A leading independent prep school in Somerset, offering excellence in education for 2-13 year olds
Senior pupils would ordinarily be preparing to visit Feltonfleet Prep School in Surrey this week, for the annual Remembrance fixture to honour the strong bond between our two schools. For those not in the know, the children and staff from Feltonfleet were evacuated to the North Perrott Manor in 1940 during the Second World War, where they stayed for the duration of the war. Upon their return to Surrey, Mr and Mrs Grundy decided to stay – and Perrott Hill was born! This year, Upper Prep pupils will be taking part in a virtual bleep test against Feltonfleet, before the two schools come together virtually to observe a minute of silence. The Upper Prep girls have been in training for the bleep test all week – bring it on!
Year 2 have been learning about the Great Fire of London in history with Ms Williams. To bring their learning to life, they took their replica of Pudding Lane (which they made themselves) to Forest School and watched as Ms Williams set fire to the bakery. They then played a Great Fire of London version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire to test their knowledge – and got every question right to walk away with the top prize! Great team work, Year 2, and a brilliant way to learn about events of the past.
The second half of term began with an uplifting Headmaster’s Assembly as Mr McCullough welcomed Reverend Jonathan Morris to speak about yesterday’s All Saints’ Day. Jonathan spoke of the Beatitudes recounted by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew, and talked about how these eight blessings offer consolations to the downtrodden but also guidance for being saintly yourself. Thank you, Jonathan, for showing our pupils how they can behave with grace and humility, make sacrifices and show love and empathy towards one another as they are guided through the next few months. In related news, we are delighted to announce that we gave 941 items to The Lord’s Larder this harvest; their largest donation to date. Proud to be Perrott!
Congratulations to Year 8 pupil, Levi, who won the Open Visual Arts competition at the TYCA (Taunton Youth Culture and Arts) Festival this week. Levi beat off stiff competition from schools and colleges across the South West with his ceramic work ‘3 bowls for soup’. The judges were looking for creativity and originality, content, and a degree of expertise in the chosen medium. An incredible achievement; well done, Levi – and thank you to the Friends of Perrott Hill for investing in our kiln!
Congratulations to senior pupil, Grace, who received a bronze certificate and the best in school certificate at this year’s Junior Maths Challenge with the UK Mathematics Trust, which took place last term. Inspired by her achievements, our younger pupils have been buffing up on strategy games in junior maths club with Mrs Crane, including three hexagon, four star and pig. They’ve also been taking part in the challenge to step through a sheet of A4 paper, which they didn’t think was possible – until now!
Let the battle commence! Year 4 thoroughly enjoyed last Friday’s history trip to Maiden Castle, the largest and most complex Iron Age hillfort in Britain. As well as exploring the steep ramparts and searching for evidence of the Roman invasion and abandonment, the groups had great fun attacking and defending the hillfort. A brilliant day of learning; thanks, Mr Finch and Miss White.
The Year 5 boys enjoyed a great night in the top floor dorms on Friday, complete with indoor football, ICT and Star Wars! May the force be with you…
Years 5 to 8 camped under the stars on Saturday for our first boarding activity weekend of the year. Following a hearty breakfast on Sunday, the children got stuck into some bushcraft with Hooke Court’s Chris McConnell. As well as gutting fish and plucking pigeons for a gamekeeper’s stew, the teams discovered three different ways of lighting a fire. Many thanks to Chris for his bushcraft expertise and to Miss Hand, Mr Edgar and the boarding team for a brilliant weekend.
Earlier this term, we were invited to take part in the IAPS Covid-19 Response Series, a new project by IAPS and ITN Productions to showcase the great work of prep schools in dealing with lockdown and remote learning. The series launches this week via IAPS (which has over 670 of the world’s leading prep schools in membership) and we are delighted to share the Headmaster’s interview with you today. Proud to be Perrott.
Perrott Hill has today joined the Stirling Education family of schools, which currently includes 55 schools and two universities across Europe, India and the Middle East. Perrott Hill becomes the ‘flagship’ UK school and will be very much a part of growing and shaping the group as it expands into the UK.
“Stirling Education has been looking to expand into the UK, my home country, for some time now and we are hugely excited to have found a school like Perrott Hill to be our ‘flagship’ school,” says Stirling CEO, Timothy Fisher. “The brand is strong and successful, with a breadth of excellence across the board and a very supportive and dedicated team of staff and parents. We have invested in Perrott Hill because we can see what a truly incredible school it is, and we are committed to retaining its ethos and charm. As such, nothing will change: the leadership will stay the same, as will the board of governors, which includes current and former Heads of some of the most respected schools in the country. I very much share the school’s vision of being the most sought after prep school in the South West and am looking forward to watching it thrive.”
For more information, including a summary of the recent Q&A session with parents, please go to the Stirling Education box on our homepage or click on https://www.perrotthill.com/stirling-education/
