West Hill Park School

Alfie's Den Day

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 12:51:44 PST

Year 2 spent a fantastic day in Alfie's Den learning how to use bow saws to cut the wood for their sausage sticks and camp fire. Even washing up outdoors was fun!

Summer Fete

Mon, 05 Jul 2010 15:31:15 PST

This year's Summer Fete held on Saturday 26th June raised a wonderful £1,900 with the Tombola Stall raising £350 which will go to Gitare School in Kenya. Thank you to all those who attended the fete or supported in any way.

Alfie's Den

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 13:25:23 PST

Nine Year 10 pupils from Thomas Bennett Community College, Crawley camped in the grounds of West Hill Park School for two days to work towards their BTec in Countryside and Environment.

They created a wooden woven fence around Alfie’s Den, an outdoor learning classroom in memory of Alfie Norwood-Perkins who died over the Easter holidays of meningitis.

Race for Life Update

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 13:11:44 PST

On Sunday 13th June a team of 70 staff, mums, daughters, relatives and friends completed the Winchester Race for Life. Sporting specially designed pink T-shirts the team have raised an amazing £10,000 so far.

Year 3 pupil Poppy Wright deserves a special mention coming ninth place in a field of 2,400.

Many congratulations to all who took part and supported the team.

Race for Life is Cancer Research UK's flagship event, with over 230 events taking place across the UK. The West Hill Park Team sponsorship page is still open for donations http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/westhillpark

Lights, Camera, Action!

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:06:24 PST

Dollies, teddies, aeroplanes, soldiers and puppets allcame alive in the Pre Prep performance of the 'Magic Toy Box'.

When three children came to stay with their grandparents they were amazed when toys from the past proved to be more exciting than their own 21st century ones.

Rock Your Shades Update

Thu, 20 May 2010 11:00:39 PST

Year 6 pupil, Ollie Uglow, has been interviewed on television and radio regarding the latest developments in treatment of Leukaemia, he has put his message across extremely well and we are very proud of him. He enlisted his fellow Prep school pupils to support the Teenage Cancer Trust and raise money by donating £1.00 to wear sunglasses for the day on Friday 14th May at school. Due to his efforts £298.00 was raised for the charity.

Congratualtions to Ollie and all who Rocked their Shades!

Ollie’s message to you

The teenage cancer trust are a charity dealing with teenagers with cancer and are currently raising money for a teenagers’ unit in Southampton General Hospital where teens can go for some quiet time and use the facilities in the unit or to meet other teenagers with cancer like them. Their treatment is currently given alongside babies and other small children which makes it very difficult for everyone. When I was in hospital this unit would have been so amazing for them to use.

Tribute to Alfie

Wed, 19 May 2010 16:48:28 PST

Alfie Norwood-Perkins was a treasured member of the Pre-Prep department who has been greatly missed by both his friends and the staff since his recent tragic death.

A relative of Alfie’s is skippering a yacht which is in the race to set a new record for crossing the Atlantic from New York to Lizard Point. The yacht has been renamed Alfie and their progress can be tracked at www.leopard3.com. The children at West Hill are invited to e-mail the yacht and these will be entered into the log. Mr Norwood - Perkins will reply to their e-mails. There will be a lot of interesting facts and information available.

The crew are currently waiting for a 'weather window' so they can start their record attempt. We shall be following their progress with great interest.

Dance for CGD

Thu, 13 May 2010 11:36:03 PST

Congratulations to Mikayla Galyon, Alex Gowers, India Hulme and Tom Price who performed a sponsored dance at the end of term and raised £205. The money was given to the CGD Research Trust. This charity helps people with a rare blood disease, Chronic Granulomatus Disorder.

Race for Life

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 13:20:20 PST

All girls, mums, staff, grannies, aunties and friends are invited to join our
West Hill Park Race for Life team. We will be running, jogging or walking around the 5K course in Winchester raising money for cancer research on the 13th June. So far we have 20 confirmed members in our team and I know lots of you are thinking about it. We also have been promised sponsorship for our pink team t' shirt which is fantastic news.

If you would like to join us please sign up on the Race for Life website www.raceforlife.org as soon as possible as places may well be limited. Please make sure you register for the Winchester event. Registration will cost £12.99 for each entry.

When you have registered please let me know so that I can update the sponsorship page and include you in future mailings and updates on the plans for the day.

But most importantly If you can, please sponsor us by going onto our Race for Life Team online sponsorship page, the address is www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/westhillpark

Kilimanjaro Challenge

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 13:11:28 PST

One of the chosen charities to benefit from this year's Shop ‘til you drop event is a local centre which provides invaluable support for children with Cerebral Palsy.

