The Latest News From UK Schools This Month – July 2024

All the latest UK news from schools this month, July 2024, from sports competitions to leadership changes and new developments.

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Events

Royal Hospital School Attempts World Record

Royal Hospital School has attempted a world record for the largest Quick Step dance at a school, with a total number of 458 achieved.

Pupils and staff took on the challenge during their Giving Day in support of the RHS’ Centennial Bursary Campaign. 

The dance was taught using a video tutorial and in-person sessions led by RHS teacher David Corby along with his wife Jane, who are regular competitors in the world of ballroom dancing.

Simon Lockyer, Headmaster, commented on the World Record attempt, saying ‘Last year we raised over £100,000, which meant we could support 14 children coming to the RHS who otherwise wouldn’t be able to do so. This year we were even more ambitious and are delighted to have exceeded last year’s fundraising total by £20,000.’

Eaton House The Manor Celebrates Their 30th Anniversary

Eaton House The Manor is celebrating 30 years since the school’s foundation. 

Opening on the first day in 1993 there were 49 pupils in total. In 2023, the school opened its doors to 688 pupils who entered the newly refurbished grounds.

Headmistress at Eaton House The Manor Prep and Principal of Eaton House Schools, Mrs Sarah Segrave, said: ‘It has been a genuine joy and privilege to have been part of the journey at EHTM, having started here as a teacher on that very first day in September 1993.’

‘We marked our 30th year with a celebration of music at St Luke’s Church on Ramsden Road. This came at the end of a year of fantastic exam results across the schools’.

Pupils from Nursery to Year 8 performed in choirs, as soloists and in groups. Each pupil also received a special 30-year enamel pin badge.

Sidcot School Help Create Art Project For Glastonbury

Sidcot School Art Lead Learners joined forces with Arcadia Reach CIC to create a new installation display for Glastonbury Festival.

This concept evolved after Arcadia’s co-Founder, Pip Rush Jansen, visited Sidcot for a career talk. 

The project brief was to organise a series of hands on workshops exploring the intersection of art, science, music and engineering.

The workshops focused on the theme of functional sustainability, encouraging students to repurpose used metals and materials into art. 

Saskia Key, Year 12 Art Lead Learner said: ‘The range of skills we learnt and needed to use required us to work closely as a team, trusting each other to develop our pieces in the short time available. I was so proud to see it on display at Glastonbury!’

Students Organise Online Conferences For Schools

Year 12 economists at Sydenham High School raised awareness of inequality through online conferences for schools.

The students organised speakers to explore some of the most current and pressing issues around income and wealth inequality.

Economics, Sociology and Geography students from across the Girls’ Day School Trust were invited to join, as well as local London schools.

Sydenham High School’s Head of Economics, Ms Murphy, said: ‘The experts provided valuable insights extending beyond the Economics curriculum and the conference provided students with an opportunity to debate and discuss a wide range of current issues relating to the causes and impact of inequality.’

St Edmund’s School Performs Its End Of Year Production Of Shrek

Form 5 and 6 students brought the characters from Shrek to life, captivating the audience with their performance and carefully crafted set design.

Headmaster at St Edmund’s Prep School, Steven Cartwright, said: ‘The success of the show not only highlights the remarkable abilities of our students, but also reinforces the strong sense of community and collaboration that defines St Edmund’s. Congratulations everyone!’

Art UK Announces Virtual School Trip

Charity, Art UK has announced its first virtual school trip. On 2 October pupils across the UK can take part in The Superpower of Looking’s Art Adventure, designed to teach them about visual literacy and visual intelligence skills. 

The online event will be hosted by artist Sarah Graham, who will virtually take pupils to museums and galleries in the UK. Afterwards, pupils will create their own project – crafting a collage that celebrates their local area.

Sarah Graham said: ‘Over recent years, access to art in schools has become increasingly prohibitive, but The Superpower of Looking’s Art Adventure makes me optimistic for the future’.

Katie Leonard, Head of Learning at Art UK, added: ‘We are committed to making art accessible to as many people as possible and hope that this virtual school trip brings us one step closer to making art an integral part of children’s lives and education.’

Benenden School Achieves 100 Acts Of Kindness

Benenden School marked its Centenary year by completing 100 Acts of Kindness.

Some of the Acts of Kindness included collecting costumes and funds to support a performance by an orphanage in Azerbaijan; a member of staff at Benenden ran 10km a day for 100 days to raise money for Catching Lives and the whole school collected toys for The Mayor’s Toy Appeal.

The final Act of Kindness was a tea dance hosted by pupil volunteers who work with the Memory Lane Café Benenden. The event saw elderly residents from the local community come together to dance.

