 8 to use Firefly as a revisionresource along with notes, books and other online resources.

The whole of next week we have a team of photographers in school. They will be taking individual, class, teamand whole school photos. If your child will not be school next week, please let us know so that we canreschedule the whole class photo shoot.

Have a good weekend.

Surbhi VashishtDeputy Head - Prepsurbhi.vashisht@hillcrest.ac.ke

Admissions and Marketing News:

Hillcrest Cultural Day – Saturday 24th March 12 pm onwardsFollowing communication sent out earlier, please chat to me, your Form Tutor or your Class Rep if you wouldlike to get involved in our whole school Cultural Day – which will take place at the Secondary School.  We arelooking for help on the day or a plate of food from your country of origin.

Christina LaceyHead of Admission & Marketingchristina.lacey@hillcrest.ac.ke

Term Dates for 2018

Junior School News:

What a busy week we have had. Earlier this week, an invitation was sent out regarding our Year 2, 3, 4 end ofterm play, The Emerald Crown. The play will be staged on Tuesday 27th March at 1:00 pm. The children haveworked hard in readiness for their performance and we look forward to your attendance. The much awaited U9 hockey festival that was to take place on Thursday, 15 March had to be cancelled owingto an unexpected heavy downpour. The children were understandably disappointed as they were lookingforward to hosting this event. They will, however, have many other opportunities in the future and we thank youfor your continued support. As we approach the end of Term 2, it is important to keep yourself updated on the different school events thatyour child may be involved in. All information is shared on email and via the iSams calendar. Have a restful weekend.

Mary Muchangi Head of Junior School mary.muchangi@hillcrest.ac.ke

Senior School News:

The Year 8s sat for the last of their CE Mock papers on Thursday this week, bringing this term's assessmentperiod to a close. The Year 6s, accompanied by Ms. Abdul and Mr. Okuku, had their residential trip this weekfrom Wednesday 14th March to Friday 16th March. We look forward to reading all about it in next week'snewsletter. Last Friday 9th March 2018, Mr. Ongaya took a team of 4 Senior School pupils to the Young ProgrammersForum. The four pupils who represented us at the event were Dylan (Year 6), Lussier (Year 6), Dubey (Year 6)and Kibuchi (Year 7).  Do look out for further details on this in Mr. Ongaya's article. On Tuesday the 27th of March, the Year 2, 3 and 4 children will be staging their play "Emerald Crown". This willbe immediately followed by the Year 5 and 6 Play "Jonah". We will begin at 1:00 pm and will conclude at 3:00pm. You are cordially invited to attend. Have a restful weekend. Julie Kimutai Head of Senior School julie.kimutai@hillcrest.ac.ke

Senior School Disco

Next Friday, the 23rd of March, is the much-anticipated Senior School Disco. Tickets are on sale and are beingdistributed by the Year 8 students. Ticket price is 600/- which includes pizza, snacks, drinks and photos of thenight. The Year 8's have taken on the responsibility of planning, budgeting and organising this event (with some

guidance) and part of the process was using their learning in IT, working with spreadsheets and data, to comeup with a budget for an event such as this. We are proud of them. The Disco will start at 6pm and end at 9pm. Children will need to go home at the end of the day and return at6pm. The theme for this event is GLOW IN THE DARK. Tracy Thomas tracy.thomas@hillcrest.ac.ke

Young Programmers Forum 2018

This is an event organized by Peponi House School to bring together learners with a passion for computerscience and information. The focus is to encourage computational thinking and build programming andcomputer engineering confidence in children. Four pupils from Hillcrest were lucky to take part in the forum and were issued with certificates of training andparticipation. During the forum, learners were trained and tested on four main areas; 3D printing, system control, web designusing HTML and game coding using Scratch. System logic control is a device – programming and engineering challenge which gave them a real -worldapplication of their computing theory. HTML entailed creating a website about their favourite film andincorporating web page elements in it. Game coding involved creating a gallery using Scratch programminglanguage while the 3D printing challenge was about designing an object that is 3D using Sketch-up and printingit using 3D printers. The expectation was based on; imagination, dimensions, measurement, creativity andlogical thinking. Computational thinking, technology and Computer Science is the way to go and at Hillcrest we encourageparents to support their children with programs such STEM, Lego Mindstorm,  Arduino, Apps inventors, web

design and other programming languages. This is an area they can do as hobbies and at the same time buildtheir engineering career path. David Ongaya

Parents E-safety online training webinar

We all know how hard it is to keep up to date with what our children are doing online.  If you would like practicaland valuable advice on how to protect yourself and your family online, then please join this E-safety webinarworkshop, hosted by Stella James, CEO and founder of Gooseberry Planet.  This webinar is tailored forparents and is FREE OF CHARGE! Stella has become a well-known speaker on the subject of Online Safeguarding and regularly speaks atschools and educational events across the UK.  She is passionate about raising the profile of E-Safety inschools and about engaging and educating the whole school community.  Parents and teachers have acombined responsibility to protect and prepare children for a life online.  But are we doing enough?

