Private School News

‘SPY DOG’ VISITS ELMS PUPILS

Pupils from Years 2-5 at The Elms, Junior School to Trent College, were in for a treat this week, when award winning author Andrew Cope and his dog Lara came to visit, creating a perfect start to the School’s World Book Week activities.
Lara is the inspiration behind Andrew’s bestselling Spy Dog novels, in which a specially trained secret agent dog has many adventures, chasing mega-baddy ‘Mr Big’. The real Lara cannot play computer games or drive a car like her counterpart in the books but she was very patient with the pupils who all wanted to stroke her.
Andrew, from Derby, gave an inspirational talk to the children about books and stories, explaining why reading is so important today and explained to pupils that reading encourages the imagination and makes your brain work harder than watching T.V. The pupils went away with signed copies of the Spy Dog books (Andrew even gave out some free copies) and were inspired to take part in a competition, designed to fire their imagination and improve their writing skills, by writing their own story about a pet gorilla. As an extra incentive all entries stand a chance of winning a special Spy Dog t-shirt!
Andrew’s incredibly popular books have won several awards, including a Nottingham Book Award and Redhouse Children’s Book of the Year.
Both The Elms and Trent College believe that reading is an important factor in ensuring the well-being and happiness of our children and The Elms’ wonderful new library promotes reading for pleasure in a variety of ways, one of which is through meeting an author. All pupils at The Elms have now met a writer this academic year, which has further inspired them to read and to use their imagination. And they have had a lot of fun, too!

Staines Prep Raising Money for Sports Relief

Over 350 children from Staines Prep took part in a sponsored ‘Exercise to Music’ event on Friday 5 March, to help raise funds for Sport Relief 2010.

In the past, each House at Staines Prep has supported its own local charity through various fundraising activities. However, this year for the first time all four Houses came together in aid of the UK charity.

Pupils swapped formal shirts and ties for comfy sports gear, cranked up the music and got moving and grooving to a series of three aerobic routines. Both the tennis court and the main playground had to be used to accommodate everyone.

Deputy Head Mr. Amiss said: “We are extremely proud of all the children, not only did they raise funds which will help to change the lives of those less fortunate, but they are also helping to support the national drive for health and fitness in young people.”

WORLD BOOK DAY CELEBRATED IN STYLE AT TRENT COLLEGE

World Book Day is always a day to remember for Trent College and its Junior School, The Elms, and this year was no exception.
Held on Thursday 4th March, World Book Day is the biggest annual celebration of books and reading in the UK and Ireland. One of its main aims is to encourage children to read for pleasure, something which is actively promoted all year round by Trent College through events, book clubs and author visits. To celebrate the day, the School’s Library Services team organised a number of fun activities involving all children from 3 – 18 years old.
At The Elms, staff and pupils came to school dressed as their favourite characters from books; there were princesses and fairies, secret agents and superheros, even the Gruffalo made an appearance! ‘Wally’ from Where’s Wally was also spotted in the crowd.
At Trent, the School Bookshop, based in the Warner Library, had some special offers for the day and long queues were forming as early as 8.30am, with children eager to spend their £1 World Book Day token on a wide selection of books. At lunchtime, live music, drinks and biscuits ensured that the library was buzzing with enthusiastic students of all ages.
With a literary theme in mind, the Trent College Catering Department prepared a magnificent lunch based on Roald Dahl’s Revolting Recipes book, including ‘bird pie’ complete with ‘birds legs’! Across the School, tutors devoted their PSHE lessons to reading and discussing books.
The school day ended with a literary quiz held in Warner Library. Seven teams took on the challenge of answering questions about books, authors and films and impressed the experts with their knowledge. The winning team from Year 8 went home with a big box of chocolates and even bigger smiles on their faces.
Talking about the success of the day, Annike Dase, Head of Library Services said: ‘It was a fantastic day, celebrating books and reading across both Schools. Literature plays a big part in children’s development, from language learning to higher thinking skills, and it is important to foster a love of reading from an early age. That is why Trent College and The Elms embrace World Book Day every year and make it a memorable event for everyone.’

CELEBRATING WORLD BOOK DAY

Bromsgrove Pre-Preparatory and Nursery School held a celebration for World Book Day with a visit from children’s author, Cat Weatherill.

All the children from Nursery to Year Two had an interactive Storytelling session with Cat who brought her stories to life with music, props and audience participation. Aswell as telling the pupils stories from other countries she shared her very latest book, ‘By Lantern Light’ with us.

