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CAPTAIN JESSE FRANK RUSHAB’S JOURNEY
21 MEMORIES OF A BOARDER
headmaster's address
Captain Jesse Frank Junior editor's comment Rushab’s journey WHAT
sports round up in the mid-1970's Memories of a boarder
Drama music orley Farm Association autumn Term House Winners dates for the diary
Welcome once again to read some of the exciting things that have been happening in the past term and some interesting reads from our Orlumni who tell us about their experiences at Orley and how it has shaped them.
I do enjoy putting these publications together and engaging with our Orlumni, I can’t publish all the conversations we have (I don’t have that much time!) but they always surprise me with the various journeys they have taken since leaving Orley.
Please keep sending us your articles and look out for Orlumni events coming up that you can attend or if you wish to organise a reunion then please let us know.
CHETAN SHAH Editor
CHETAN SHAH Editor
SARA PADALINO Editorial assistant
TIM CALVEY photographer
MATTHEW KING social media
JAS BIRDI communications
CONTRIBUTORS
Tim Calvey, Stephen Bloom, catherine godet, Rebecca Gascoigne, keith ford, chiraAg gudka
SUBSCRIPTIONS
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PHONE
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E.g. Planting a tree, Sports, Music, Drama, Bursary, Scholarship fund, General donation etc.
We have had enquires about how people can give back to the school where they have had a joyful time. There are various things that you can donate towards or you can assign your donation to a particular part of the school of your choice. and we can provide you with more information and on how to make a donation.
If you would like to make a donation to the Orlumni or to Orley Farm School please email us at
THE FENCELINE ALONG SOUTH HILL AVENUE HAS LOOKED A LITTLE TIRED AND I WAS WELL AWARE THAT OUR MAINTENANCE TEAM SPENT TIME IN A CHERRY PICKER PAINTING THE FAÇADE OF THE BUILDING – IT WAS TIME FOR US TEACHERS TO PICK UP BRUSHES, AND GET INVOLVED FIFTY-FIVE LITRES OF RONSEAL WOOD STAIN LATER, THE FENCE LOOKED GREAT I FEAR THAT MOST OF US LOOKED LIKE WE’D BEEN ON A TANNING BED AND THE PAVEMENT MIGHT HAVE A LITTLE COLOUR TOO
With the new traditions around Orlumni events, September has taken on a new shape for me. I’m used to welcoming our youngest joiners with a real focus on our 4-year-olds. However, since Chetan and I sat down to look at possible points for former pupils to reconnect, the new school year now starts with a lovely evening meeting up with our 18-year-old school leavers. One thing that makes me smile is the conversation that I have with Chetan –he'll let me know that X number of pupils have RSVP’ed so we were expecting 13...a small number but an intimate one.
I’m not sure what happens next, but I think through the power of social media, messages get out that there is free beer...and soft drinks, and before we knew it, 37 members of that year appeared!
Talking of keeping in touch beyond Orley, this term I was fortunate to get invited to 2 productions, both involving loads of Orley pupils...Mrs Gascoigne was proud! MTs put West Side Story on in a collaboration with St. Helen’s that involved more girls than boys from Orley – it was amazing! And only last week, I went to the JLS production of The Adam’s Family, again, very well represented with Orleyans. Having said that, I have a bone to pick with Ollie Hoskins...Ollie, you know very well what I’m talking about as you played ‘Grandma’ and then proceeded to ad lib warning of your cougar tendencies, and name calling meit’s never too late to issue a Red Warning that will go forward to your university applications!?!
Sorry girls, I would add more photos, but I had to steal these from Instagram and MTs didn’t post any of the girls – not sure what that says, but if I were their photographer, I’d have balanced things!
I know that all Orlumni members rightly get passionate about the House Competition so here are a few updates. X-Country was as fiercely fought as ever. Congratulations to Hastings who proved the most willing to push through the mud to bring home the cup!
However, when all the points were brought together across the Hockey, Football, X-Country, Weekly Effort scores and the House Points...we had a new winner for Autumn 2024...congratulations to Broadrick!
TIM CALVEY Headmaster
73 Orleyans died in WWI & WWII 73 Orleyans died in WWI & WWII
We shall remember them We shall remember them
North Africa – March 1943
This is one of 73 stories from Orleyans who gave their lives across two World Wars. We had the privilege of reading these letters over the past weeks, there are over 50 letters that Jesse wrote home along with 4 letters from army officers written on his death to his parents.
