A leading independent prep school in Somerset, offering excellence in education for 2-13 year olds
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.
World Book Day at Perrott Hill! From Mr McCullough as James Bond in The World is not a Nerf (see what he did there…) to Mr Silk as Farmer Boggis with a plethora of Fantastic Mr Foxes to seek out, pupils and staff had great fun celebrating all things books this week. Well done to our senior pupils who have been taking photographs of themselves reading in far-flung locations and to those who have designed their own costumes and posters on this year’s theme, Heroes and Villains.
Our Reception class were excited and proud to show off their fantastic work to celebrate Chinese New Year last week, while Year 1 have been wowing Mr Edgar with their 3D polar bears. Meanwhile, our Nursery children have been measuring different items and printing welly footprints on paper this morning. We can’t wait to have the whole gang back together soon; the countdown is on!
Pupils gathered around their instruments at home last night for another brilliant informal concert on Teams. From Xanthe on the piano to Alice on the cello (and with trumpets, flutes, guitars and singing in between), this week’s Pupils’ Party Pieces was another fine celebration of music making at Perrott Hill. One particularly special arrangement was ‘Forest’ by siblings Lily in Year 7 and Luca in Year 4, which formed part of a ’16 squares’ art project by Lily. Luca then responded to the visuals by improvising his own musical arrangement at the end. Both Mrs Palmer and Mr Shortman – and all the pupils attending last night – were mightily impressed. Very well done to you both and to all the pupils who took part last night.
On the Friday before half term, we took part in a Perrott Hill ‘Dress to Express’ day, complete with fun activities and a lecture from best-selling author, Boris Starling, in the afternoon. From ski wear and pyjamas to full on fancy dress, we are pleased and proud to see our pupils getting stuck in with such a hefty dose of creativity and fun. Needless to say, we are incredibly proud of all our pupils, parents and staff for rising to the challenge of remote learning with such resilience this term; you all deserve a medal. Fingers crossed for some good news later today!
Welcome back, everyone! We are delighted to kick the second half of term off with some more scholarship news. Congratulations to Beau, who has been awarded a Sport Scholarship to Bryanston. A fantastic achievement Beau; very well done.
Year 1 pupils know how to party! These photographs are taken from the Year 1 Superheroes Dress Up Day last week. After a busy week of learning, the children had been reading Zog by Julia Donaldson and discussing which superhero powers they’d choose (flying was high on the agenda, as was creating sweets out of thin air). They then designed their own superhero outfits and put their skills to the test! Great fun and what a brilliantly super bunch you are.
To raise awareness of Safer Internet Day, pupils in Years 5, 6 and 7 have been busy producing their own posters and videos to share with the rest of the school. During Rest yesterday, Mr Andrews hosted a Kahoot! quiz designed by Henry and Ruby, while Oliver and Harry collaborated on a short video about internet safety and Caspian designed his own poster – bravo to you all!
The results are in! Congratulations to our entire school community for getting behind last week’s Prep School Strava Challenge with such trademark spirit; the final standings put us in 1st place with an incredible 37.5km per person average, followed by All Hallows with 30.24km and King’s Hall with 26.19km. Special mention to the Adams, Walsh and Wareham families for their impressive distances – and to Ms Williams for well over seven hours on her bike. Huge thanks to Mr Lewis and all at King’s College Taunton for leading the event, and to our friends at All Hallows and King’s Hall for bringing some fun and excitement to the week. We can’t wait to see you all soon.