Headmistress Samantha Price said: ‘Benenden’s Centenary year always needed to be more than just a celebration of a fantastic school: we needed to ensure that there was an opportunity to give back to those around us, both near and far.’

St Swithun’s Gets Walking In Fundraising Effort

St Swithun’s School in Winchester have raised over £50,000 for the Bramston Bursary Foundation.

Over 600 pupils, staff, parents and alumni participated in the fundraising efforts. This included The Three Hills Challengers running or walking around a 13km course along the South Downs Way.

Students also travelled hundreds of kilometres by dancing, swimming, in a sports circuit and playing continuous tennis.

Headmistress at St Swithun’s, Jane Gandee, said: ‘It is inspiring to see everyone come together for such a meaningful cause and to strive to help more girls experience the opportunities available here.’

Highfield and Brookham Raise Bursary Funds

A giving day at Highfield and Brookham School raised £27,000 for the Highfield School Centenary Bursaries Fund.

The day included pupils taking on challenges including a rowing marathon, car wash, bake sale, swimathon and colour run.

Staff members, including Highfield and Brookham Head Suzannah Cryer, faced daring forfeits for every £5,000 raised. Mrs Cryer and Mrs Hunter, Head of Pre-prep, were soaked in a heady mix of iced water, custard and baked beans.

Mrs Cryer said: ‘The amount of money raised by our whole school community on Giving Day was nothing short of phenomenal and will help ensure that we can continue to offer life-changing opportunities for children for years to come.’

Papplewick Goes Racing

Papplewick boys headed to Goodwood Motor Circuit to race electric go-karts.

The two teams, The Papplewick Stag Ship and Papplewick Goblin, took part in slaloms, drag races, a pit stop challenge, chicane sprint and ‘The Lap of Champions’.

Headmaster, Tom Bunbury, said: ‘What a fantastic opportunity for our Kart teams at Papplewick to take part in – the boys work so hard in their preparation and this really was the icing on the cake to take part in a challenge at the prestigious Goodwood Motor circuit.’

BryGiving 2024

Bryanston School recently held its BryGiving 2024 campaign, which raised £170,000 for transformational bursaries. 

The 36-hour event included a pupil versus staff boat race in which the staff won. There was also a ‘Head’s Challenge’ where Head Richard Jones participated in the ice bucket challenge.

Director of Development, Victoria Fangen Hall, said: ‘Their (participants’) generosity will provide transformational bursaries, changing the lives of many families and we look forward to welcoming two more children to Bryanston via the SpringBoard Foundation this September.’

Achievements

St Peter’s School Wins at Lord’s In The National Finals

St Peter’s School York won the T20 School Open Finals at the Lord’s Cricket Ground. The XI boys’ cricket team competed against Millfield School for the title, with the final score of 153 to St Peter’s and 110 to Millfield. 

Pupils, alumni and families travelled all the way to London to watch the final and support the team.

Pupil Wills Bennison gained three wickets when bowling and was awarded Player of the Match during the medal ceremony.

Head Master Jeremy Walker said: ‘I could not be more proud of the players and their coaches on this outstanding achievement. To come through against such strong competition, with over 200 schools entered.’

Pupils Will Have Their Artwork Displayed At The National Gallery This Summer

Pupils from Dame Bradbury’s Junior School will have their artwork displayed at the National Gallery this summer, as part of the Take One Picture competition.

Pupils were tasked with creating an animated short video inspired by Henri Rousseau’s 1891 painting ‘Surprised!’. Using their creativity they created artwork that imagines the scene before and after the paintings. 

Amira Mitchell-Karam, STEAM Lead at Dame Bradbury’s Junior School, said: ‘Stop-motion animation is a notoriously difficult art form to master, and we are very proud of the videos that our pupils have produced and the hard work that they put into making them.’

Sailing Success At Ryde School

Ryde School has become the first school to win all three major sailing titles this year. 

Last week they hosted the BSDRA Team Racing Finals. Over 50 teams competed including those from China and the US.

The first Ryde School team came second overall and were placed first at the BSDRA Team Racing Champions. The school’s junior team came third overall.

Pupils also competed at the National Youth Match Racing championships, where they won first place.

Headmaster, Will Turner, said: ‘These recent two events have capped off an amazing season for our sailors.’

Taunton Celebrates IBDP Results

Taunton School pupils are celebrating their International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. 

Twenty-nine pupils successfully completed their IBDP. Pupil Julia Perwas achieved the highest mark, 42 out of 45. This was followed by Darcy Becker, Noemie Pinneau and Mia Wieting.

Assistant Head Global and IBDP Coordinator, Adrian Roberts, said: ‘To have so many students achieve scores way above the global average is a real testament to the teaching at Taunton School and the level of commitment we instill in our students.’