The War letters of Captain Jesse Frank Junior 0885075
HQ CCB Ist Armoured Division APO 251 US Army
‘Sunday (or is it?)’
Lieutenant , US Army Corps of Engineers (COE), 6th Armored Infantry in Northern Ireland.
‘the men are most amused at my speech, and hang eagerly on every word that I utter –well either they’ll talk English soon or I’ll talk American.’
The Ist Armored Division arrived in Northern Ireland on 16 May 1942, the first American forces to reach Europe.
‘some time ago I was wounded, not badly… I was presented with a very beautiful medal to go with it (a little scar), I suppose’ 15 April 1943
“Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin ‘settling the peace while we are still being blown to pieces’.”
8 December 1943
‘Not very much to say, officially, we are allowed not to pen our ‘battle’ experiences –but after all they are merely a series of jolts of (unreadable – defessions?) and lifts of joy - of shocks of fight and relief of escape…. I did have an official letter of acclamation from higher headquarters to the success of my work…. I think about you very much and wonder how things are at home and what changes there must be in us all since we were last together. Myself I feel much older, wiser and sadder sometimes but then the war cannot have left much happiness to anyone in the world. …This has the looks of really gloomy letter – but don’t think things are altogether as bad as that - we still get lots of laughs up here…(on our off duty hours) we behave generally like a bunch of schoolboys the first day of the Xmas holidays’
‘apart from the mosquitos that attack like dive bombers, this is quite a pleasant spot’
12 April 1944
‘musn’t grumble – it is something to be alive and healthy these days’
The letter ends ‘Well I’m going to snatch some sleep now so by for the present.’
8 May 1944
Last letter home:
Captain Jesse Junior Frank Killed in Action, 25 May 1944
Dwight Eisenhower, General US Army
15 June 1944
“EDUCATION IS THE MOST POWERFUL WEAPON YOU CAN
I would never have been able to tell you what evil looks likes – but maybe I can now? This is more relevant now than it has ever been and Keir Giles is a true expert in global politics. Sometimes the result of these global politics leads to something more tragic – reading some of the letters written by one of our very own Orelyan - Captain Jesse Frank, giving a true insight to what was happening to the people on the ground in WW2. Imagine being a parent and receiving these letters and then the sad news, really makes you think. Thank you to Nigel Frank for allowing us to share this with you. Well, Rushab certainly made his parents proud of how he has progressed and now combining innovation and education, he seems to have that energy and hunger – how it is to be young and unafraid.
Though life was a little different in the 70’s, Clive tells us his story about being a boarder at Orley Farm by condensing his memories in to one imaginary day and what a day that was! Orley Farm is always a hive of activity and the autumn term is the longest, so plenty of opportunity for the school parent body – the OFA, to put on some fun events to bring the community together which they successfully did. The year ahead will be busy but the one thing I’m looking forward to is helping to organise a reunion in June for those that joined Orley in 1999!
CHETAN SHAH Editor
IN THE SCIENCE LABS AS YR5 RECORDED OBSERVATIONS AS THEY COMBINED 5 CHEMICALS, LOOKING AT REACTIONS YOU CAN’T BEAT ‘PRACTICALS’, AS THERE’S INVARIABLY AN UNEXPECTED SURPRISE!
by Chetan Shah
Rushab Shah’s journey from Orley Farm to founding a high growth EdTech company reflects on the foundations of excellence and holistic education he experienced as a student. As House Captain of Julian’s House and prefect, Rushab excelled not only academically but also across music, art, and sports, embracing the school’s enriched approach to education. This well-rounded experience instilled a lifelong belief in the power of holistic learning, a value he now champions through OneHive.
After graduating, Rushab pursued Mechanical Engineering, rapidly progressing in his career to lead high-impact projects, including zeroemission trucking initiatives across Europe. While thriving in the corporate world, Rushab felt a calling to address systemic challenges in education and returned to his roots with a mission to empower learners.
Co-founding OneHive, Rushab combined his technical expertise and educational passion to create an AI-powered platform that bridges gaps in learning and unlocks potential for all. OneHive has grown from a local tutoring platform into a dynamic tool supporting universities, charities, and corporations to tackle the skills gap and inspire the next generation.
