Alton School Termly Magazine July 2019

The Alton Term July 2019

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Welcome!

Dear parents and pupils As I write this, I’m still riding high after a wonderful week which included Prep Founder’s Day, our inaugural Senior Founder’s Day, as well as the annual Summer Fete. Phew! Mrs Grimes has written about Prep Founder’s Day in her contribution to this magazine so I would just like to add a few thoughts about the other events.

We couldn’t have had a more perfect day or a more lovely setting for Senior Founder’s Day. It was immensely uplifting looking back at the year’s successes and I was quite overwhelmed as well as extremely proud about the many and outstanding achievements of our pupils. We were celebrating everyone’s triumphs over the past year, not just the prize winners, and it was a truly joyful occasion. Please help me to inspire every pupil in this School to feel that sense of accomplishment and to follow our School motto, Be the best that you can be, by encouraging your son or daughter to take up as many of the opportunities that we provide here as they can.

Amongst all the celebrations, there was a tinge of sadness as we say goodbye to some members of staff (who I wrote to you about in mid-June), to our Year 13, and to some Year 11 students, all of whom have given so much during their time at Alton. It is the top years in any school that really set the tone and this year’s cohort have led wonderfully well. They have worked hard, played hard and – individually and collectively – have been a credit to the School. I am particularly grateful to Officers of the School including the Senior Prefects, President Millie Banks, Vice Presidents Olivia Mitchinson and Olivia Barker, and Ambassadors Alexandria Gyford and Imogen Peterson. They did an excellent job and were excellent role models. I wish all of our leavers well – please do stay in touch.

Holding the PTFA Summer Fete straight after Senior Founder’s Day could have proved a stroke of genius or a touch of madness. I’m pleased to say that it worked brilliantly, although the exhausted site staff may not agree with me. Well done and thank you very much to all involved who worked so hard to make it such a fun and welcoming event. Looking round at all the busy parents and pupils helping run the stalls, at all the smiles and laughter, said so much about our community. A huge thank you to the fantastic PTFA team, particularly to Chairs Mrs Thompson, Mrs Gaynor, and to next year’s Chair Mrs Lowe, who have all given a great deal of time and done so much to support the School.

Finally, congratulations to Claire Hobday and Luis Gomes on their engagement.

I hope you have a happy and restful summer.

Yours sincerely

Headmaster Front cover photograph shows the Upper Sixth at the Leaver’s Lunch.

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Senior Founder’s Day Highlights

Images include the cake made for us by Mrs Penelope Hurst and a sketch of the day by Mrs Anna MacInnes.

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Sizzling Summer Fete

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The Greatest Show

Our Open Day Festival this year was a great success with lots of parents and a particularly large number of prospective families visiting the school. The feedback was extremely positive with prospective parents particularly impressed with the pupils and staff they met. Thank you to everyone who came and worked so hard to make it a success.

The day is an opportunity to see the school at work but in fun, festival mode. Each department ran activities around this year’s theme, the Greatest Show, with co-curricular clubs showcased too. To give just a flavour, alongside the customary maypole dancing, there were entertaining science experiments, the creation of a puppet theatre, cooking over campfires with the CCF, and tearing around the tennis courts in Goblin cars built by Year 6.

Revelling in the showtime theme, we had non-stop musical entertainment in the Welsford Hall with The Greatest Showman (Senior Orchestra), Never Enough (Junior Choir) and A Million Dreams (Chamber Choir). Further film tributes came from the Senior Orchestra with Jurassic Park and City of Stars. The Junior Choir gave a slick choreographed rendition of If I Only Had a Brain and the Chamber Choir a beautiful nostalgic setting of Feed the Birds.

Every child in the Prep School was involved, demonstrating confidence as performers and presenting their music with a sense of fun. Reception started with a delightful performance of Hungry Little Caterpillar, followed by Years 1 and 2 showing mastery with their 2 part singing in For God so Loved the World. Chanteurs gave a polished account of Look at the World, and were joined by the Prep Orchestra in an arrangement of My Heart Will Go On from the film, Titanic. Firmly rooted in our showtime theme, each House sang and danced their way through a different ABBA song.