Our informative webinar will cover ALL aspects of online safety, with particular focus on: Managing Privacy Settings

Social Media (Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat etc)

Live Video Streaming

Sharing Personal Information

Latest Apps to be aware of

Online Gaming

Monitoring a child’s internet usage

Advice for parents

When? Tuesday 20th March 2018 at 8pm How? 1. Click the link below to start and join at the specified time and date: https://global.gotowebinar.com/ojoin/8461769308535695106/4462419990086278662   2. Choose one of the following audio options:   TO USE YOUR COMPUTER'S AUDIO: When the Webinar begins, you will be connected to audio using your computer's microphone and speakers(VoIP). A headset is recommended.   -- OR -- TO USE YOUR TELEPHONE: If you prefer to use your phone, you must select "Use Telephone" after joining the webinar and call in using thenumbers below: United Kingdom: +44 20 3713 5022 Access Code: 225-974-216 Audio PIN: Shown after joining the webinar

Sports News:

The past few weeks have been extremely exciting. We have been taking part in many major events and ourshowings have been excellent in each. This week we had to unfortunately cancel our own U9 Hockey Festivaldue to the torrential downpour on Thursday morning. This was a great disappointment to us, particularly as thechildren had worked so hard and made such progress in preparation. A great deal of work had gone into thisbehind the scenes and we were very disappointed and I thank those people for their fruitless efforts. Kenton U11 and U13 Boys Hockey. This was a very exciting and impressive tournament. Both of our teams played very well. The coach of the U11team had the following to say: ‘The under 11s played four matches in the group stages. The boys started offwell by beating The Banda 1-0 via a Sandro Lussier goal early into the match but lost their second match toBraeburn. They then registered barren draws against both Braeburn Mombasa and St. Andrew's Turi thusmanaging to finish third in their group. They are commended for showing good hockey skills and teamworkthroughout the tournament.’ Jared Opiyo Yogo MFL, Games and Humanities Department. The U13 team fared slightly better. They managed to achieve the runners up spot, having played someexcellent hockey throughout the tournament. They were captained superbly by Quentin Van der Meer. Throughthe group stages they first beat Braeburn, 2-0 with goals from Alvin Muthi and Quentin Van der Meer in anexcellent display. The boys then stepped up and played at an even higher level to defeat The Banda 1-0 in anexcellent game with  Joshua Denga scoring after a great break away. Against Peponi House the boys had tobattle hard. They performed well, Alex Mikosz making two excellent saves that allowed us to counter and win 1-0 with a goal from Quentin Van der Meer. The last group game against Kenton saw the boys come back from agoal down to draw 1-1 with another Joshua Denga goal. Then on to the Semi-final. This proved to be anotherexcellent game, this time against Pembroke. Hillcrest opened the scoring directly from the start, Joshua Dengawith another, this time excellent solo goal where he used his excellent skills to waltz around the defendersbefore finishing. The boys had performed amazingly, every team member offering everything they could on the

pitch. In the final they again faced, The Banda. We had beaten them 4-0 in a game earlier in the week and 1-0in the group stages, so we entered with confidence. We started slowly, unfortunately, and conceded a goalfollowing a second short corner. During the second half, the team pushed for an equalizer, having much of theplay. Unfortunately, this left us exposed and The Banda managed to score again on the break. Theperformances were gallant. Every member of the team showed great courage – as a team we knew we were amatch for anyone, and by the end of the tournament we had won many friends with our playing style andcommitment. I have personally had many positive comments from parents and staff of other schools about theteam's efforts and ability.  The day was not complete there, however. During the final presentations we discovered that four of our players,(no other school had more representatives) had been chosen to represent the Nairobi Schools team. This is agreat honour for the boys. Joshua Denga for his attacking ability, Tapiwa Danha our midfield general, QuentinVan der Meer our captain and example to the team and finally Alvin Muthi who was not only added to theNairobi schools team but also was voted player of the tournament. All the staff and coaches, especially Max Mutahi are very proud of the team's achievements. We are hoping that the girls can perform to the best of their ability as well this weekend at Peponi House andcontinue to show the courage and determination that the boys did. Nigel Moyse Head of Sports nigel.moyse@hillcrest.ac.ke

Creative Arts News:

Creative Arts Cultural Week March 19th - 23rd 2018 In line with value of Respect, Hillcrest Preparatory is celebrating a cultural week between 19th to 23rd  March2018.   Classes have been divided into continents and in most lessons they will discover what is culturallyunique in the given continent. During the Art, DT, Drama and Music lessons pupils will participate in various cultural art and dances. The weekwill culminate with a visit from the Kibera Hamlets Dance and Acrobatic group. They will come and spend theday with our pupils engaging them in a taste of Kenyan Cultural dances. Through this experience we hope to cultivate inclusion, cooperation and mutual respect for everyone around us

and the world in general.

Saturday's International Cultural Day taking place on the afternoon of 24th at our Secondary School will give ourpupils further exposure to different cultures.

Yoland MasidzaHead of Creative Artsyoland.masidza@hillcrest.ac.ke

ECA Trip News:

Trip to Paris

We are so excited to announce our upcoming trip to Paris for pupils in Year 5 to Year 8. Pupils and parents areinvited to sign up for the Paris Tour which will take place in August 2018. This exciting 10 day trip will includevisits to The Modern Museum of Art, The Louvre and to Disney World. This is a once in a lifetime trip!Kindly register with Ms Yoland, Ms. Regau, Ms.Wekesa or Jacqueline.

Barbara Simiyu & Jacqueline MwangiCoordinatorsbarbara.simiyu@hillcrest.ac.ke or jacqueline.mwangi@hillcrest.ac.ke