A leading independent prep school in Somerset, offering excellence in education for 3-13 year olds
Our Director of Music, Mr Shortman, wears many harmonious hats at Perrott Hill; yesterday, he took on the role of a crocodile for his music lesson in Nursery! What a lovely sight – we can’t wait to (hopefully) hear our youngest children sing at Celebration Morning later in the term… In yesterday’s assembly, we celebrated the success of Prep pupils Harry, Willoughby and Mia, who recently passed their ABRSM Grade 1 music results on the clarinet and cello with merit and distinction. Excellent news and even more so considering they’d prepared for their exams remotely! Very well done to you all.
In true Perrott style, pupils wasted no time getting stuck into the summer term this week… The Headmaster’s assembly on Monday was about footwear, with Mr McCullough bringing along a selection from his own wardrobe. The children discussed the suitability of each item for the job at hand – from golf shoes and flip flops to slippers and wellies. They then discussed the expression ‘Don’t judge a person until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes’, with Year 7 pupil, Magnus, explaining the meaning behind this. The children also observed a minute’s silence to remember His Royal Highness Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, and were played in by Year 6 pupils, Evie and Ruby, on the violin. We’re looking forward to a lively and energetic term!
We are back and are delighted to share a glimpse into our latest Review magazine, which went home with parents and pupils on the last day of term. Fifty pages packed full of the latest goings on at Perrott Hill, from book clubs and boarding to current affairs and community action. We are always proud to celebrate a breadth of excellence at school and this year’s successes (so far) include the Leweston Cross Country Competition, the King’s Taunton Prep School Strava Challenge, the Forde Abbey RDA Short Story Competition and the prestigious BSA Awards where we were crowned the winner of the Supporting Junior Boarders award! Bravo to our brilliant pupils for rising to the challenge of the past two terms – we’re looking forward to even more sport, music, art, drama, academics and boarding when term starts next week…
We are excited to announce our Summer Term Open Morning dates! We will be holding two Virtual Open Mornings on Friday 7th and Friday 14th May and an Open Morning at school, in accordance with all government guidelines, on Friday 21st May. Please do get in touch if you’d like to explore our multi-award-winning school – or pass on to any interested friends and families you know. For further info and booking, please email Camilla on admissions@perrotthill.com.
Our Pre-Prep ballet dancers are back in action and it’s gallops a-go-go in the Grundy Hall! EYFS children are exercising skips and first and second position along with curtsies/bows, relevé, plié, sauté and échappé, while Years 1 and 2 are working on retiré, balancer and pas de chat. Meanwhile Year 3 (not pictured) are practising battement, travelling jeté and port de bras, as well as exploring a short choreography with a piece of music chosen for their favourite sounding instrument. Many thanks to the wonderful Dr Berkeley for her energy and inspiration!
Years 6-8 turned out in force for last week’s Book Club, where they shared their thoughts on Philip Pullman’s ‘Northern Lights’. An animated discussion on the central themes of love, betrayal, religion and science ensued and pupils were keen to give their opinion on the recent BBC adaptation, too. The star of the show was the Book Club’s mastermind, Mrs Byrne, who wore a polar bear jumper in honour of Iorek Byrnison! We’re looking forward to the Year 3-5 Book Club this week where the topic of discussion will be Ross Montgomery’s ‘The Midnight Guardians.’
We are delighted to share some more scholarship news. Congratulations to Harry, who has been awarded an All Rounder (Thompson) Scholarship to Radley, to Erica, who has been awarded an Academic Scholarship to King’s Bruton alongside her Music Exhibition, and to George, who has been awarded a Sport Exhibition to King’s College, Taunton. Very well done to you all.
Very well done to Harry (Year 6) and Jessica (Year 4), who were recently named the winners of a short story competition to raise money and awareness for the Forde Abbey Riding for the Disabled Carriage Riding Group. The competition was organised by 10 year-old Erin, a pupil at Combe St Nicholas Primary School whose aunt attends the group and benefits enormously from it. With the help of her mum, Maxine, Erin invited a number of schools to take part and the competition was judged by Victoria Seaman from Somerset Libraries and Annette Bartlett, a local Independent Usborne Organiser, who donated five book prizes. Well done to runners up Lucas, Scarlett, Horatio, Arthur and Caspian (Year 5/6) and James, Rose, William and Arabella (Year 4), to Chloe from Manor Court Primary School who was also named a winner, and to Erin, who raised £450 for this fantastic and deserving group.
We expected the motion of last Friday’s Year 7 Debate on Teams to be a hot potato and it certainly did not disappoint! The question of whether or not violent video games should be banned was hotly contested and despite persuasive arguments from proposers Eleanor, Harry and Sophie our Chairman, Ollie, declared Magnus, Barnaby and Bluebell the winners as the motion was defeated by 10 votes to 37. Many congratulations to all who took part and to Mrs Byrne who helped to prepare them so thoroughly. We look forward to a return to live debating next term with Year 6 and 7 debates in the offing.
The Week’s Independent Schools Guide is out today and we are delighted to feature not once but twice. Our Head of English, Mrs Byrne, was invited to share some essential reading for prep children in the Joy of Books feature on page 35 (she has recommended the book ‘Lampie’ by Annet Schaap) and we are also listed as a contender for ‘Great Country Prep’ in the annual ‘best of the best preps’ feature on p45. Proud to be Perrott! The issue is out now and is modelled here by Year 5 pupil, George. George has been writing his own books over lockdown and will be continuing to craft them in next week’s Creative Writing Club.