The grand finale involved all pupils from both schools gathering to sing the famous This is Me with its uplifting mood. A huge thank you to all involved and for putting up with many hours of rehearsals!

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Nursery

Medstead Nursery Under The Sea

During May, the children have been focussing on the theme ‘Under the Sea’. It’s been an exciting month talking about the sea and the creatures that call it home. Our selection of Under the Sea themed books were Tiddler and The Snail and The Whale! Reading these was a great way to fuel the children’s fascination with sea creatures and improve their understanding of the natural habitat of the animals in the stories. The children and staff created a submarine for the role play area with sea creatures such as an octopus made from stuffed socks and sharks made from wooden spoons. What fun!

Ophea Waite-Uden, Medstead Nursery Manager

Farm Delights at Alton Nursery

The Nursery has recently enjoyed a visit from Mill Cottage Farm where they were joined by various animals including donkeys, pigs, goats, chickens, and rabbits to name a few. Even though the weather was poor, this did not stop the children from having a wonderful time. The donkeys and rabbits were a particular favourite, with one child exclaiming “I loved the donkey, he knocked over the bucket.” The children were very hands-on with the animals and enjoyed brushing the goats and donkeys and stroking the rabbits and guinea pigs.

In our pre-school room, dinosaurs have been the recent topic. The children have been exploring size using a variety of different dinosaur species. They have also categorized the various dinosaurs using shapes, colour and distinguishing features. This has helped to expand their language and vocabulary. Other activities have included a dinosaur world built from cress, exploring ice with numbers and dinosaurs in the messy tray, and many craft and display opportunities. The children have thrived throughout this topic and had a great time exploring.

Sarah Harvey, Alton Nursery Manager

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Founder’s Day provided an opportunity to reflect on our School and all that I wanted to say to our Year 6 pupils.

I spoke about the four things we feel Alton School is all about. We encourage academic excellence, we develop character, we offer opportunity, and we value kindness and demonstrate it in all that we do.

Prep

Prep School Year in Review

Kindness and character education The process of being educated involves more than the acquisition of ideas. It is also about living and belonging in a community, for schools are, together with families, one of the principal means by which children grow in character. Grit, resilience and determination are all needed but kindness is far more important.

I feel that our School is very much like a family. Our children feel safe, loved and confident, their teachers know and understand them, their teachers care about them. We identify and nurture children’s individual strengths as learners and as people. In this caring environment, children are encouraged and supported to be the best people that they can be.

Academic excellence We have high expectations and get excellent results through good teaching. Our small classes enable us to know everything about our children, we know how they learn and how to help them learn better!

Last year we introduced the Rising Stars Progress Tests. These take place every term and show each child’s individual progress and the progress of the year group. We are delighted by what our assessments show. The majority of pupils are performing at a level well above their actual age. Analysis of the results shows the huge amount of value that is added by the teaching in the Prep School.

Opportunity We offer the children an enriched education with a multitude of different experiences and so many opportunities to have a context for their learning - trips and residential visits, music, drama, art, languages and sport.

We are so proud of all of our children. They try their hardest, give so much in all areas, have so many talents, make us laugh, make mistakes, then learn from them and try again. So thank you to each one of you. Many hearts make a school and without you we would not be a school. Well done to every child in the Prep School.

Pim Grimes, Head of Prep School

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Prep

Prep Founder’s Day Highlights

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Magical Music

Beginners had their moment to shine, with performances by our brass and violin groups (involving the children who started learning within our free group scheme).

Mrs Love’s wind group performed music they have prepared during their after school club - to excellent effect too. A terrific recorder duet followed, showing how the recorder (as a more serious instrument), should be played!

We also heard from six soloists playing guitar, flute, clarinet, violin and cello between them; some of these children had started learning within our previous group schemes, and it is great to see how much they have progressed. Well done all!

The orchestra performed two pieces in an assured and energetic manner enabling different sections of the orchestra to be highlighted.

Prep

The Prep School’s musical stars came together earlier this term for a special music assembly.

