Pupils from Years 5 and 6 are to deliver a one hour live show for Eastbourne Youth Radio on Thursday 20 November between 3.00pm and 4.00pm. The programme is being sponsored by local Chartered Accountants, Price & Company and is entitled Inheritance Tracks. The pupils have interviewed their grandparents about their lives in the 1950s and each person interviewed has chosen a record that is special to them. Studio guests will be Nick Darby and Neil McWalter, both former pupils of Eastbourne College in the 1950s. 

The Monday Choir, comprising 40 children, will also perform the uplifting song Believe by Lin Marsh.

In preparation for the show, the pupils have undertaken a great deal of research on the 1950s and explored music, games, toys, school uniform, food and leisure activities of the period to produce an interesting, informative and cohesive show. The programme has been compiled to appeal to all ages.

Honor Ellis, EYR Co-Ordinator at St Andrew’s Prep said, “I am amazed at the range of inspirational ideas the pupils are coming up with. We could have broadcast for a week easily! The children have embraced the topic and are eager to get to the studio. Despite any last minute nerves, I know that the programme will be a tremendous success.”

Children throughout the school have learnt about Harvest Festival and brought in produce to be distributed to local families by the Eastbourne Food Bank through the Rotary Club of Eastbourne Sovereign . 

The children from Chaffinch and Kingfisher classes overcame any bouts of fright when they took to the stage for the very first time to perform Nursery Harvest Songs in front of their expectant parents, family and friends. Under the guidance of Miss Eldridge, the three and four year olds sang about Crunchy Carrots and Squashy Bananas and followed the actions to Dingle Dangle Scarecrow and The Farmer’s in his Den.

Children from Pre-Prep and the Prep School were joined by many members of their families and friends at our Harvest Festival services in the Chapel.  The chapel was beautifully decorated by parents and staff with sheaves of wheat, pumpkins, sacks of oats and barley and the food produce contributed by school families.  We were delighted to welcome to the Prep School service, Revd Giles Carpenter, new vicar of St John’s Church in Meads and Revd Vic Lawrence, also from St John’s, who kindly spoke at the Pre-Prep Service.

To assist their understanding of map work, Year 5 took to the open air and visited Seven Sisters Country Park. There, they used maps and compasses to plot journeys, understand symbols and compare a bird’s eye view with the actual landscape.  The children also enjoyed a spot of field sketching.  The weather stayed warm and sunny.  Hooray!

Over the last fortnight, Mr Severino has met all the children who joined St Andrew’s at the beginning of term to seek out their first impressions, reflections and experiences of the school. The children were all keen to discuss how they had settled; which friends they had made; enthuse about the school meals and the wide open space of the school fields and talk about their favourite subjects.

Mr Severino said, “It has been a delight to meet our new children, note how at ease they are in their new school and be made aware of all that they bring to this school community. One comment which I have heard over and over again from these children is how welcoming the school is and that has pleased me immensely.”

St Andrew’s Prep has joined gatherings around the country to raise funds for people living with cancer. The school is proud to play its part in Macmillan’s World Biggest Coffee Morning and raised £225 for this worthy cause that touches so many of our lives.

Organised by the Friends of St Andrew’s, the fundraiser was extremely well attended and, in addition to raising money, the event offered parents and friends of the school the opportunity to catch up over a coffee and piece of homemade cake. Thank you to all those who joined us.

Every few weeks at St Andrew’s, the school offers its Prep school children the opportunity to attend enrichment workshops. Held over lunch time, these presentations are offered to inspire and stimulate the children and encourage them to ask questions and give them a thirst for discovery.

A Year 7 and 8 gathering with Mr Ferguson yesterday offered just such an opportunity as the children flocked to hear a Jelly Baby howl in the Science department. The experiment was noisy and smoky but provided an effective way to demonstrate that the food we eat contains lots of energy. As the Jelly Baby landed in the potassium chlorate, it let out an impressive yowl until it was ‘no more’; an exciting, if rather sad end to the Jelly Baby. To underline the aim of the experiment, the children were given a jelly baby as they left. Enrichment in every sense.

Years 5 and 6 had the chance to experience the authentic taste and smell of France by hearing about and then tasting a selection of French regional cheeses. One or two found the experience overwhelming but others were converted to the delights of fromage de chèvre and even Roquefort!

The children from Year 3 and Year 4 were enthusiastic in their semiotic analysis of Titian’s Bacchus and Ariadne. They quickly worked out the reason why Bacchus was wearing a circlet of vine leaves and lots of interesting ideas came out of our discussion of this amazing Renaissance painting.

Saturday
20 September saw the return of the St Andrew’s Prep 5k Charity Run. 
This year, funds were raised for The Teenage Cancer Trust.  There was a
great turnout from school parents, local runners and friends.  The winner,
Darrell Gibbs, attacked the tough undulating course with determination and should be
congratulated on his impressive time of 22 minutes and 26 seconds. Kirsty
Perkinson was the first female home. 

£120.00 was raised for this very worthy cause.  Many thanks to the Friends of St Andrew’s for organising the event and congratulations to all those who took
part. 

Following discussion and debate in Years 3-8 PSHE lessons this week the St Andrew’s Prep children were offered the opportunity to vote in a school poll for Scotland to become Independent from the rest of the UK or for all parts of the UK to remain united.

The children learned all about the referendum including the fact that 16 year olds are voting for the first time. The actual referendum allows voters to vote only Yes (Aye) or No (Naw), so the votes from the undecided (Mibbe) were not included in the overall result.

There was an excellent turnout with only 6% of the total who wanted to vote unable to decide.

Of the remainder:

25% voted YES and 75% voted NO

So it seems that the majority of Children at St Andrew’s want Scotland firmly to stay part of the UK.

St Andrew’s Prep was honoured to participate in three evenings of narration, music, drama and poetry recital alongside BBC TV Presenter, David Dimbleby and world renowned soprano, Dame Felicity Lott last weekend. Staged at the Redoubt Fortress on the Eastbourne seafront, Remember… The Great War was performed on three consecutive evenings to commemorate the centenary of the start of World War 1.

Commentary on how the war started, developed and finally came to an end along with stories of local servicemen who carried out acts of extraordinary bravery in the war was interspersed with moving performances by local schools and choirs. Year 6 to 8 pupils from St Andrew’s gave a poignant account of In Flanders Fields by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae and sang traditional First World War songs including Oh What a Lovely War and Keep the Home Fires Burning.

The school also contributed to a display of artwork and artefacts which were viewed by ticket holders before and after the performances. Based on works of World War 1 artist, Christopher Nevison pupils painted their own interpretations of his paintings or copies of his pieces. In addition, Year 7 children made clay models of World War 1 soldiers waiting to go ‘over the top’. The artwork and models were exhibited alongside a range of artefacts including uniforms, medals, artillery and a book loaned to the event by St Andrew’s which was donated to the school during the war years by the grief-stricken father of a former pupil who was killed in 1915. The book is full of letters, photographs and newspaper cuttings about his son, Eric Yarrow.  Almost 400 former St Andrew’s pupils fought in the Great War and Yarrow was one of 96 to have died.   

The evenings raised money for two important charities: The ABF, the Army’s principal welfare charity which provides financial and practical support to soldiers, former soldiers and their families and St Wilfrid’s Hospice which provides free care to around 1,000 patients every year.

Mr Severino said, “These performances were very special. Educational and moving and a wonderful opportunity for St Andrew’s to get involved in the community once again while raising money for two important charities. Our children and everyone involved in the staging and performance of the evenings should be very proud of their contribution and I hope it will stay in their memories for their lifetime.”