Events & Competitions

Poetry Parties

The annual poetry festivities of National and World Poetry Day were combined with the celebration of Black History Month and International Women’s Day respectively. The Percival Poetry Party of previous years returned for the first time since October 2019 with a plethora of pupil poet performances. Alongside the library party, every member of Year 9 was provided with a Poetry Party Pack of literary goodies to complement a collection of thought-provoking spoken word performance videos featuring Hibaq Osman, Samuel King and Sophia Thakur, which were watched and discussed during English lessons. The poetry partying continued in March with a World Poetry Day celebration of the work of Shagufka K. Iqbal, Hollie McNish, Blythe Baird and Britta B to mark International Women’s Day.

Shoktoberfest XI

The Percival was transformed into a haunted house full of skulls, spiders and spine-chilling screams with a candle-lit screening of The Addams Family on 16th October. The Third Form disappeared into the night with disembodied hand cookies, just the ‘Thing’ to sweeten this year’s gloriously gothic ghoul-fest.

Winter Book Fair

Our Winter Book Fair Evening featured a wonderfully curated collection of books from local independent bookshop, Storysmith; a group of talented student carol singers; mulled cider and mince pies; and an enthusiastic group of guests. Thank you to everyone who supported the fair, which raised £356.90 for BookTrust’s Christmas Appeal, to provide festive book parcels for children who are vulnerable or in care.

Spelling Bee

Congratulations to sensational spellers Alexander Long (Block I) and Fergus Brown (Block II) who buzzed their way to verbal victory in the 2021 Inter-House Spelling Bee for East Town and North Town respectively. The winners saw off tough competition from nine other Houses and were awarded with beautiful bee-shaped trophies.

Read Off

The Year 9 competition kicked off with a celebration of classic literature in the Genre Battle Video Challenge. The fantastic winning film featured Dr Greene’s office as Ebenezer Scrooge’s counting house and BSK as the gruel serving parish workhouse. Students were then challenged to read as many books as possible from a wide range of genres over subsequent weeks. Congratulations to Mrs Walsh’s class who were crowned Read Off Champions 2022, and a huge well done to the top readers of the competition: Alana Peto, Dhaara Acharya, Jodie Byas and Joung Youn Hoang. The Third Form read and reviewed 487 books between them over the course of the Lent Term.

Lunar New Year

The Percival teamed up with the Pre-Prep for Lunar New Year stories for Nursery, Reception, and Years 1 and 2, read by Upper School students from Hong Kong, Mainland China and South Korea. After listening to the stories, the younger pupils turned their hands to Year of the Tiger mask crafting. There was also a tutor group tiger foldalong origami competition with Lunar New Year goodies, won by Miss Clarke’s tutor group, and an individual Best in Show prize for the top tiger of the contest, which went to Milton Mai.

Harry Potter Day

Niffler gold gathering, Mandrake making, Potter puzzling and lunchtime treacle tarts were topped off with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them on the big screen. Congratulations to winners Ollivander’s House AKA Oakeley’s for collecting a phenomenal 385.9g of Niffler gold, and to Wizardman’s House AKA Wiseman’s for their victory in the Harry Potter Escape Room. The teams were rewarded with a mountain of magical treats from Honeydukes.