A leading independent prep school in Somerset, offering excellence in education for 2-13 year olds
We are back and raring to go after a brilliant day of staff training on Friday! It was especially good to welcome our colleagues from Stirling Education for lunch and drinks; thank you for coming and a special mention to our wonderful catering team for their hard work. Here’s to a busy and successful 2023!
During the last week of term our Christmas Show made a triumphant return following a two-year hiatus – and what a show it was! From comedy sketches, singing and dancing to magic, science and jazz, it was chock-full of energy and charm, and we loved it. Well done to everyone involved, and you can head to our social media pages for more photographs and videos.
Friday evening’s Carols and Readings in the Grundy Hall was an absolute triumph, with Christmas songs aplenty and a sleighful of festive spirit. From the Wind Band’s ‘God Rest Ye Merry Jazzmen’ to the String Ensemble’s mesmerising remix of ‘While Shepherds Watched Harry Potter’, it was a masterclass in carols and readings, and the perfect way to get us in the mood for Christmas. Take a bow, Mr Shortman! A big round of applause to all the pupils who took part and, of course, to our incredible music teachers. Proud to be Perrott.
Hats off to our superstar Pre-Prep children, who acted, sang and danced their socks off in their Nativity on Wednesday. This year’s play ‘Lights, Camel, Action!’ took the form of a talent show with acts including stars, innkeepers and angels performing in front of Caesar (boo!), the innkeeper’s wife (yay!) and donkey (cheer!). It was amazing! Very well done to everyone involved and a big thank you to our wonderful Pre-Prep staff, musicians (led by Mr Shortman) and set designers Mrs Palmer, Mr White and Mr Bishop.
Year 5 have been studying the Roman way of life in Latin with Dr L-C. As part of their work on the Roman Baths they have learnt all about defixiones (or curse tablets), which were often left in Roman bathhouses in an attempt to punish thieves who stole clothing and property from the baths. The children then had a go at creating their own defixiones using the formula found on curse tablets at Aqua Sulis (Bath, Somerset). Labor optime… but don’t try this as home!
Children in Years 3-8 were captivated by a reading from ‘The Wind in the Willows’ on Wednesday, courtesy of Perrott parent and actor, Harry Hadden-Paton – the first speaker in our new series of ‘Stories from the Orange Chair’. Harry’s extract followed the fortunes of the incorrigible Toad who is on the run, having escaped imprisonment disguised as a washer woman. Thank you to Harry for giving up his time and for helping to reveal the magic of the written word.
We were delighted to welcome four local primary schools to Perrott Hill last week for our Year 6 Mock Trial, an annual event involving a fictional court case and a team of magistrates from the Yeovil Magistrates’ Court. Very well done to the children in competing teams from Preston, Hambridge, Chilthorne Domer, Ash and Perrott Hill, who all performed brilliantly and should feel very proud of themselves indeed! This year we entered two Perrott teams, with each achieving success: 6Y won their trial against 6G by successfully acquitting the defendant, alleged fly tipper Lee Smedley, while 6G went on to win the competition for their overall team performance. Well done to 6G’s resident Court Artist, Piper, who was named the winning Court Artist! Our thanks go to Mr Silk for organising the event, to the trio of Yeovil Magistrates who adjudicated the trials, and to former Perrott parent (and Managing Partner at Humphries Kirk Solicitors) Victoria Pearson, who helped the children with their preparation in the run up.
We recently published a limited edition book of songs written by Perrott Hill pupils over the past few years, which is now proudly on display in the Grundy Hall. Initially started as a lockdown project, the pupils (and Dr Berkeley!) became so inspired by their newfound passion for song writing that they continued into 2021 and beyond, with the children being encouraged to compose their own songs based on a particular passion of theirs. From ‘The Dinosaur History Song’ by Eliza to ‘Donuts’ by Scarlet, the book is a journey through different melodies and genres, and we couldn’t be prouder to have brought it to print. Very well done to all the pupils who contributed.
Factory farming was the hot topic at Friday’s Year 7 debate, as pupils argued the pros and cons of intensive agriculture. Very well done to both teams who presented their ideas with poise, and to the chair and timekeeper for leading the proceedings. Following some fervent questioning from the floor, the motion to ban factory farming was carried by 52 votes to 26. Very well done to everyone who took part.
Well done to our Year 5 boys who competed in the recent U10 Rugby Festival at Queen’s College, Taunton. It was a brilliant event and the boys enjoyed playing matches against Blundell’s, Millfield Prep, King’s Hall and West Buckland. The festival followed hot on the heels of two earlier tournaments: our U11 boys took part in the IAPS Rugby Tournament at Sherborne a few weeks ago and our U11 girls played in the IAPS Girls’ Hockey Tournament at Millfield earlier in the month. Many thanks to Queen’s, Sherborne and Millfield for hosting.
