Lower School

Life in the Lower School has been characteristically busy over the past two years and it is hard to know where to begin when summarising some of the main highlights for our youngest students.

The past two academic years have seen a huge amount of change; during the lockdowns, the vast majority of school life took place online which wasn’t without its challenges, but there has been lots to celebrate. Pupils across the year groups took to remote education quickly, demonstrating resilience and flexibility in the face of incredible uncertainty. Both academically and emotionally, pupils grew and developed vital skills in the brave new world we found ourselves in. Miss McCloud’s ‘Wellbeing Afternoon’ was a huge success and it was heart-warming to see pupils engage in a range of different activities from their homes; from sport to creative writing, from dog training to drawing, everyone got involved and helped to combat the Covid blues and work collaboratively with one another.

Life after lockdown in the Lower School has been nothing short of brilliant. Thank you so much to all the teachers who have made it possible for students to attend a range of trips this academic year. Year 6 and 7 pupils took part in the annual team building days in September, and Year 8 pupils visited Anne Boleyn’s family home, Hever Castle, and Bletchley Park. Year 6 pupilshave also taken part in our enrichment days which are delivered in partnership with a local primary school. This year’s Field Week was a huge success; Year 6 pupils took part in various activity days in school and visited London Zoo,Year 7 pupils went to the Horniman Museum, visited Roman ruins in St Albans and stayed overnight at the Adur Centre, and our Year 8s went on a Bushcraft residential trip, as well as visiting the Design Museum and Fishbourne Palace. It was an exciting and fun-filled week for all and we are already very much looking forward to this year’s Field Week.

With the end of many restrictions, multiple events have been able to take place on site again. New Lower School parents have been invited on site to meet one another at this year’s mixer event, as well as Dacre Day. The Year 6, 7 and 8 drama productions were back and Year 8 had a movie afternoon. Pupils have also impressed with their pursuits outside school. A special mention must go to Kit (7CJR) and Gabriel (7PM) for their contributions to drama outside of school. Dasha (8RDC) continues to excel at ice skating and Livi (8RDC) has been accepted into the Royal Ballet School’s spring and summer school at Covent Garden and White Lodge respectively.

In order to inspire more pupils to travel to school in a sustainable, safe, responsible and active way, Mrs Chetwood has run the ‘STARS’ accreditation, which has been a huge success, and a select group were invited to present at TFL’s seminar in June. Students were overjoyed to hear that year group discos were making a comeback and these were very well attended, with all money going to charity. Similarly, the Christmas box charity project took place again in December across the school with all form groups contributing gifts to families in the local area.

As another year ends, I very much look forward to seeing what pupils in the Lower School go on to achieve next year.

H