A leading independent prep school in Somerset, offering excellence in education for 2-13 year olds
This year’s Community Art and Orchestral Morning on Saturday was an absolute triumph, with an 80-strong orchestra made up of local musicians of all ages and abilities coming together to play a selection of music by Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich. Their rendition of Symphony No. 7 was incredible, and the feedback we’ve received from those who took part (including local musicians, pupils, parents, staff and OPHs) has been very special indeed. Hats off to everyone involved and especially to the man behind it all, our very own musical maestro, Mr Shortman. We were also honoured to welcome renowned portrait artist Kelly Frank, who ran the most amazing interactive workshop for local children in Years 4-6 based on the work of Aubrey Williams. The children used their hands, mouths, feet and more to create a range of vibrant and colourful pieces – all while listening and responding to the music of Shostakovich. Huge thanks to Kelly, along with Rob, Aimie and Mrs Palmer, for a fantastic morning of creativity. And if that wasn’t enough, we also displayed an exhibition of artwork by pupils in Years 1-8 in the Grundy Hall, showing how each year group responded to the music of Shostakovich in their art lessons with Mrs Palmer. What a morning! Proud to be Perrott.
There was much excitement in Nursery this week as our youngest children listened to stories about Pancake Day and then made their own pancakes for snack time. Judging by the big smiles and empty plates afterwards, we’d say they went down well…
Year 3 have been reading ‘The Iron Man’ by Ted Hughes in their English lessons with Ms Bresland. The children enjoyed some interesting discussions about bravery, conflict, and machines versus nature, before illustrating and annotating their own iron men (as seen on their classroom display). They also penned their own alternative endings, designed posters to promote the story, and wrote and illustrated newspaper articles about the Space-Bat-Angel-Dragon landing in Australia!
Year 6 pupils went on a history trip to The Tank Museum at Bovington this month, to consolidate their learning about life during the Second World War. They got to dress up in a range of military attire, handle artefacts, and explore the replica 1940s shop, house and Anderson shelter. It was brilliant! Afterwards, they were able to go inside tanks from all over the world and from different time periods, which they loved. Big thanks to Mr Finch and all at Bovington.
Parents and pupils enjoyed performances from actors, drummers and guitarists at yesterday’s informal concert in the Theatre, as well as the debut outing of our new rock band, Perrock! Very well done to all the pupils involved and our thanks to Mr Waite, Mr Lane, Dr Berkeley and Mr Shortman. A special mention goes to Rose in Year 5 for the branded ‘Perrock’ t-shirts; the merchandise starts here, we are told…
Year 4 are learning about Roman Britain in history with Mr Finch, and recently learnt all about Roman roads. After studying the various stages of construction, the pupils were set the task of building their own, using Digestives for the base, Maltesers for small stones, Smarties and M&Ms for sand, pebbles and gravel, custard creams for the paving and cream to hold it all together. The class were split into two groups with Praefecti Bell and Bugler leading and organising their groups to complete the various tasks and stages of the road. It was a great lesson, with lots of learning and fun had by all. And the best bit? Lower Prep got to eat the roads for pudding!
Many thanks to Old Perrott Hillian Hugo H, who gave a fascinating talk to Years 7 and 8 recently about his career in horse racing. Hugo, who works as Assistant Trainer at fellow OPH Harry Fry’s yard in Higher Crockermoor, talked about how horses are trained and raced, what their care involves, and what happens in the build up to race days! It was brilliant; thanks, Hugo. If there are any other OPHs or former parents who’d like to come and talk to Years 7 and 8 about careers, or deliver a school lecture for Years 3-8 on any topic, please do get in touch!
As part of this week’s work to celebrate and support Children’s Mental Health Week, pupils in Years 3 and 4 have been discussing how they connect to each other and the wider world. They then wrote and illustrated individual strips, before linking them together to form a paper chain. Excellent work, Lower Prep. Elsewhere, children in Years 5-8 have produced some thoughtful artwork on the topic of connecting and our Pre-Prep children have taken part in some lovely and lively discussions about working together. More on that next week!
Eight finalists took part in the hotly contested Year 7 Public Speaking Competition recently, to a packed audience of pupils, parents and our guest adjudicator (and school governor), Richard Redwood from Canford. Each pupil had to present a two-minute speech on a charity of their choice, with the top three charities being selected as our designated school charities for the forthcoming year. Very well done to all the pupils who took part, but especially to runners up George K (in support of Shelter) and Oscar W-A (in support of Dogs of Portugal), and to overall winner Arthur V, whose speech about Great Ormond Street Hospital was praised for being poised, eloquent and extremely well presented. Very well done to you all and we look forward to supporting these three charities in due course.
Year 8 pupils took part in a fiery debate last week as they contested the motion ‘This House believes that fast food does more harm than good’. Very well done to the proposing and opposing teams for delivering impressive and well-researched speeches about the pros and cons of fast food, and to the chair and timekeeper for orchestrating the proceedings. Following further questions from the floor, the motion was eventually defeated by a slim margin of just seven votes! Excellent work, Year 8.