Rushab’s achievements recently culminated in being awarded the Freedom of the City of London with the Merchant Taylors’ Company, along with hosting an event at the House of Lords to drive the conversation about how we can overcome the talent shortage in the STEM sector.
Rushab’s journey is a testament to Orley Farm’s values, demonstrating how holistic education fosters ambition and resilience. He hopes to inspire current students and Orlumni to embrace their potential and drive meaningful change.
Kwame from Ghana came in to to share his knowledge of this country. Yr1 had the chance to create African art and take part in a wonderful drumming workshop that included storytelling about the wildlife of Africa. I joined a number of these sessions and Yr1 were totally immersed, dancing, painting and listening to stories, I have no doubt that this experience will last well beyond their time in Pre-Prep!
by Chetan Shah with help from Keir
So, who is this gentleman? This gentleman is a military academic and an extremely honest bearer of their knowledge, their opinion, their plans regarding the "Russian problem". Keir Giles.
British writer, political scientist. Born in London. Educated at Winchester College. Before his academic career, Giles trained as a pilot in the Royal Air Force and worked as an actor at the Gorky Film Studio (in particular, he starred in the film "Prisoner of the Earth"). He has written several books about the geopolitical conflict between the West and Russia, including the bestsellers "NATO's Handbook of Russian Information Warfare" and "Russia's War on Everyone". He worked at the UK Defence Academy. He actively writes about Russia for major European publications (The Guardian, Foreign Policy, CNN), touching on both Russia's domestic and foreign policy.
Giles is currently the director of the Conflict Studies Research Centre, a military academy based in Oxfordshire.
HERE ARE A BATCH OF SNIPPETS THAT KEIR SENT FROM HIS OLD ORLEY FARM REPORTS (YOU'LL SEE THE WORD "LAZY" COMES UP MORE THAN ONCE)
Keir: I've also attached the original photo next to where we carved our names in the bricks (see also Weinman, Berberian), taken in 2018 when I came back to give the Speech Day speech (which probably wasn't an outcome that the teachers who knew just how lazy I was would have expected).
But fortunately I remembered how dismal prizegivings had been, when all that stood between us boarders and going home for the holidays was the guest of honour (some old duffer droning on for what seemed like hours about who knows what). I remembered making a promise to myself that if ever through some bizarre and incredible turn of fate I should wind up giving that speech myself, whatever else I did I would keep it short. So 40 years later that's exactly what I did!.
Boys’ Games - Football
1st IX Captain: Aryan Patel
1st IX Player of the Season: Aryan Patel
Colts A Player of the Season: Eshaan Pangali
U9 Football Shield: Aaryan Varsani
U8 Football Shield: Kian Thakkar
St. Jude Cup (Most Improved Footballer): Rayaan Nagpaul Golden Boot: Samuel Davey (1st IX – 16 goals)
It has been another brilliant football season here at Orley Farm! As a school, we have played 113 matches, as well as a number of U8 and U9 mini matches, with every boy from Years 3-8 representing the school. In those 113 matches, we won 55, drew 23 and lost 35 with 119 different boys combining to score the 406 goals we have scored in these matches!
Our most successful teams have been our senior teams with special mention going to our 2nd IX who ended the season unbeaten! Our 1st team performed magnificently in our annual U13 Orley Farm Football Tournament and lost 3-2 after extra time in a thrilling final to Berkhamsted. On the subject of tournaments, we also hosted our annual U11 one and competed well in the U13 and U11 Durston House 6-a-side Football Tournaments in November.
Special mention also goes to our outstanding 1st team captain and Player of the Season, Aryan Patel, who was a superb role model both on and off the pitch, and Samuel Davey who won the prestigious Golden Boot with 16 goals despite playing most of the season with a back injury which ruled him out of the final two matches.
House matches, as always, were a real highlight of the term with Hastings winning the Senior House Cup (Years 7 and 8), Broadrick emerging victorious in the Junior House Cup (Years 5 and 6) with Hastings and Broadrick also taking the spoils in the Years 3 and 4 competitions respectively.