Roy Robinson, Head of Prep Music

Wir Sprechen Deutsch

A German prep school, Grundschule Sonnental (near to our partner school Albert Einstein Gymnasium in Hamelin) approached our Prep School to take part in a joint project. The teacher in charge, Mrs Hinsch, used to run the German exchange programme with our Senior School for over 30 years.

Grundschule Sonnental is organising a British Day as part of a project week in June to encourage young children to learn English and to make friends with British pupils. They asked our children to write letters or create a poster in English which Dr Gould then took to Hamelin with the Year 9 German exchange students in mid-June.

The German prep children will answer the letters during their project week and post them to us along with photos of themselves by the end of June. The plan is to set up a Skype link between the children so they could introduce themselves, sing songs, and read stories.

Thank you very much to our volunteer parents, Mrs Stolz and Mrs Cattley, who helped our Prep School German Club ‘Wir sprechen Deutsch’ to work on their letters and posters.

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Prep

Sawfish are large, shark-like rays, characterised by a distinct toothed rostrum or ‘saw’. Depending on the species, adult sawfish can reach up to 7 metres and the saw can be more than a quarter of the total body length.

Over the past century, all 5 species of sawfish have drastically declined and they are listed as Endangered or Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Why are we telling you this? For reasons that even Sister Helen doesn’t know, a sawfish’s saw has been residing in the Manor House, origin unknown.

See a Saw

Saws were collected for ceremonial purposes and as curios for centuries, so it is assumed that our saw was bought as a souvenir by a previous owner of the Manor House before the School was founded. These days it is illegal to capture sawfish and to trade in their saws, but ours is considered a historical artefact so we can keep it. Dr Powell, Science Technician On World Ocean Day on 7th June, Dr Powell from the Science department, a qualified Marine Biologist, took the opportunity to show the saw to the Upper Prep children. She talked about the current threats to marine species and explained about the work of the Shark Trust in conserving sawfish worldwide. There was much excitement about the saw and expressions of horror that people used to trade in such things. The children showed a great deal of compassion to save these animals for the future and to support the Shark Trust’s conservation goals.

Dr Powell explained that we can use our saw to participate in the Shark Trust’s ‘See a Saw’ programme to save the sawfish. She will be taking measurements, photos, and DNA samples to pass on to the programme’s researchers. The Shark Trust are interested in getting data from any relic saws so if you can help, or would like to join in with more citizen science projects the Shark Trust run, please contact them at www.sharktrust.org.

Dr Powell, Science Technician

High Drama in Prep The Openbox Theatre Company has been coming in over the last term to excite and delight Prep School children with high drama and fun.

Reception and Red Kites enjoyed the telling of the story of The Giant Turnip.

Year 2 brought history to life through storytelling. The children loved learning about Admiral Nelson and HMS Victory.

Year 4 were taken on a trip to the Amazon, working their way up from the forest floor through the four layers of the rainforest. They passed leaf-cutter ants, boa constrictors, and slow-moving sloths along the way.

Victorian Times was the theme of Year 5’s drama experience. In the accounts the children wrote up afterwards, Daisy MacInnes reported, ‘The Victorian theatre was brilliant and so much fun. We learnt that it was very hard for poor people. The jobs were horrible, like factory workers, chimney sweeps, mine workers and scarecrows’.

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We could not let Mrs Douglas leave without a little reflection on the amazing shows and events for which she has become synonymous. Mrs Douglas has been our Director of Senior Music for 18 years and in that time has overseen choirs, orchestras, ensembles, carol services, concerts, school productions and many Festivals of the Arts.

“My personal highlights include all of the carol services - these are always such a special part of the school year – and I have to mention Dolly Mixtures (2010), the 75th Anniversary concert (2014), the Shakespeare Anniversary Concert (2016), Beauty and The Beast (2017) and A Little Nunsense, which was our 80th Anniversary concert last year” Mrs Douglas reflected.

Senior

The Musical High Notes for 18 Years

In between the constant string of performances, she has taught our GCSE and A Level music students, and seen a number of our pupils go on to study Music at University.

