“Wow!” Probably the sound heard most often from my lips as I toured through the school on Friday watching the children undertake the many aspects of Creative Arts Day. The day was launched during a whole school assembly led by Miss Saville and accompanied by Mr Leutfeld. These two musical maestros combined to bring a touch of the West End musical theatre to Edge Grove. It was a pleasure to see the children from Reception to Year 8 coming together to support their Houses in friendly competition.
Upon its launch, the children scattered into House bases and the race was on to produce the best rendition of Hakuna Matata, complete with dialogue, art work, music, percussion and a dance move or two! The whole school was a hive of activity and as I walked through the school site, music was pouring through the open windows and doors. The Houses all added their own twist of originality.
The Pre Prep performances were the first to be judged and each and every child gave an incredible show. Every single child displayed house spirit as they gave it their all. In particular the judges were blown away by the use of British Sign Language (BSL) by Stratton, the surprise confetti by Hedgerows and of course the atmospheric drumming by Gills, the eventual winners.
With the excitement running through our veins, all of Pre Prep were welcomed to the Prep school performance and the winning House, Gills, gave an incredible performance to the whole school. The children were then treated to a feast of talents from the Prep school. It was clear that house staff and children had put their everything into making the day a success and again the judges were left in awe as Churchills produced a full live band (in a day!), Hedgerows wowed the audience with their art work and stunning masks and Stratton incorporated dance, gymnastics, live musicians and fantastic acting to become our eventual Prep school winners.
Thank you to EVERYONE that helped make Creative Arts Day 2022 a success. It is only by working together to create the school spirit Edge Grove is famous for that these days become the success they are. I am already looking forward to Creative Arts Day 2023 and hope to be invited back as a guest judge (hint hint!)
Head to the Inter House section of this newsletter to see some more photos from the day.
The details of Creative Arts Day were shrouded in secrecy until a couple of days beforehand. Just prepare a hit song from the Lion King, add some dance routines and themed crafts we were told - no worries! The day arrived and after a whole school assembly and with Edge Grove’s customary enthusiasm and creativity alive and well, everyone squirrelled themselves away in their House dens and gave it their all. By late afternoon, a panel of prestigious judges from the music and art departments together with Mrs Miller, our Head of Houses, were gathered to cast their votes as the Pre Prep Houses performed one by one. A cacophony of thunder machines, Miss Lamptey-Senior’s astonishingly beautiful voice, sign language, lion masks and a flurry of glitter made for a wonderful spectacle. Gills were the final House to perform, but wait, where was Ted the House Captain? He was at a music lesson but the show couldn't go on without him; a quick dash across the paddock to retrieve him and the light blues were ready to go. Just as well, as Gills were judged as the winners! As soon as the applause faded and Miss McDonald had presented the winning trophy, we all hot footed it over to the Sports Hall for the Prep performances. Well done to Stratton! The wet weather did not dampen the spirits of the Pre-School pupils, who took part in the same events and were in my view the absolute experts on all things Lion King. Staff also had time to prepare a stall of home grown herbs and radishes for the parents to take home for the weekend too. Role play is an important part of early childhood development. It helps to build confidence, creativity and communication skills. We were delighted to be invited to a Reception wedding ceremony this week. It was truly delightful and all driven by the children. It was a beautiful spectacle of designer outfits and ceremony without any of the customary stress about budgets or the weather; Hakuna Matata indeed!
It has been a glorious week at Edge Grove. The sun has been shining and swimming lessons are in full swing, much to the children’s delight. On Monday a few pupils from Year 5 travelled to Cheltenham College Prep to compete in a Leadership Challenge. Pupils were asked to complete memory tasks, wordle inspired word challenges and maths puzzles alongside some physical challenges too. The children had lots of fun and their efforts were rewarded with second place. Well done to Kaelan, Khushi, Sophie, Sofia, Timi, Robert, Esmé and Samuel. Several pupils were also picked to take part in a cricket tournament on Monday and they represented Edge Grove beautifully.
The week came to a close with Creative Arts Day. It was great to see all of the children demonstrating their artistic and musical talents. A big thank you to all of the members of staff who made the day so successful. What a way to end yet another hectic school week!
Well done to our House Captains who led their House teams with such enthusiasm on Friday for the Creative Arts Day. And well done to all our Upper School pupils who made such valuable contributions to the day!