Mr Bloom – Head of Physical Education & Boys’ Games
Book Buzz -This is usually a Yr7&8 experience but as we already have such passionate readers, Mrs Park opened this up to Yr6 pupils. They entered a transformed library that looked more like a cafe with slightly alternative menus on the tables. There was a lovely buzz as everyone had the chance to branch out into a new genre or follow a different author in the quietness of a stolen moment. What a lovely initiative, infectious energy was inspiring, and I know that they are excited to get their new books!
Hockey Captain: Anya Gupta
U11 Hockey Player of the Season: Anya Gupta
U10 Hockey Player of the Season: Yasmine Elbaz
U9 Hockey Shield: Alekhya Tanna
U8 Hockey Shield: Zuri Daunt
Enthusiasm & Endeavour Hockey Cup: Alexis Alexandrou
Upper School Top Goal Scorer: Kailah Brown (36 Goals)
Middle School Top Goal Scorer: Maya Mensah (8 goals)
The hockey season started early this school year with 28 children from OFS participating in a two-day hockey camp here on our own school astro, run by Futures Sports Hockey Camp. This term all girls from Year 3 to Year 6 participated in many hockey fixtures with local schools. However, the OFS U11 Festival at the beginning of September really set the scene for a successful hockey term with the OFS team winning all their matches at this Festival. The U11 A team went from strength to strength winning all regular fixtures and then participating in the U11 IAPS Regional Tournament at Haileybury School just before half-term.
The icing on the cake for the U11 A Hockey team was winning the final against St. Benedict’s in the Hockey Tournament held at St. Benedict’s school and being awarded medals in the Celebrations Assembly.
The House Competition results were varied with Hopkins and Julians sharing 1st position in the U11/U10 A competition. Hopkins winning the U11/U10 B competition and Broadrick winning both the U9 and U8 House Hockey competitions.
Ms Godet – Head of Girls’
Games
If you go down to the woods today...
Keep your eyes peeled for 3 pesky bears led by a rather presumptuous girl called Goldilocks! Our reception pupils were enjoying a hard-earned porridge breakfast having had a term of research into Nursery Rhymes and these interlopers interrupted breakfast and had the audacity to try everyone’s porridge. They were rather entitled, telling us that it was too hot, or too cold and then one bear took the liberty of falling asleep at the table.
by Clive Webb
This is a ‘composite’ of some of my memories of life at Orley Farm School in the mid-1970s. I was a boarder at OFS between April 1974 and July 1975 and I’ve tried to condense some of my many happy memories of this period of my life into one imaginary day. I was 10 when I first went to Orley Farm…next week I’ll be 61! I enjoy thinking back to those times – my memories are still vivid – although I can’t help feeling sad that most if not all the teachers from those days – and some of the boys – will no longer be with us. It was a long time ago…
A typical day between April and July, 1974. It’s a Friday. I sleep in the ‘Byron’ dormitory at the very top of the school building, with five other boys. Our day begins at 7.00am when a bell sounds, and matron encourages us to get up and dressed into our PE kit…ready to run six times around the main games field (alongside South Hill Avenue) and then swim eight lengths of the swimming pool. Our towels to dry ourselves are hanging up outside the gym on numbered pegs. (We all hated this at the time, but now – at the age of 60 - I’m grateful that I had to do this daily exercise which, I hope, has made my heart strong; I don’t remember there being any unfit boarders at OFS in the mid-‘70s!) One day last week, Mr Davies – our Headmaster – announced that the morning run/swim wouldn’t be taking place due to torrential rain. “You’ve got to take the rough with the smooth,” he said – with a wry, twinkle in his eye!
The morning exercise regime over for another day we return to the main building where we get dressed and then line up for breakfast. We file into the dining hall and walk to our tables where we stand – waiting for the masters (teachers) who live on site or who have arrived at school early, to sit at the head of the tables. The food at OFS is always superb, ever since Frank Euler took over the catering…and what a lovely, friendly chap he is! No one can quite understand why Tiger Redman – the Maths teacher – always sprinkles salt on his porridge! There’s an old, valve radio set on a shelf next to Mr Davies’s table and if there is some momentous news…the results of a general election – for example, this will be switched on.
When breakfast is over, we move to our first lesson – walking along the main corridor past the old wooden lockers on the left (mine is no. 28) and the ‘pluses and minuses’ board on the right. I received a ‘minus’ last week for forgetting to put my socks and pants into the laundry basket, so I need to earn it back as soon as possible!