Reflecting on her time at the School, Mrs Douglas said “It has been a pleasure to be part of the School’s creative journey over the past 18 years and I look forward to hearing lots of noise (of the musical variety!) from our boys and girls in the years to come”.

Mr Roy Robinson, currently the much-cherished Director of Prep School Music, has been appointed as Director of Music for the whole school from September.

We are delighted to welcome Mr Mark Hall who is joining us to teach music in the Senior School.

STOP PRESS

Year 9 team win Teen Tech National Final!

Winning team, Louise Thornett, Alessia Pearson, Lauren Bennett – with assistance from Jessica Rendall - have designed a mini projector which helps dyslexic people to write and spell. For use in education, it is inexpensive, portable technology which the team would ultimately like to produce in a pen version. In the finals, they spent the day in London with a daunting number of other competing schools, pitching their idea to technology experts.

They were shocked and delighted to win the Future of Education Category and are looking forward to picking up their award at Buckingham Palace. Well done girls!

Look out for full details in next term’s newsletter.

Louise, Alessia and Lauren

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Senior

Co-Curricular Clubs Update

In the Senior School we currently offer over 25 co-curricular clubs every week, most taking place at lunchtime with some happening after school. These are a key part of informal learning and should serve to support students’ existing passions as well as nurturing new ones. Mr Bingham, Deputy Head Pastoral, has been reviewing our co-curricular programme and from September we will be increasing the number and broadening the variety of activities on offer with the aim of widening their appeal. We would like every student to take up at least two clubs each week.

More after-school clubs will be offered and lunchtime clubs will be extended by an extra five minutes – improving the quality of provision – by moving afternoon registration to 2.10pm in Lesson 5 classrooms rather than 2.05pm in form rooms (so reducing the amount of time students spend moving around the School). The length of afternoon lessons will not be reduced.

Plans are in development, but to give an example, the Sports Department will be offering a different physical activity every afternoon between 4.15-5.15pm. Alongside more traditional sports, there will be activities which are not usually offered during the school day such as cardio tennis, badminton, table tennis, trampolining, and fun runs. We are also exploring new and entertaining activities which are particularly designed to appeal to those who don’t think of themselves as particularly sporty.

Watch this space – more details will be available at the start of next term.

Radio Fame for Jake

Jake Imison (Y7) recently appeared on Zoe Ball’s Radio 2 Breakfast Show performing ‘Lazy Bear’ on the piano.

Jake reported “I wasn’t nervous, it was really good fun.

I spoke to a producer first and then he put me through to Zoe. She was really nice and made me feel at ease.

I spoke to the producer afterwards as well and he said it was good”.

Jake was inspired to call after doing well in a piano grading exam after just a short time practising.

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Over the Easter holiday, Year 9 were busy experiencing the world of work on Take Your Daughter To Work Day. Pupils were encouraged to talk to as many people as possible to find out about their career paths and to observe the different skills being used. They visited a wide range of industries, from a court, a veterinary surgery, an investment house, and a graphic design studio to name but a few. Thank you to all parents, family members and friends for providing such valuable experiences. Well done to the four students who won the Best Write Up competition about their day at work.

Jasmine Britton shadowed her aunt, Dr Britton, who is a senior lecturer and researcher at the University of Birmingham School of Chemistry. Jasmine sat in on a research meeting on sodium batteries, visited a MRI laboratory preparing magnetic resonance images, and had a tour of the campus. “This experience was truly eye-opening. It taught me so much about STEM jobs in the real world and how you don’t just have to limit yourself to one job - Dr Britton is both a researcher and a lecturer. I now feel much more confident about developing the skills I’ll need to find a job.”

Senior

Take Your Daughter to Work Day 2019

Lauren Bennett, who spent the day with her father, a partner at KPMG, discovered that a range of skills was needed. “For example, my Dad’s role is not just about managing numbers, but about presenting your ideas and convincing people to agree with you. Some roles I learnt about today I didn’t even know existed!”

