Our
Sport Hall development site is now a hive of activity with various trades
working alongside each other to ensure the building is handed over to the
school at the end of June 2016. 

We
have received many compliments on the sympathetic choice of external materials
used to break up the mass of the main hall. The full structure is now in situ
and you can easily see the true shape and size of the development which nestles
nicely into the southern banks of the school site. Of special note is the
internal viewing area which has been considerately designed to allow spectators
to watch main hall activities taking place.    Over the next few
weeks the contractor will be working on grading the ground level around the
sports hall back into the playing field levels. This has to be a balanced
approach of safety and not losing green pitch space.

Once
the Sports Hall is handed over to the school, the contractor will refurbish the
tennis court, complete the necessary paths and make good disturbed ground.

Many congratulations to Kiri Marshall (Year 6) and Jamie Gordon (Year 5) who have beaten 118,900 entrants to win spots in the top 4,500 of the BBC 500 words competition. Their stories, The Old Diary and The Lazy Cat? written by Kiri and Jamie respectively, have now been forwarded to the Reading Agency for the second round of judging.

The children wrote their own, original stories, on subjects of their choosing in 500 Words or fewer and submitted it online. If one of their stories wins, it will be read live on radio to an audience of more than 10 million by a superstar celebrity such as Hugh Bonneville or Kenneth Branagh. The Duchess of Cornwall is returning to be an honorary judge and will be debating the top 50 alongside an amazing author panel including: Malorie Blackman, Charlie Higson, Frank Cottrell-Boyce and Francesca Simon.

We’ll know more about the children’s progress in early May when the top 50 are selected for the final to be held at the home of British story-telling, Shakespeare’s Globe. In the meantime, many congratulations to both Kiri and Jamie who have been awarded a certificate by the Chris Evans Breakfast Show 500 Words team.

Many congratulations to Daisy N, whose Fanfare in C has been selected as one of this year’s ten winning compositions in the Royal Opera House’s Fanfare competition which means she is invited to the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, to workshop her composition with composer Duncan Chapman and players from the Royal Opera House Orchestra. This takes place on Thursday 5 May, 11am – 5pm at the Royal Opera House.

Daisy is also invited back to the ROH on Saturday 18 June, 11am – 2pm, to hear her fanfare played and recorded by the ROH Orchestra under the direction of Music Director and conductor Antonio Pappano. Daisy’s recorded fanfare will then be played at every main stage performance throughout the ROH 2016/17 Season, letting the audience know when it’s time to take their seats. She is very excited!

St Andrew’s Prep has enjoyed a variety of different activities as part of their Science week. There were talks from Russell Arnott on marine life and the amazing adaptations of Cetaceans as well as the Octopus. He also talks to seniors on the challenges of living in such an environment with water pressures as much as 1000 times normal atmospheric pressure.

Later in the week we heard about the challenge that Ardingly College undertook last October to drive their solar powered car across Australia from Darwin to Adelaide. This was a distance of no less than 3,000 km and teams had to complete the course in just five days. Children also got a chance to sit in the actual car that completed the journey.

For the Juniors there was also a trip to the Science Centre at Herstmonceux which allowed the children to learn more about space travel and the challenges that this presents.

All in all a busy but very enjoyable week.

The St Andrew’s Prep sports field was packed with children and their parents on Saturday afternoon as approximately 350 boys and girls, aged 7-10 years old, representing 36 teams from local primary schools and football clubs, gathered under blue skies for the fifth St Andrew’s Prep Football Festival.

With the emphasis on enjoyment and skill development, each team played between seven and ten mini-matches on the school pitches at the foot of the South Downs. There were no winners or losers but every child received a medal and certificate for their determined efforts. Following the success of the women’s England team who reached the last four of the 2015 World Cup in Canada, female participation in the sport is on the rise, so it was especially pleasing to see eight teams fielded in the Under 10/11 girls’ section.

Support was passionate from the side-lines and energetic and enthusiastic teamwork was evident on each of the ten football pitches. Outstanding performances were noted by the many teachers, FA approved coaches and officials present.

St Andrew’s Prep Headmaster, Gareth Jones said, “This festival is about fun in the community and we are absolutely thrilled that so many children got involved in our festival and gained from it technically, physically and socially. I was particularly impressed by the teams’ positivity both on and off the pitches which helped to make this a very special day. I’d like to express my gratitude to all those who helped stage this event for the community with special thanks to Chris Pinch, Joint Director of Sport at St Andrew’s Prep, and his wife Cheryl who is also on our sports staff.”

All contributions made towards the refreshments have been sent to Sport Relief which helps people living tough lives across the UK and Africa.

Who needs the West End when you’ve got St Andrew’s Prep?

Performed by Years 5 and 6, The Lion King was a triumph from the moment the children walked on to the stage singing the opening Circle of Life to the heart-warming, spine-tingling Can You Feel the Love Tonight? and Finale.

With complex harmonies and tricky African language to conquer and remember, the Lion King is no-walk-in-the-Kruger-Park but the musical was performed with a real sense of joy and it delighted audiences over the three days with acting, music, singing, dancing, costumes and set design of the highest standard.

The school was delighted to welcome local primary schools, Bourne and West Rise to the dress rehearsal and the production ran for two further evenings in front of packed audiences which were praised by all who saw it.