The first lesson is Maths with Mr Redman in one of the upstairs classrooms of the brand-new Gardner building. (Yesterday I threw someone’s shoe up onto the roof of this building which I thought was quite funny…until Mr Lodge ordered me to remove my shorts – which later turned up in the ‘Lost Property’ box!) We meet the Day Boys who have just arrived, and file into the room. Mr Redman recently brought into school his latest acquisition: a Hewlett-Packard pocket calculator. I’ve never seen anything so amazing in my life: using the buttons you type in any sum you can think of, press the ‘ = ’ button and it gives you the answer! (This was a long time before the internet, iPads, laptops, iPhones etc.) Mr Redman also owns an ancient adding machine which looks like an old typewriter and which also tells you the answer to whatever question you have entered – after a lot of winding of the handle on the right!
Next, it’s English with Mrs Holloway. At the moment we are reading The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. We’ve just finished a book called Animal Farm (by George Orwell). We’re also studying Shakespeare’s sonnets, and last week Mrs Holloway explained that there was a school of thought that these were ‘homoerotic poems’ (I think I’ve remembered that right!) which William Shakespeare wrote to his male lover. (I’m ten years old and have no idea what she meant!) I’ve got a Piano lesson with Mr Lewis at 11.30am; if you forget to go to your lesson, that’s an instant ‘minus’.
At morning breaktime one of the matrons stands in the doorway to the old gym with a tray of halved slices of bread spread with Marmite or peanut butter – just for the boarders. None of the ‘day boys’ look very envious – but I often come back for a second slice; I’ve always been a ‘Marmite baby’! Mr Waller takes us for a Science lesson after playtime. This takes place in the ‘lab’…which is also upstairs in the Gardner building. At the moment we are testing various liquids to see how acidic or alkaline they are – using little strips of litmus paper which change colour according to the pH of the liquid. We have to write about our experiments in our Science exercise books using ‘Aim’, ‘Method’, ‘Results’ and ‘Conclusion’ sub-headings. (All of this is new to me; the nearest I got to ‘Science’ at my old school was writing about hips and haws in my Busy Bee book!) Have the bottles of ‘Lime Water’ got a tinge of green to them – or is it my imagination?
After a delicious buffet salad lunch, we get changed for afternoon games. We have Games every afternoon and – being the summer term – it’s Cricket. Mr Mackintosh gives us a Mars bar if we keep the score accurately for one of the fixtures between the School Cricket Team and a visiting team from another school in a ‘Compactum’ cricket score book. I’m not really a one for Games; but I enjoy sitting at the side of the main Games field at Orley Farm waiting to bat – hoping that my innings won’t be too long so that I can get back to chatting to my friends! I’m an even more useless fielder!
When Games is over the Day Boys go home and us boarders go to Choir or Orchestra Practice, or ‘Hobbies’ (activities like ‘playing chess’ or ‘Airfix model-making’) and then – about an hour later - we line up outside the dining hall for tea. When it was my birthday a few weeks ago, my grandmother made a huge fruit cake with thick layers of icing and marzipan – enough for all the 75 boarders to have a slice. The top wasn’t decorated to look like a swimming pool or a football pitch – like most boys’ birthday cakes are, but several people afterwards said it was the nicest cake they’d ever eaten!
After tea we go to the library (walking along corridors lined with ancient black and white framed sports team photographs) for a brief talk from Mr Davies; recently he’s been talking about ‘do unto others as you would have them do unto you’…I think! Then it’s ‘Prep’ time for an hour (sitting in silence in one of the classrooms while a ‘master’ watches you doing your ‘homework’) and then we have some free time before bed. I usually read one of the papers in the library; we draw ‘corners’ around any articles we want to cut out and keep. The colour television will be on (we’ve only got a little black and white set at home…) and might be showing an episode of The Persuaders or The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau! I remember one Saturday when I was staying at school for the weekend…Mr Watson (the previous Music teacher) walked into the library saying that he’d got tickets to see a performance of Mozart’s 40th Symphony at St John’s, Smith Square; would anyone be interested in going? A group of us piled into his Rover 2000 and roared up to London for the evening! (Imagine a time when no one bothered about seat belts, risk assessments, ‘DBS’ checks or even informing parents!)