If you could offer work experience, contact Sarah Penny, Careers Coordinator, at careers@altonschool.co.uk

Amelia Bailey, Jasmine Britton, Jessica Rendall and Lauren Bennett, winners of the ‘Best Write Up’ competition.

Roll out Rolling on

The rollout of Surface Go tablets to Year 9 has been very successful and there has been an enthusiastic response from students and teachers. Maariyah Mahmood reports “Our text books are now online which is fantastic as we don’t have to carry all our books around with us all day. Also, the online resources that the teachers now use are a lot of fun”. Rose MacInnes finds “it’s really easy do to research in class which is so helpful”.

Head of English, Ms Hodgson, believes “It has opened up a world of new teaching and learning opportunities. In English, for example, it is now possible for pupils to conduct online research and apply it straight away in lessons, instead of having to wait until their assigned homework night. We will be making the IGCSE anthology of texts available in pupils’ online class notebooks, giving them the choice of digitally annotating their texts... although, of course, traditional annotation with paper and pen will always be a choice as well”.

Mr Morgan has found they help engagement in physics lessons. “It is great that we have a seamless method for sharing and collaborating ideas whilst in class. It enables pupils to contribute in new and more dynamic ways than just asking for a show of hands in response to a question”.

Head of ICT, Mr Bradshaw, is delighted with how pupils and staff have adapted so quickly to the new educational opportunities. “Traditional teaching and learning methods are still very important and unless public exams change, handwriting isn’t going away. Technology is an additional tool which allows greater collaborative learning and is more indicative of how the world works beyond school”.

The roll-out is continuing with pupils currently in Years 6, 7 and 8 purchasing laptops for use in class from September. The deadline for purchase is 22 July 2019.

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Sixth Form

Sixth Form Year in Review

It has been a busy year in the Sixth Form balancing stimulating events, trips, and activities with a rigorous study timetable. Our highlights were the trips to New York and Amsterdam, both fantastic cities where we learnt so much about culture, history and diversity. The Revue was another favourite, where the students displayed their musical and comedic talents to raise funds for the disabled and disadvantaged children we support on our annual pilgrimage to Lourdes. For our Sixth Formers, the experiences and life-lessons gained in Lourdes and India are perhaps the most memorable of their time at Alton.

Sadly, it is time to say goodbye to our wonderful Upper Sixth who have come to the end of their school years.

Their Extended Project Qualifications have been submitted (the range of topics and standard of research never cease to amaze me), A Levels are over, and they are now out in the big wide world awaiting their exam results.

It has been a joy to see so many of them receive offers from their first choice universities, with subjects ranging from Medicine to Optometry. The development of apprenticeships as an alternative route is an exciting one and I was delighted to hear about Aimee Mullins’ excellent news (see below).

In May, before the exams took over, the Upper Sixth had a final assembly and leavers’ Mass followed by lunch on the lawn to formally send them off and wish them well for the future. Good luck to all of you and please stay in touch. You will forever be a part of our Alton community.

Scott Sanderson, Head of Sixth Form

Goodwood

On a wet and windy Friday afternoon, the Lower Sixth made their way to Goodwood races to watch horse racing before enjoying live music from Dj MK. With a forecast of heavy showers, it was going to be an evening of umbrellas and rain coats mixed with making the most of the breaks in the weather.

During the six evening races, we managed to watch the horses parade around the ring before competing in various distance races. A quick trip to change shoes and warm up, then we headed back out to the dance floor. This was a wonderful opportunity for us to dress up, see live sport and dance to live music. We cannot wait to go again.

STOP PRESS

Congratulations to Aimée Mullins in Year 13 who has been selected by Microsoft as a degree apprentice. Aimée was initially selected from thousands of applicants to be taken through to a telephone interview. From this she got down to the final 8 applicants - and won the only place! What an achievement! Well done Aimée.

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A highlight of Upper Sixth every year is the cultural trip to Amsterdam where we get to experience the beautiful city in all its glory. The three-day weekend starts with an early flight and a short train journey before being thrust into history of the city by seeing Ons’ Lieve Heer op Solder, a hidden church inside a town house. Whilst on a river boat cruise, we learnt about how the city evolved and visited the Van Gogh Museum and Anne Frank’s House. There was also time to see the Rijksmuseum, the Stedelijk Museum and the stunning flower market.

