It is no mean feat to dance in front of a large audience but the girls and boys of Years 5 to 8 left their inhibitions outside the Durlurcher Gym door last week as they came together to put on a fan-tango-tastic Dance Showcase. 

Performing in classes or year groups, the children were expertly guided through their steps by Drama teacher, Stephanie Tyrell. However, some groups were given free rein to choreograph sections of their pieces themselves, encouraging the children to work through ideas together thus demonstrating their creativity and ability to work as part of a team. 

The children danced to a variety of musical genres and demonstrated their hip-hop, rap and groove abilities in front of their delighted friends and family.

Many congratulations to all who took part. It was a most memorable occasion.

St Andrew’s Prep was represented by 35 Year 3 to 5 pupils at the much anticipated Charleston Manor Poetry Festival.

Within the magnificent setting of the Great Barn, each child recited a poem to their teachers and parents. A tremendous tea was offered to guests following the recital and the children were given the opportunity to play and explore in the grounds of the Manor House.

The Headmaster said ‘I am very proud of the children for having the confidence and ability to recite a poem in front of such a large audience and they have returned to school inspired and stimulated. They are to be warmly congratulated.’

An evening of delightful song captivated the capacity audience in the Richardson as children from Years 3 to 8 performed in the much anticipated Voice Concert.

Solos, duets and wonderfully blended harmonious choir pieces were performed, demonstrating a real breadth and depth of musical ability throughout the Prep School.
It was especially heart-warming to see mixed year groups working together and supporting one another and Mr Severino praised the children for their performances which brought tears and raised smiles to many in the audience.

Mrs Wicks and her team were thanked for accompanying the children. The music staff were also congratulated for the wonderful programme of music they compiled and for instilling confidence and ability in the children to perform so movingly.

10 lucky Year 6 pupils were invited to attend an interactive ‘Introduction to Shakespeare’ Workshop at Eastbourne College last Friday.
Staged in the Colleges’ performing arts centre – the Birley Centre, the theatre company Box Clever entertainingly explained the life and works of the Bard and the historical and cultural setting in which he wrote. 

After a nutritious lunch in the Eastbourne College dining room, the children were treated to a précised performance of Macbeth. 

Year 6 pupil, Ed came away inspired. ‘It was fantastic’ he said, ‘they had three people acting out the whole play and because they used the English that we speak today, I understood the whole thing.’

A short question and answer session wrapped up the workshop, and staff and children returned enthused and stimulated.

‘Last month, we went to Ratton School to take part in the Rotary Technology Challenge.

The challenge was to build a free-standing bridge across a 50cm gap and ‘test it to destruction’ in other words, to see how much weight it could take. When we walked into the gym, there were six tables with all the equipment we needed laid out. The equipment we had was 50 paperclips, eight lollipop sticks, some paper, toothpicks, string with scissors, sellotape, a ruler and a pencil.

After 10 minutes with Mr Cruz to help us, we were left with 50 minutes to build our bridge. When the time was up, each school took it in turns to go up to the front and see how much weight the structure could take. We were second up after Willingdon School. After half an hour of tense waiting seeing who could beat our mark of 3kg, the last structure fell, securing our win.

This is the second year in a row that St Andrew’s has won, and as we were Year 7 in a Year 8 competition, we were very proud of what we had achieved.’

Written by the Year 7 team

We are delighted to announce that now planning permission has been received, work is already well progressed on our new sports hall and dance studio. If construction runs to schedule there will be a grand opening in the autumn of 2015. The new building will sit between the tennis courts and the pavilion and will comprise a large sports hall (equivalent in area to four badminton courts and ideal for indoor hockey and cricket nets as well as much else), a dance studio, offices and changing rooms. At the same time, the tennis courts will be resurfaced and re-fenced. Altogether this represents a major enhancement to the St Andrew’s Prep provision for every child from Nursery to Year 8. Add to these the school’s beautiful playing fields and two large full size astros and it is clear that the St Andrew’s sports facilities are as good as any prep school anywhere; and better than almost all.

We are also celebrating the good news that Eastbourne College has been granted planning permission for Project 150. Work is already well progressed towards delivering a major development which, all being well, will be opened in 2017 – the year the College celebrates its 150th anniversary. 

Both of these developments are very exciting for the whole Charity, enhancing the already excellent provision and will enable the two schools to be top providers of independent education in the town of Eastbourne and its surrounding area. 
 

Congratulations to Batuhan Kaya who was part of the winning team taking part in the National U11 Chess Championship for 2014.

Batuhan’s team, Sussex Junior Chess, competed against 17 counties and won with an excellent 52 points.

Batuhan said he very much enjoyed the experience. Well done to Batuhan and his team.

It is the late 1700s and the crew of HMS Endeavour are sailing the high sails under the command of Captain James Cook. Their voyage takes them to Australia and the two poles where they meet kangeroos, penquins and polar bears. There are disputes among the crew, but these are usually sorted out with a good fight followed by a mugful of grog. Meanwhile, Mrs Cook waits anxiously at home for news of her husband…

It was anchors aweigh for the Year 3 and 4 production of All Aboard as they pushed the boat out for a feast of acting and singing. The Richardson was packed to the gunwales with a very merry crew of parents who had enjoyed some grog just before the performance but fortunately no-one was three sheets to the wind.
All in all a very enjoyable evening and definitely no panic stations in this performance.  

Under the watchful eye of games teacher, Mark Tomsett, 42 children and six staff set out for a long awaited ski trip over the Easter holidays. There have been trips in the past from the school but not for a number of years, so there was much excitement and anticipation.
Pila in the Aosta Valley in Italy was the destination for the group that contained some beginners who had never put on skis to experts who have been skiing for a number of seasons.
The trip was organised by ski operator, Interski, who have 30 years’ experience in putting together trips tailored for schools with all levels of experience.
Mark Tomsett said ‘The weather was fantastic and the resort brilliant for all levels of skiing.’ There wasn’t just fun on the slopes; in the evenings the group enjoyed stone baked pizzas, ten pin bowling and a quiz complied by Head of Science, Chris Laughton. On the final evening there was a presentation from all the skiing instructors with many children receiving awards.
The trip was a great success, enjoyed by all and plans are already underway for the 2015 season.