“EDUCATION IS
Next week it’s Ascension Day, and to celebrate we’re going on an outing to Portsmouth on a coach for a guided tour of Admiral Nelson’s HMS Victory ship – stopping at The Devil’s Punchbowl on the way; I can hardly wait! Soon it’s time for bed, but because I’m in the Choir I’m allowed downstairs in my pyjamas where we all sit and sing songs in the Headmaster’s sitting room for about half an hour. Mr and Mrs Davies are there, and Mr Lewis (our Music teacher) plays the piano. My favourite song is Hand Me Down My Silver Trumpet, Gabriel; I love listening to Mr Lewis’s piano-playing on this one!
Depending on which night of the week it is, it might be your turn to have a bath in one of three roll-top baths upstairs. If it’s your turn to have your hair washed by matron, you go to sit in the ‘hair-drying room’ afterwards where there are a number of electric fires around the edge of the room – so that you don’t go to bed with wet hair! At nine o’clock the teacher on duty will turn your dormitory light off and then it’s time to go to sleep, but no one ever does! Last night we had a song contest in Byron: we took it in turns to sing a song and then voted for each other. I sang Seasons in the Sun (a recent ‘hit’ record by Terry Jacks) but I didn’t win. Sometimes, Mr Davies will ask all the ‘talkers’ to come downstairs and then he will deliver three ‘whacks’ with a gym shoe on our bottoms in his study. Our red ‘behinds’ will usually still be visible for all to see next time it’s our turn to have a bath!
Tomorrow is Saturday, and after morning lessons (‘Scripture’ with Mr Sabine and ‘Music’ with Mr Lewis) my Dad will park his green and fawn Austin Maxi at the side of South Hill Avenue and take me home for the weekend; we only live about 20 minutes’ drive away. Mum and Dad and my little brother will drive me back to school wearing my Sunday Suit on Sunday evening, in time for me to change into a cassock, ruff and surplice ready to sing with the Choir in the gym – which is now transformed into a chapel for all the boys who board – in the Sunday evening service. (The gym is a versatile building! Last Saturday it was transformed – with the help of a mirror ball and an oil pattern projectorinto a discotheque and some girls from the Henrietta Barnett School came over on a coach to dance with us! And at the end of last term it became a theatre where we performed The Royal Hunt of the Sun – a play by Peter Schaffer.) Not all boys go home for the weekend; some – whose parents live abroad – stay at school for a whole term. On Sunday evenings, some boys from each dormitory walk along the corridors to the biggest dorm – Herga – where we will sit at the ends of the beds listening to Mr Davies reading a horror story! The lights will be out but Mr Davies sits in the doorway so that he can see to read by the lights in the corridor. Last week he read a story called The Small Assassin by Ray Bradbury – which gave me nightmares!
Eventually we return to our dormitories and fall asleep, ready for the bell which wakes us up and tells us that it’s time for the early morning exercise regime…and then it all begins again.
Thank you to Aubrey and his catering team for feeding us so well with a Christmas dinner that brought a whole lot of joy to the school – Our senior pupils kept the show on the road by clearing down, setting up and serving the junior pupils – they were a pretty amazing team!
Custard pies, dancing Grannies and Lycra pants – What else do you want from an Orley Farm School Christmas Production? Year 3 & 4 took to the spotlight this term with their hilarious musical ‘The Amazing Adventures of Superstan’. The Year 3 ‘Comic Book Chorus’ provided us with the perfect musical accompaniment, adding so much energy and volume to this fast-paced production. The fun script brought out the best in our Year 4 actors as they all had a moment to shine with funny one liners and slapstick humour, that had our audiences in uproar! I was super impressed with their performances, challenging choreography and boundless energy (despite being the end of term) and thoroughly enjoyed directing them. This unforgettable tale of Heroes Vs Villains was truly unforgettable and a true highlight of the year!