Mrs Kate Western, Year Two teacher says, “The children were captivated and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. They are now also looking forward to other activities across the school to encourage a love for reading and books”.

The Duchess of Gloucester visits The Royal Alexandra and Albert school

Wednesday 3rd March marked a very special day for the Royal Alexandra and Albert School as it was the 250th anniversary of the admission of the first pupil to the Orphan Working School (which later became the Royal Alexandra and Albert School).

To mark the occasion, pupils and staff were joined by the School’s President, Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Gloucester GCVO. The Duchess has shown great commitment to the School and has visited on a number of occasions over the years, most recently in 2007 when she enjoyed a game of table tennis with pupils after opening extensions to two boarding houses.

The Duchess was presented with a posy by 10 year old pupil, Hannah Farnsworth. During the visit the Duchess attended a short service of commemoration in the School’s chapel and watched a dance display by pupils. The Duchess then met a group of current and former Foundationers in the Headmaster’s office before having to leave in order to get back to London for a state banquet.

Also invited to share the celebrations were Old Scholars, including many who attended the School when it was still an orphanage. Their recollections of life at the orphanage, as it then was, were in many cases very positive, and a far cry from the Dickensian tales more commonly associated with orphanages.

Headmaster Paul Spencer Ellis comments “The School is proud of its heritage and the visit from the Duchess of Gloucester is a fitting way to acknowledge the opportunities given to over 20,000 orphans in the last 250 years. Whilst no longer an orphanage, the Royal Alexandra and Albert School which has 800 pupils with 400 boarders, still offers some free boarding places to children with difficult family circumstances.”

Junior Barbarians trials

Two boys from Stonyhurst St Mary’s Hall have been selected to play for the Independent Association of Prep Schools Barbarians. Favour Maduka will play for the Under 13 side and Chidiebere Nechi for the Under 11’s. The IAPS have been holding trials all over the country to select a squad of players to play in Ireland soon. Hundreds of boys have gone through the selection process and have anxiously awaited the decision of the selectors, who attended a final session at Rugby School a few days ago. Both boys received “Man of the Match” awards in their final trial games. Bravo!

Photo: Favour (aged 13, left) and Chidiebere (11, right).

Hull Collegiate School are National Cross-Country Champions

Hull and East Riding of Yorkshire pupils were triumphant at the North of England cross-country squad, by winning the recent ISA Cross-Country Championships, held near Coventry, last week.
Twelve-year old Andrew Hess achieved his own individual glory by winning his event and becoming the National ISA Cross-Country Champion for his age group. Andrew, aged 12 and a pupil at Hull Collegiate School is also a member of the Kingston Upon Hull Athletics club and is to represent the area at the English Schools Athletics Association cross-country meeting in Manchester later this month.
Charlotte Dodds, aged 15, achieved her glory with a second place medal in the Under 16 girls race. Charlotte will also be attending the ESAA meeting in Manchester with Andrew, plus fellow pupil Grace Midgely.
The North of England team events also produced a series of winners, with the Under 14 and Under 16 North of England girls team winning their races and the Under 12 and Under 19 North of England girls team placed 2nd.
The pupils, all from Hull Collegiate School based in Anlaby, made up nearly half of the North of England cross-country squad, with 11 of the 24 members of the Junior squad coming from the Prep School and 16 Senior School pupils joining the Senior squad. This is a huge achievement for the local runners as the North of England territory covers a huge area ranging from Durham, the whole of Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire, over to Cumbria and North Wales. Regional qualifying heats were held earlier this year to select the top ten athletes from each region and the Hull-based runners achieved their first taste of success by dominating the final North of England line-up.
“We are immensely proud of our pupils,” says Mr Andrew North, Sports Co-ordinator at Hull Collegiate Prep School. “The school is set in 5 hectares of grounds and we have our own cross-country track. Our pupils are out in all weather running across the 3 km route and this hard-work has definitely paid off as pupils from the school made up nearly half of the final North of England squad.”
The Cross-Country Championships were held at Princethorpe College, near Coventry in wet and cold weather. Although the sleet did stop just long enough for the junior runners, Mrs Dot Feszczak, the senior school sports teacher who took the pupils to the event, admits that the conditions were appalling.

“Virtually everyone surpassed themselves on the day in extremely difficult conditions,” says Mrs Feszczak. “The course was very slippery and it was difficult to run well. One of our parents came to support the North of England Team and she was superb encouraging the runners at a particularly challenging part of the course.”
The results of the Junior and Senior Teams were combined and at the end of the Tournament the North of England were placed overall winners on the day.”

