Head
Dear Parents,
We look forward to seeing many of you at our ‘Through the Trees’ family fun day tomorrow from 10.00a.m. Enjoy some light-hearted learning and play, including Forest School, Mini Beasts, Art, Adventure Park, Science, VR Headsets, and more. That afternoon, we move to enjoy our Summer Proms. Parents are welcome to find a spot from midday, with the acts starting at 12.30 p.m. The new outdoor stage looks fantastic, and we look forward to using it to celebrate creativity in many forms.
We’ve had many of the older children doing assessments this week, and a special mention goes to Year 8, who all sat their Common Entrance papers. These days, this exam is very much a badge of honour and a ‘leaver’s certificate’ as all our pupils have senior school places confirmed. With around half of our 13+ cohort already having either a scholarship or award from senior schools, we expect them to do very well.
As a treat, we look forward to opening the new Upper School Common Room and the Prep Courtyard next week – two ‘chilled’ spaces for the children to enjoy.
We have three strong staff appointments to celebrate for 2024-25:
In September, Mrs Olivia Mowlam joins our English Department following a career as a teacher, teacher trainer, and Assistant Headteacher. She has been getting to know Barrow Hills by providing cover teaching. We have the space as a living legend of our Common Room, Mrs. Jackie Campbell-John, moves toward a very well-deserved retirement after 23 years of outstanding service. We will celebrate with Jackie at the end of the term.
The wonderful Georgie Beddington, of our Music Department, takes a break to concentrate on raising her young family, and we wish her all the best. We have been very fortunate to hire Mrs Kate Davis, Director of Music at Edgeborough School, who joins us with a real wealth of experience and achievement in the prep sector.
Finally, we have a new School Secretary starting in the summer. Mrs Jenn Sewell comes with an impressive background as an EA in leading multinationals, and her wider interests include completing a Master’s in Nutrition.
I hope to see many of you on Saturday for fun, song, dance, and music (and a nice glass of wine).
Mr John Towers
Head of Upper Prep
Dear Parents,
It has been a quiet and studious time in Upper Prep as Years 7 and 8 children have been hard at work tackling their examination papers. I have been so impressed with the hard work and effort the children have put into their revision as evidenced by the weighty folders and bundles of flashcards on their desks in the hall. Their focus this week has been excellent and fortunately the weather has been good so they have been able to enjoy their breaks outside in the fresh air. It has also been great to see how the children have supported and encouraged each other throughout the week. Well done Upper Prep!
I know Year 8 will be looking forward to the wonderful Post CE Programme of activities that begins on Monday and Year 7 will be looking forward to joining them on the trip to the Ardèche on 14th June. Please don’t forget to bring your passports into school next week and hand these to Mrs Goddings!
Dates for your diary:
Monday 10th June:
Year 8 Thorpe Park trip
Tuesday 11th June:
Year 8 Bike Ride Day
Year 7 production 6.00pm
Wednesday 12th June:
Year 8 Financial Literacy at King Edward’s – morning only
Thursday 13th June:
CE Results Day
Special Celebration Lunch
Play in a Day – Performance at 6.00pm
Friday 14th June:
Depart for the Ardèche!
Thank you to all those Upper Prep children who have volunteered to help with our ‘Through the Trees’ open event and the Proms on Saturday. Your help is greatly appreciated. I’d especially like to thank the drama captains and scholars who have offered outstanding support across all areas of the drama curriculum this year. They have not only led by example by showing themselves to be exceptional pupils, but they have also supported the school community by introducing events like Book Week and the House Poetry Competition. I know they will do a great job of compering the Proms this year.
See you on Saturday everyone!
Mrs Mason
Head of Middle Prep
Dear Parents,
Welcome back! It’s been a busy and exciting first week back.
It’s inspiring to see more children engrossed in their books around school. Daily reading is such an important habit to encourage.
This week, Year 4 took a fascinating trip to the Fareham Museum, where they experienced Victorian school life. It was an opportunity for them to step back in time and gain a deeper understanding of history through immersive learning.
Year 6 had a blast this week getting their fun end-of-year photos taken. We look forward to seeing the end product displayed in the Refectory.
Thursday saw some friendly competition with Year 3 and Year 4 participating in House matches. The spirit of teamwork and sportsmanship was in full display as the children enjoyed playing and supporting each other in various games.
To help with the transition to Middle Prep, our Year 2 pupils have been spending time in the Thomas More Building with me. I’ve been reading them ‘The Tale of Despereaux’, and it’s been lovely to see their excitement as they get used to their new surroundings. We have more transition opportunities planned throughout the rest of the year to ensure our children feel comfortable and confident as they move up through the school.
Miss Tyrrell
Head of Pre-Prep
Dear Parents,
As we enter the final half of term for the academic year, we have embraced its pace, particularly by beginning to think more about transition ahead of September. Our children in Kindy were visited by our wonderful Reception teacher who came to read with them this week, the Reception pupils have been ‘upstairs’ to have a look at the Year 1 and Year 2 classrooms and cloakrooms, and Year 2 have continued their story times with the Head of Middle Prep, Miss Tyrrell as they prepare for their move up to Year 3 in September.
This afternoon, members of Year 1 and Year 2 have travelled over to West Sussex with the sports staff for a cricket fixture. Our pupils felt very proud to be representing Barrow Hills in one of their first sporting fixtures with another school and enjoyed meeting the children from Pennthorpe School for a friendly game of cricket. Of course, the match tea was a highlight too!
A reminder to ensure your child has a pair of trousers (joggers) and a long sleeved top for Forest School each week, even in warm, sunny weather.
Congratulations to Alexander (Rec), Rafferty (1G), Hugo (1R) and Zac (2G) who all received Work of the Week certificates in assembly this morning. Rocco, Sammy, India and Arthur from Reception, Ben, Orson, Beau, Ottilie, George B, James and Lenny from Year 1, and Zac, Theo, Vidur and Alex from Year 2 also received their Gold Certificates for the total number of House points they have achieved to date. Well done everybody. We were also able to present Ben (1R) with his Silver Mini Duke Award this morning. Ben successfully completed challenges including den building, a 3.5 hour hike, cooking and propagating cactus to achieve his silver award. What a super effort.
Tomorrow we host our open morning event: Through The Trees 10.00 – 11.30am and we look forward to seeing many of you there. We’ll then look forward to our picnics with the Summer Proms from 12 noon.
Enjoy a lovely weekend,
Mrs Barnett