Mrs Gascoigne Director o
Music continues to play a big part in the life of Orley. In the autumn, we prepare for two major events: our Remembrance Service here at school and the Christmas Celebration Concert at Harrow School Speech Room. Preparations for these events begin the second week back after the summer holidays, and we were very fortunate this term to have a large retinue of brass players to play Christmas carols, including Joy to the World, Once in royal David’s city, O come all ye faithful, and Hark, the herald angels sing. The Senior Brass Ensemble, made up of 7 trumpets, 1 French horn, and 1 trombone player, served the school both at Remembrance – playing ‘I vow to thee my country’ and ‘Last post’ (the trumpets). The choirs – Chamber Choir, Senior Choir and the Year 5 Choir – were the main performers in our Christmas Concert, and this year – for the first time – we had an Indian-themed song and dance to end our programme. The choreography was created by a parent who volunteered her time and her expertise to create an Indian style dance with 13 of the children from the Senior Choir.
In Pre Prep, for the first time since before COVID, we had our Harvest Festival in October, where the children sang Harvest songs, including We plough the fields and scatter (with actions!), to our guests who visited from local care homes and churches. The Year 6 String Quartet played music as our guests took their seats, and it was wonderful to revive this event after such a long time. The term ended with children from Year 1 and Year 2 singing Christmas songs at the Hub for all their parents. A joy-filled term!
Mr Ford - Director of Music
The new school year brought with it an exciting addition a brand-new OFA Team! This year, we’re proud to have our largest team yet, with ten members spanning various year groups. This diversity enables us to collaborate effectively and create incredible experiences for our Orley Farm community. We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to Tanvi and her team for their unwavering dedication over the past few years. Your time, energy and passion have left an indelible mark; we are deeply grateful for all you’ve done.
From the very beginning, our new team has been buzzing with excitement to make this year unforgettable. Here’s a look back at some of the highlights:
Cheese & Wine Night (12th September)
We kicked off the year with a warm welcome for new parents at our Cheese & Wine Night. Butler Hall was transformed into a sophisticated space, rivalling even La Fromagerie, as we invited parents to connect with each other and the wider Orley community. This evening perfectly captured the unique spirit of Orley Farm – a commitment to fostering community, teaching our children the value of ating meaningful connections.
Open Morning (5th October)
The OFA team had the pleasure of mingling with prospective parents during the Open Morning. We answered their questions, addressed any concerns, and provided them with a glimpse of life at Orley Farm through the eyes of current parents.
Fireworks Night (7th November)
This year’s Fireworks Night was a dazzling success! We took a more traditional approach, with physical paper tickets and a return to classic school dinners, complemented by a select few sweet treats. To add a special touch, we gifted glow toys to all attending children instead of selling them. The Quad was alive with excitement, bringing together pupils, parents, grandparents, and even former students. It was heartwarming to see teachers and staff join in with their families for a well-deserved evening of celebration. The night was a testament to the joy of community and connection. Thank you to the whole Orley community for attending and supporting the night.
Christmas Fair (30th November)
The Christmas Fair was a magical event with something for everyone! A heartfelt thank you to the parents who helped create a Giving Grotto that delighted our youngest visitors.
On a surprisingly mild Winter afternoon, the school came alive with festive cheer. Children and families enjoyed a Christmas-themed trail, arts and crafts, a woodland-inspired Giving Grotto, tombola, raffle, delicious food and drink and an amazing live band.
Our students had the chance to shine, showcasing their entrepreneurial skills and raising money for various charities. Their creativity and enthusiasm were truly inspiring; their efforts contributed to an incredible total of over £1,900 raised for the School Charity and individual causes.
Thank you to everyone who donated or sponsored items for the raffle. Together, we made this year’s Christmas Fair a tremendous success.
To round off the term, we hosted a first-time Parents’ Christmas Social at the Village Hotel. The evening was a brilliant opportunity for parents to relax, unwind and strengthen bonds within our community. It was a night of laughter, dancing and creating lasting memories.
None of these events would have been possible without the unwavering support and dedication of our parent volunteers. Your time and effort are the foundation of our success and we are deeply grateful. Here’s to an exciting 2025, filled with more opportunities to come together as a community!
Warm regards, Chirag OFA Chair & the OFA Team (2024-2026)
B R O A D R I C KH O U S E W I N N E R S
Friday 14th March 2025 7pm-10pm
25 YEAR REUNION FOR THOSE WHO JOINED ORLEY FARM IN 1999
Sunday 1st June 2025 2pm-5pm
ORLEY FARM SCHOOL FOLLOW US
@ORLEYFARMSCHOOL