Music - The music department was wowed to beyond with the outcomes of Creative Arts Day on Friday. The atmosphere around school was buzzing with Hakuna Matata interpreted and performed in many different ways. Performing Arts is truly a chance for us to witness each other's talents, express ourselves in different ways from outside of the classroom walls and the support pupils expressed to each other (despite the competitive nature!) was brilliant to see. It was joyous to see all pupils being involved, being creative and taking onboard a sense of commitment and leadership. Well done all!
We look forward to welcoming you to the Jubilee celebration on Thursday 26th May where both the Chamber Choir and Prep Chorus will be singing some of the Queen’s favourite musical songs!
As we look ahead to the Summer holidays, Mr Leutfeld suggests the below concerts for Edge Grove pupils to attend during the summer holidays. Book now to avoid disappointment!
PROM 11: Cbeebies prom - A Journey into the Ocean
Prom 53: Earth prom with Chris Packham
Prom 21: Gaming Prom – From 8-Bit to Infinity
We have had an excellent week of athletics with our Year 3 and 4 team taking part in the York House athletics meeting on Thursday afternoon and the Year 5 to 8 team taking part in the annual four schools athletics meeting at the Jarman Park athletics track on Friday.
There were some excellent individual performances on Thursday with a number of pupils winning their individual events. The highlight was our relay teams with our Year 4 girls, Year 4 boys and Year 3 girls all winning their shuttle relay race with the Year 3 boys finishing second. If it wasn't for the dreaded baton drop we would have had a clean sweep! It was great to see the boys and girls competing so well and there were some very encouraging signs for the future. It was very exciting to hear that all four of our teams (Year 3 boys, Year 3 girls, Year 4 boys, Year 4 girls) won their events.
On Friday we were very lucky that the rain held off in the afternoon and we were able to take part in the four schools athletics meeting. This is always a very enjoyable afternoon with pupils pushing themselves to achieve personal bests and regional championship qualifying times. Again there were a number of excellent individual performances with many pupils winning their events. When the results were added up we were delighted to hear that our Junior team (Year 5 and 6) were the overall winners. The Senior team (Year 7 and 8) finished third overall although the final points were extremely close. Well done to all those who took part in both of these events. You can find some photos below.
Congratulations to Rishi T in Year 6 who took part in the Watford and District Schools Swimming Association Swimming gala last Friday. He came third in year 6 Freestyle and third in year 6 Breaststroke. This is an excellent achievement. Well done Rishi!
Congratulations also to Ophelia who was crowned Harrow Hockey Club's under 10 player of the year! She is pictured here with Sofia (Queenswood Head Girl) who is just back from South Africa with a bronze medal for England from the Junior World Hockey Championship.
Don't forget to click here to read the cricket match reports from last week as well as a report from archery at the weekend.
We have a few tables remaining so please visit the booking website here to secure your place at the event of the year!
We made the decision a few weeks ago to donate surplus funds raised at this special event to the DEC Ukrainian appeal, putting the greater needs of others before our own. As ticket sales barely cover the cost of the evening, we rely on fundraising both on the night and in the lead up to the ball to make money for our designated charity. We would love the children to be involved with this too and more details regarding this will be sent out nearer the event. In the past, parents have been incredibly generous in donating items for our live auction and raffle, and the school has previously offered the chance to bid for your child to be “Head for the day”, a prize that I’m sure they would all love to win and which will be up for grabs again this year. Other items that we have had donated previously have been to watch a training session and meet the team at West Ham, use of a holiday villa in France for a week and a private dining experience for 8. Our school community has many contacts that may be interested in helping to raise as much as possible on the evening so, with this in mind, we are once again reaching out to you all for any help that you can provide with the following: Raffle Items: Any gift is a grateful gift. No matter how big or small the gift, we will gladly accept it to be used in some way. Suggestions of vouchers, wine, pamper products, jewellery, experiences, electronics? Live Auction Lots: Maybe you own season tickets for rugby or football teams that you can donate for one game? Do you own a holiday property that you can donate for a week's stay or have connections to a holiday company that can help? Could you donate Theatre tickets or a restaurant table/experience? Training or lessons on a particular skill? Donate a piece of artwork or photography?
Whether you were kind enough help us at the last ball and can help us again or if you are new and can offer anything you think would be of help to us for the Ball, then please e-mail me (smaughan@edgegrove.com) or call the school to have a direct chat with me. Please bring donations to the main reception. My sincere thanks in advance for your continued support for this event whether by attending, donating prizes, buying raffle tickets or bidding for items. Best wishes, Sue Maughan Development Manager