Continuing along this theme one of the members of the event committee (& mum of Toby Pendle in pre-prep), Alison Tooze, is also fundraising for people affected by Cerebral Palsy through national charity Scope. Alison's fundraising will culminate in her climbing 19,000 feet to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro this October and she would be incredibly grateful if West Hill Park parents could offer some support. You can help in any of the following ways:

•Making a donation online at www.justgiving.com/alitooze where you can read more about Alison's reasons for taking up this challenge. If your business or the organisation you work for make charity donations or would like to offer sponsorship please get in touch with Alison alitooze@hotmail.com

•If you are having a spring clear out please donate any unwanted, saleable items so they can be taken to car boot sales to raise funds. Please bring any items you are able to donate to the sports hall foyer on Friday 26th March or Friday 23rd April between 8am and 9:30am or 2:30 -3:00pm. If you have larger items that are not easy to transport please get in touch with Alison directly.

•If you are looking for a good excuse to get fit for summer Alison is looking for team members to join in a relay challenge to ‘climb' Kilimanjaro on a stair stepper. This will take place towards the end of May, please contact Alison for more details alitooze@hotmail.com

•Alison will be organising a number of events including a quiz night, coffee mornings and afternoon teas in the summer. More details about each event will follow in due course & if you are able to attend any of them Alison would be very pleased to see you there. Also donations of prizes from individuals and local businesses would be a huge help.

Pre Prep Book Week

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:34:19 PST

Between Monday 1^st March and Friday 5^th March the Pre-Prep department held their Book Week to coincide with National Book Day. The book character day was great fun and our thanks go to the parents for making a huge effort in designing the costumes. The teachers really joined in the spirit of things and had as much fun as the children wearing their outfits. The Usborne book fair was very popular raising £500 commission for the department to buy library books.

Year 1 visited Lockswood Library and Year 2 went behind the scenes at Waterstones book shop, Fareham. Afterwards the librarian at Fareham Library set the children the task of using their alphabetical knowledge to track down authors. We were very proud of their behaviour on both the visits. They were a credit to the school and their parents.

Bryanston Maths Challenge

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:35:20 PST

Alec Damley–Jones, Ananth Sathyanath, Austen Wallis and Rufus Briggs took part in this year’s Bryanston Maths Challenge. This is an annual event in which over 50 pairs of young mathematicians take part in a variety of activities. Our boys faired well in the opening Mental Arithmetic round and moved swiftly on to the Counting Down aspect of the competition. Carol Vordeman paled into insignificance compared to Rufus and Austen as they collected several bonus points for being the first to solve some complex calculations.

The final round, The Big Event, is a round of problem solving. The perfectionism of Ananth and Alec caught them out, spending too long on questions; they simply did not answer enough questions to do themselves justice!

The final outcome placed Rufus and Austen 6^th in their group and 9^th overall; this is an impressive result considering the calibre of the competition. A fun afternoon was had by all, many well congratulations to the boys and a big Thank You to Mrs Ringelberg for driving us.

For a taste of what boys were faced with please visit: http://www.dcbeagle.com/examples.htm

Art and Science Day

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:08:17 PST

Following the success of the Science and Mathematics day in the snow last year the same company, ProEducation Ltd, was booked to come into school and show us how Art and Science can be linked together. Dr Jasmine Pradissitto, an artist with a background in the world of physics, captivated the pupils in Years3 to 6 with a display of giant bubbles, lasers, fibre optics, optical illusions and much more.

After break pupils in year 4 had an opportunity to try many of the activities that had been demonstrated to them. Most managed to get covered in paint and coloured water and the sale of nappies must have increased as the pupils demanded that their parents allow them to try one of the experiments at home.

Year 6 followed lunch with an opportunity to try their hand at the activities and they learned how to cut out a perfect 5 pointed star.

Music Festival Success

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:03:34 PST

West Hill Park School entered three groups into this year’s Southampton Festival of Music and Drama and all three Little Big Time Band, a mixed wind and brass band, won the Ensembles Class playing music from the movies - James Bond and Pirates of the Caribbean. Jubilee Choir won their Senior Choir Class and the Whitworth Festival Cup with performances of This Little Light of Mine and Swing Low. Members of Senior Choir gave an excellent performance in the non-competitive Senior Choir Class, singing Siya Hamba and Go Down Moses. All the groups received very encouraging comments from the adjudicators. Congratulations to Mrs. K Warburton (Director of Music) who conducted the Choirs, to Mr. A Hill (Brass) who conducted the Little Big Time Band and many thanks to Miss. S Heard (Music Administrator) for her contribution and to the parents for their support.