Naval surgeon receives Help for Heroes donation from his old school

An old boy, who is an acting surgeon at Selly Oak Hospital, made an emotional return to his old school to receive a £2,050 cheque on behalf of Help for Heroes

Will Sharp, Surgeon-Lieutenant, Royal Navy, returned to RGS The Grange to accept the cheque from Simon Howkins, who is the deputy head at the Worcester school. He was accompanied by Dawn Turner, the County Volunteer for the charity.

The money was raised from a series of fund raising activities by the school over a 10 week period.

“I was absolutely delighted to return to The Grange on behalf of Help for Heroes,” said Mr Sharp. “The school has always been quick to help good causes and this money will be very gratefully received by the charity. It has been a fantastic effort by the school.”

Will Sharp was an active member of the RGS CCF Naval unit. He then trained as a doctor at Manchester University, sponsored by the Navy. This led to his work at Selly Oak Hospital.

Also shown in the photo are head boy, Duncan Drew, and head girl, Carys Selvey.

Bedford Modern School student Ryan Isaacson to take part in English Schools’ Cross Country Championships

Over two cold and wet Wednesday afternoons in February, Bedford Modern Schools’ Cross Country team competed in the North Beds District Championships and the County Cross Country Championships.

Over both events, all of the Bedford Modern runners competed well, with one Junior girl (Samantha Prentice) and one Senior boy (Alex Robertson) together with four Junior boys (Ryan Isaacson, Henk Kroon, Lewis Marshall, Tom Boulton) qualifying for the County Championships.

However, it is Ryan Isaacson who needs to take all the plaudits for his performances’. In the North Beds event, run around Biddenham Upper School’s fields and surrounding golf course, Ryan took the lead after the second corner and never looked back. He was comfortable in the lead and was never under pressure and came home first by a large margin.

This performance was then surpassed at the County Championships, run around Ampthill Park, where Ryan had a conservative start in the downhill section of the course but soon took the lead on the first uphill section on the first lap. Once in front Ryan extended his lead with every stride and eventually won the race by approximately 400 metres making him the County Champion.

This result means that Ryan has been selected to represent the Bedfordshire & Luton County Team at the English Schools’ Cross Country Championships held at Heaton Park, Greater Manchester on Saturday 20th March. Ryan becomes the second Bedford Modern runner to achieve this feat after Amy Lodder ran in the 2009 Championships.

Patrick Jerram, Director of Sport at Bedford Modern School said, “I would like to congratulate Ryan on his recent success and wish him the very best at the English Schools’ Cross Country Championships.”

Photo: Bedford Modern School Year 9 student Ryan Isaacson

Bedford Modern School Year 5 pupils “Build a Tudor House” day

Bedford Modern Junior School Year 5 pupils took part in a Build a Tudor House workshop on Tuesday 2nd March. The workshop ran from 9.00am until 3.30pm in the Christopher Fry Hall at the School and was led by Charlie Lupton from Build a Tudor House(www.buildatudorhouse.co.uk) Materials were provided by Oakwrights, a multi-award winning company specialising in the design and construction of bespoke oak-frame houses.

Pupils were able to see history come to life with the Build a Tudor House workshop, specifically designed for Key Stage 2 History curriculum. The Year 5 pupils gained hands-on experience of building a piece of “living” history, using learning styles to solve problems as they worked as a team, enjoying themselves and learning history at the same time.

By becoming master craftsmen for the day, pupils assembled a Tudor House using 97 pieces of wood, measuring 3m x 2m. Once completed, the Tudor house was large enough for 30 children to sit inside. Part of the activities involved with the Build a Tudor House workshop included using carpenters’ marks to assemble the Tudor House from pieces of wood; making wattle panels and daubing them, tiling and thatching and shaping pegs used to pin the houses together.

Joanna Rex, Deputy Head of Bedford Modern Junior School said: “This was a wonderful opportunity to bring history alive for the children. To be given the chance to help build a Tudor House that is one third actual size was a particularly exciting prospect. Charlie Lupton was excellent!”

Charley-Ella Knights-Nizzardi, a Year 5 pupil said: “I really enjoyed building the Tudor House and using different beams that each had different names. I also liked laying the tiles and thatching. By taking part in the Tudor House workshop activities I learnt a lot about history instead of just reading about it in a book.”

Harry Beard, another Year 5 pupil added: “I used tools to strip away the wood and make pegs to keep the house together. Overall, the whole Tudor House workshop was fun and I learnt a lot about the Tudors and their lifestyle.”

Photo: Some of the Bedford Modern Junior School pupils taking part in the Build a Tudor House workshop