Experiencing public transport and navigating around the city was one of the funniest and best experiences for the group. We saw the city at night and got up early to beat the crowds. We came home exhausted but happy!

Sixth Form

Amsterdam

Year 10 Visit the Sixth Form

In early June, Year 10 spent the afternoon in the Sixth Form to help them start thinking about the next stage of their education and what it might be like. Split into groups, they experienced four sessions, each representing a different facet of the Sixth Form programme.

Academic stretch and success is essential at A level and Year 10’s intellects were stimulated by Miss Inglis in a fascinating History of Art session about art as a means of communication - a good introduction to the mind-expanding weekly Sixth Form Academy workshops. All Sixth Formers are encouraged to further broaden their horizons through completing Extended Project Qualifications.

A speed dating exercise allowed the Year 10s to move around the study rooms asking questions and talking to Lower Sixth students and tutors. They were impressed with the relaxed, friendly environment and the independence that Sixth Formers enjoy whilst benefitting from one to one support from tutors and staff.

Mr Sanderson led a session focused on the educational, cultural, and volunteering opportunities available through charity fundraising, the wonderful trips to Lourdes, New York, Amsterdam and India, and the individual assistance provided to students on careers, work experience and university applications.

The afternoon ended with a yoga class, part of a regular weekly programme of physical activities. Year 10 were then joined by their parents for tea and cake and to hear Dr Gould, Head of Sixth Form from September, explain her vision of a bespoke Sixth Form experience for each student.

The feedback was positive. Katie May said “It was great to speak to the Lower Sixth and get an insight into how the school day is so different once you are in Sixth Form. I loved the study rooms and how there is lots of freedom and independence”.

Next term a Sixth Form taster day will give Year 11 students the chance to sample specific A level lessons to help them in the critical choice of what to study.

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Sixth Form 16

A level Artworks

Emily Crosskey - Photography

Emily Crosskey - Textiles

Alexandria Gyford - Photography

Sophia Mace - Textiles

Scarlett Charles - Art

Lucy Schryver - Art

Sports Year in Review

We have had a fantastic year, competing in 10 different sports and playing 600 fixtures across the School. It was also a great first year of boys’ sport in the Senior School and we have built a strong platform for future success in boys’ football, rugby, cricket and athletics. My heartfelt thanks to all our pupils and their families who have enabled such an excellent record of participation.

We have competed in football, rugby, cricket, athletics, netball, hockey, rounders, tennis, swimming and cross country. Across both the Prep and Senior School, we have had huge success at League, Regional, and District levels. At National level, we enjoyed exceptional triumphs in hockey, netball, cross country and athletics. Tennis continues to grow; this year we hosted a series of tennis tournaments, and are participating in Aegon Team Tennis Leagues as well as the Road to Wimbledon competition.

The Sport Department wish you all a very happy and active summer and we look forward to welcoming everyone back in September.

Simon James, Director of Sport.

U13 Netball ISA National Plate Winners

U14 Netball ISA National Plate Winners

Junior District Athletics in Aldershot

U13 Hockey ISA National Plate Winners

Success at Coombelands

The Alton School Team and Individual Show Jumping Competition took place in May at Coombelands in West Sussex. Competition was strong and we were thrilled with the effort and results that were achieved by our pupils.

We were in the top 3 as a team in a number of classes, with individual place wins too. The ‘Best Alton School Member’ prize went to Tabby Restall-Young in Class 1, Issie Rendall in Class 2, Emily Devlin in Class 3 and Daisy Harrap in Class 6. Class 6 (1m) also saw us win first place with our team of Emily Devlin, Ruby Mann, Alice Lanyon and Daisy Harrap.

Ring 2 provided opportunity for the younger pupils to shine. In Class 7 (30 cm) Freddie Harrap, Alexander Smythe and Joseph Smythe took team first place.