Gareth Jones, Headmaster said, “It was very moving to hear the children singing so beautifully and they acted with such energy. The costumes were stunning and atmosphere was created superbly using a simple set with fabulous lighting to reflect the colours and shades of Africa. The musical and dramatic talent on display was wonderful. Special thanks for their hard work to Director, Michelle Eldridge, and Jeannette Adams, Assistant Director along with the many volunteers who helped with costumes, lighting, set, make up and props.”

St Andrew’s Prep has won a hat-trick of county titles this week.  Following on from the U11 Girls’ Hockey team success,  many congratulations to the U13 and the U12 rugby teams who clinched the Sussex county schools’ titles of their respective age groups on Wednesday.

The U12s started nervously against their opponents, Warden Park, and went a try down relatively early in the game but the team gradually settled down and the forwards began to take control at the breakdown with some superb work from Oliver S and Giles W-S. There was great skill in the ruck from the pack and in particular from Zac C and Henry D who allowed scrum half William N to set up the backs.  There was also some excellent running on the wing by Tom S who was rewarded with two blistering tries. The team continued to dominate the game in the second half and Ethan D regularly broke the Warden Park’s defensive line. Towards the end of the game the ball handling of St Andrew’s proved too much for the opposition and Henry D went over the line from close range and Zac C ran in two tries. An excellent performance from all the U12 team.

Final score St Andrew’s 31 Warden Park 14

Team: William C, Tom S, William C, Ethan D, Pui C, Thomas P, William N, Giles W-S, Edward G, Zac C, Henry D, Oliver S, Guy C, Daniel J, Batuhan K and Archie S.

The U13 match was always going to be hard against a very strong Dorothy Stringer team with a great track record. Our forwards were also weakened with the injury of one of our best players, Ethan H, who offered his support from the sidelines.  In appalling weather conditions, the game ebbed and flowed with both sides coming close to scoring. Eventually, our three-quarter line managed to avoid the heavy tackling and speed of the Stringer backs and Joshua V ran in a superb try.  After half-time, the Stringer team threw everything they had at St Andrew’s and their forwards dominated the game and managed to score and convert.  With eight minutes to go, St Andrew’s fought back and some great work by the forwards allowed a good second phase ball for Spike Gleave who side stepped three players to score under the posts and clinch the Sussex Cup title.

Final score: St Andrew’s 12 Dorothy Stringer 7 and an unbeaten season for the First XV.

Team: Joseph A-H (Vice-Capt), Louis L, Henry D, Scott W, Timothy J (Vice-Capt), Ethan H, Joseph L, Max M, Leon W,(Capt) Sebastian G, Joshua V, Kieran M, William R, William C, Toby A, Zac C, Thomas P, Edward A, Evan N, Domenico C. 

St Andrew’s Prep has increased its haul of sporting titles by adding the Under 11 Hockey shield to the trophy cabinet following emphatic victories over all competing schools in the Sussex Mini Hockey tournament held at Eastbourne College’s Summerdown astro this week.

With unequivocal wins over Battle, Bedes, Burgess Hill for Girls, Claremont and Moira House the girls scored eighteen goals and conceded only one.

The girls, unbeaten all season, now face the winners of the other southern counties in the South Regional play offs in Woking. 

The St Andrew’s Prep Under 11 Girls’ Hockey team are pictured here with Rob Hill who played hockey for Great Britain at the 1992 summer Olympics. Rob is the Director of Hockey at Eastbourne College

Many congratulations to Arcos and Sea Kings who sang heartily and played their ways nimbly to clinch joint first place in the House Music competition which closed the first half of the spring term. The event is the biggest House competition of the year, involving every pupil in the Prep School and showcasing the school’s top musical talent in solo categories alongside House ensembles and a whole House song category.

The gym was packed to the gunnels and heard extraordinary solo performances on a range of instruments in Junior and Senior sections of piano, brass and woodwind, strings and voice.
The soloists captivated the audience and made judging incredibly hard for poor Mr Jordan, Director of Music from Eastbourne College, who did a fantastic job, and was most encouraging towards our young musicians. The standard of play was extraordinarily high with the majority of pieces played in the Senior categories ranging from Grade 6 and up.

Solo winners were:

Elementary Piano Sammy C
Intermediate Piano Sam F
Advanced Piano Spike G
Elementary String Louie V (Cello)
Advanced String Juliette Z (Violin)
Elementary Wind and Brass Henry DG (Trumpet)
Advanced Wind and Brass Daisy N (Flute)
Junior Singing Harry S
Senior Singing Ed G
Composition Ed G

After a short ice cream break, the sound level was cranked up a gear as the House ensembles took to the stage. It is not often that you would think of putting a xylophone together with an electric guitar, oboe and violin. Nevertheless, this Sea Kings ensemble beat the rest of the Houses with their rousing rendition of ‘Stranger’s in the Night’.

Finally, tension reached fever pitch as each House performed their choice of song from a musical. Oom Pah Pah, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and We will Rock You were all sung with gusto and enthusiasm but it was VC’s moving arrangement, with actions and flags, of Les Mis ballades that won Mr Jordan’s vote.

Whole House winners:

House Ensemble 1. Sea Kings 2. Arcos 3. Rovers 4. VC’s
House Choir 1. VC’s 2. Sea Kings 3. Arcos 4. Rovers

The whole event offered unified support and enthusiasm for each and every performance and was a rollicking success.

Congratulations to all but huge thanks to Mrs Wicks, Director of Music for organising the event, Miss Eldridge for supporting Mrs Wicks and a final thanks to the House leaders and tutors for pulling together their House songs with such enthusiasm and panache.