What a Knight!

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:35:32 PST

The Shells and Lowers production of Craig Hawes' What a Knight is fast approaching. Performances will be held on Friday 19th March at 5:30pm for parents and Saturday 20th March at 11:00am for families. Demand for tickets is expected to be great.

Please see What a Knight! letter for details of how to order tickets.

Confirmation Service

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 13:19:37 PST

Seven pupils at West Hill Park were confirmed in a service conducted by Rt. Rev. Godfrey Ashby. The service was conducted in the school hall, a first for West Hill, meaning the whole school could witness and experience what confirmation is all about. Bishop Godfrey was assisted by The Rev. Jane Richards who is looking after Titchfield during their interregnum. The children at West Hill also took part in the Communion service that followed; everyone one that wanted could come forward to receive a blessing from the Bishop, and almost the whole school did.

Pre Prep Science Day

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:24:15 PST

The Pre-Prep all took part in an exciting day of investigation and discovery when we held our Science Day. Children in Foundation and Reception tried a range of Discovery Activities as well as making kaleidoscopes and windmills.

In Year 1 and 2 the children investigated science through Art and Craft activities such as marbling, colour mixing, salty dragons and fire breathing dragons. Some lucky Year 2 pupils felt like real scientists whey they worked with Mrs. Coote from the Prep school in the afternoon. Whilst watching his foaming dragon Hugo was heard to say “This is the best day of my life”.

Groundhog Day?

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:56:11 PST

At the Portsmouth & District Final, Edward, Andrew and Freddy, the youngest competitors there, surpassed themselves and held the audience spellbound. Sadly, and, once again to the surprise and consternation of many Rotarians and unbiased visitors, they were placed 2^nd, instead of the deserved 1^st Place.

Ironically, 2^nd Place Andrew Broadley received a special prize from Mr Tim Austin, the Chair of the Judges. He presented Andrew with the Most Outstanding Speaker of the Evening Award and praised him for his moving oratory, distinguishing him from the 20 Senior and Intermediate contestants!

Fortunately, at West Hill Park, enthusiasm for public speaking remains undimmed. Our children generously enjoy listening to other schools’ teams and are resigned to the fact that their Independent School status hinders them in certain aspects of life. They know, that their chances of moving on to the Regional Finals are slim but they relish the thrill of the chase or, rather, the pursuit of eloquence.

It is also ironic that the competition was held on Groundhog Day, as like the hapless news reporter, we stop at the same point every year (not day!) and restart the Public Speaking circuit in exactly the same way.

Burns Night Fun

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:48:00 PST

Burns Night must be one of the highlights of the term so far; the boarders invited the resident staff to an evening of Scottish poetry, piping, singing and hilarious dancing led by Mrs Harris.

Mr Jenkins should be commended for his rendition of The Haggis as should JH for his toast to the Lassies and Bethany Jane for her reply.

Brian and his team rose to the occasion and convinced most of us that haggis was delicious.

Youth Speaks Success Again!

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 10:44:26 PST

West Hill Park School’s articulate students have gained an incredible victory at the annual Fareham Rotary Youth Speaks Public Speaking competition, held in the Council Chamber in the presence of the Mayor of Fareham.

The six public speakers from Years 7 and 8 secured all the prizes (a Cup and Amazon vouchers) by winning both 1st and 2nd place in this popular and keenly contested event.

The Team One fifteen minute presentation on “Is 8 the New Marmite?” was lively, slick and humorous and extolled the merits of texting, whilst reassuring the audience that our “rich and diverse” language is not being diminished in the slightest by this quick and efficient method of communication.

Team 2 moved the spectators almost to tears as they spoke of the plight of the homeless, the “invisible people” shunned by most “decent” citizens. They were (and still are) determined to help the homeless, especially young people, to bring those “outside, inside” and to help them to regain a sense of self-worth. It is small wonder that these caring youngsters were able to touch the hearts of all present with their impassioned and committed oratory. The Rotarians presented them with the coveted Cup and £45 worth of Amazon vouchers.

For the 6th time in 7 years a team from West Hill Park will now proceed to the District Final. This is a phenomenal record; the West Hill Park students are formidable opponents in the oratorial field and their unprecedented success is testimony to their poise, dedication and eloquence.

Congratulations to both teams!