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Athletics Prep and Senior Wins

Across the age groups, Alton teams and individuals have shone at recent District and Regional Athletics meets.

On a glorious sunny day at Palmer Park, and with very challenging competition, a team of Senior students put in some great performances at the District Athletics meet. The U15 team came back with 15 medals and produced some of their best athletics to date, finishing third overall - a fantastic achievement. The U17 team finished in fifth place. Rose FitzGerald, Emily Killing and Jemima Hodges qualified for the District Team. Beth Thorpe received ‘The Bishop Trophy’, for the best track performance of the Championships.

This was followed in early June by a highlight of our Prep and Senior athletic calendar, the ISA Regional Athletics Championship in the Thames Valley Stadium, Eton. Our teams excelled, returning with an incredible 38 medals altogether and many personal best times. What an amazing experience. Every one of our pupils did exceptionally well and there are too many gold, silver and bronze medal winners to list here.

Those with PBs and Championship records were: · Beth Thorpe (Y8) Gold, 75m hurdles - Championship Record · Jemima Hodges (Y8) Gold, 800m - PB and Championship Record · Rose FitzGerald (Y9), Eve Maher (Y8), Jemima Hodges (Y8), and Beth Thorpe (Y8) Gold, U15 Relay - Championship Record · Emily Killing (Y10) Silver, 200m - PB · Harrison Wallis (Y7) Bronze, 70m Hurdles - PB

Nationals Success

All ISA Regional Championships winners from around the country went through to the National Finals in Birmingham on 19 June. We took a squad of our Prep and Senior pupils who were representing the London West region.

It was another fantastic day of really competitive sport and we won an amazing haul of National medals: • Hannah Lowe (Y5) National Champion, 600m – Championship Record • Emily Killing (Y10) National Champion, U15 Relay • Jemima Hodges (Y8) Silver, 800m • Beth Thorpe (Y8) Silver, 75m Hurdles • Safiya Husain (Y7) Silver, 800m • Emma Boyson (Y7) Silver, High Jump • Emily Killing (Y10) Bronze, 200m • Rose FitzGerald (Y9) and Beth Thorpe (Y8) Bronze, Relay • Mia Cowle (Y6) Bronze, Rounders Ball Throw • Jasmine Wallis (Y4), Pippa Hodges (Y3), Sophia West (Y4), Eleanor Eason (Y4) Bronze, Relay

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Congratulations to:

Mrs Jennifer Charles, Governor, former teacher, and friend of the School has been awarded an MBE for Services to the Administration of Justice and the Community in Hampshire.

Ellamay Ward (Y7) and Isabelle Clarke (Y8), members of the Alton Ladies Football U13 league winning team.

Lauren Shea, who completed her A levels at Alton School last year and was our STEM Ambassador, has been awarded the British Empire Medal for services to ‘Promoting Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics to Young People’. She is one of the youngest honours recipients.

Eve and Imogen Maher and Issie Rendall who between them have raised an amazing £530 for Share the Light, a charity supporting vulnerable and disadvanted young people in Zambia. Eve and Issie (Y8) went without their phones for a whole month. Imogen (Y6) ran a 5km charity race.

Jaya Passingham who sang with her band at the Alresford Music Festival. She also recently successfully auditioned for a solo at Farnham Youth Choir for the annual FYC concert.

Lucy Dinning, Year 11, winner of this year’s Wicked Young Writers Awards (15-17 category). Lucy wrote The Climb, an amazing metaphorical story to bring attention to the challenges of living with disability.

Alton Hockey Club team members: Lara Bassett (Y8) and Jemima Hodges (Y8), U14 Regional Champions; Lara Bassett, Jemima Hodges and Issie Rendall, U14 Runners Up in The Hampshire Cup; Lara Thomas, Freya & Lucy Slape, Molly Stevens (all Y11) U16 Hampshire Cup winners.

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Alton School, Anstey Lane, Alton, Hampshire, GU34 2NG Tel: 01420 82070 Email: enquiries@altonschool.co.uk Website: altonschool.co.uk 20