Millfield Alumni And Staff Set To Compete in Paris 2024

Thirteen alumni and staff from Millfield School will be competing in the Paris Olympics and Paralympics. The Olympic Games are due to take place from 26 July to 11 August, with the Paralympics taking place from 28 August to 8 September.

Swimmers Matthew Richards (GB), James Guy (GB), Kieran Bird (GB), Mia Phiri (Zambia), Max McCusker (Ireland) and Emma Harvey (Bermuda) will be joined in Paris by Millfield Performance coach Ryan Livingstone (GB). 

Rowers Helen Glover, Rory Gibbs and Annie Campbell-Orde have all been selected for Team GB, while Erica Hawley will represent Bermuda in Triathlon.

 In the Paralympics, swimmer Suzanna Hext and Millfield Fencing coach Glen Golding have been selected by Great Britain.

Headmaster of Millfield, Gavin Horgan, said: ‘They are an inspiration to all of us now and in the future. We wish them good luck and will be watching them every step of the way.’

Westminster Under Pupil Titled Candidate Master

Year 5 pupil at Westminster Under School, Ethan, has become the youngest chess player to reach a FIDE rating of 2200 and gaining the title of Candidate Master.

Ethan said: ‘I feel proud of myself for achieving a CM as it is a very difficult task to do and I spent a lot of time practising at home and at school in the chess club. My next wish is to achieve an FM title and I think I’ll go to a lot more tournaments to achieve this.’

Dr Horridge, Head of History and Master i/c Chess, commented: ‘Ethan is a player of the most outstanding ability, a true prodigy with a glittering chess career ahead of him.’

Singing Success at Royal Hospital School

Royal Hospital School pupil, Mathilda Ketterer, has been awarded an Associate of the Royal Schools of Music diploma in singing.

Mathilda’s final performance included nine songs from various genres which were performed in five different languages.

Edward (Ed) Allen, Director of Music at RHS said: ‘We are immensely proud of Mathilda for obtaining her ARSM diploma in singing. Her dedication to her craft and her remarkable talent have shone through in every performance.’

Mathilda now hopes to pursue an undergraduate degree in Philosophy and then a Master’s degree in Vocal Studies.

Cranleigh Alumni Prepare For Paris Olympics

Cranleigh Alumni, Izzy Petter and Will Calnan, will be competing as part of Team GB Hockey. 

Izzy left Cranleigh in 2018 and has since won bronze with Team GB in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and gold in the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Will left Cranleigh in 2013, he now holds a bronze medal from the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

DLD College Students Celebrate Graduation

DLD College students attended a celebratory ceremony at Methodist Central Hall Westminster. 

Students wore their formal gowns and caps and were celebrated for their achievements during their time at the school. 

The venue has previously hosted speeches from former US President Barack Obama, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and Gandhi. 

Guest of honour Julie Robinson, CEO of the Independent Schools Council, gave a speech at the ceremony.

Irfan Latif, Principal at DLD College London said: ‘As the ceremony concluded, the air was filled with a sense of accomplishment and anticipation for the future.’

New Leadership

Stamford School Announces New Head

Stamford School has appointed Chris Seal as the new Head from September 2024. He joins from Tanglin Trust School in Singapore where he has been Head of Senior School since August 2022.

Mark Steed will become Interim Principal of Stamford School from September 2024-2025.

Chris commented: ‘The prospect of immersing myself in the school, town and wider community is both humbling and compelling and I am very excited to start.’

Portsmouth High Announces New Head

Sarah Parker has been appointed the Headmistress of Portsmouth High School GDST from September 2024.

Sarah joined Portsmouth High as Deputy Headmistress in September 2020 and is passionate about being an advocate for girls’ education.

She said: ‘I have loved every minute of my time at this wonderful school. I look forward to doing all I can to support each and every one of our students become happy, accomplished and talented individuals’.

Jane Prescott will retire at the end of this academic year after 13 years in the role.

New Developments

Taunton School Expand School Facilities

Taunton School are expanding their nursery and pre-preparatory offering. 

Work has already begun on the nursery playground, library, main entrance and second baby room, which are all due to be completed by September 2024.

The library has been renovated, and now includes new woodland-themed furniture and wall art of well-known book characters.

The main entrance will be re-designed into a hall which will be used for assemblies, ballet lessons and other activities.

Head of Taunton Prep-Preparatory and Nursery, Becky Lewis, said: ‘Our Pre-Prep School Council have done a wonderful job of helping to design the new library and choosing playground equipment as voted for by their peers.’

These developments will enable the school and nursery to accommodate more children.