The Governors, Headmaster, Staff and Pupils  at the Easter Service 2012

At the Dorchester Baptist Church, The Dorford Centre, Dorchester

SUNNINGHILL COMMUNITY HALL LAUNCH EVENT

Sunninghill Prep School, Dorchester was proud to launch their new hall with an unusual history event.  We used old photographs and antique objects to bring Dorchester’s local history alive with the help of our special guests, Paul Atterbury from the BBC’s ‘Antique Roadshow’, Guy Schwinge from Duke’s Auctioneers, Lucy Allen from ‘Dorchester Dig’ community play and Pippa Brindley from Dorchester County Museum. 

The day was planned as a history enrichment session, part of the programme that SPS run every Friday to benefit Forms 1-8, designed to develop thinking patterns across curriculum topics.  Last Friday was for Form 7 children. SPS extended this initiative by inviting young guests in their peer group from St Marys Puddletown, St Osmunds and Dorchester Middle School through their partnership with local DASP schools.  Our other guests were from the local press and radio station.

The event was a great success masterminded by Sarah Smith, who sadly could not be there.  The day began with huge energy and enthusiasm from Andrew, which was matched by our team of experts and maintained by Donna Fernley.  I was impressed by all the children’s ability to join in on mixed teams, engage with the topic and answer the questions after careful thought and consideration; thereby demonstrating not only genuine interest in the topic but also social and public speaking skills.  Two teams gained 250 points each – well done.  My thanks to everyone who worked hard to make this event happen in Sarah’s absence.

Sunninghill's Spectacular Olympic Display

As part of the local celebrations of the forth coming Olympics, Sunninghill Prep School created a magnificent ‘human’ timeline, involving virtually every child at the school.  The demonstrations of each chosen event, to the theme of ‘Chariots of Fire’, made it a truly atmospheric occasion and it gave the children the opportunity to work as one team.

Each year group researched a number of sports that have been introduced since the beginning of the modern Olympic Games in 1896.   These included sailing, judo, archery, taekwondo, the marathon and rowing.  All of the children in each form group worked together to produce props to demonstrate each of these events as well as creating flags for the representative country of their chosen Olympic Games and a banner to explain each event.  Many of the models the children produced were truly outstanding.  Of particular note were the sailing boats produced by Form 6 with Charlie Cornick making his own version of a buoy! 

After this performance, four members from Form 8 carried the Olympic flag and torch, in ceremonial fashion, towards the children from Milborne Saint Andrew First School as part of the official handover.  This was then followed by a number of representatives from each year group traveling to this local school to share lunch as part of the overall celebrations.

The Olympic torch had previously been passed onto Sunninghill Prep School on top of Maiden Castle by Winterborne Valley First School.  250 children, staff and parents wore specific colours to recreate the giant Olympic rings. 

Sunninghill Prep School is in an enviable position due to its links with bother the state sector through the Dorchester Area School Partnership (DASP), where it is able to share resources and expertise as well as having strong links with the independent sector at the same time.  This is a new and exciting model which we believe is the first of its kind in this county.

BBC Radio        

November 2011

Students from Sunninghill Prep School’s top year group performed a pacey ensemble performance of The Tempest at The Lighthouse Theatre in Poole as part of the National Shakespeare School’s Festival; the largest youth drama festival in the United Kingdom.  The children showed great commitment and unleashed their creativity in response to this challenge.  The sound and lighting provided by a professional theatre made the students’ performances all the more powerful. This particular production was unique in its inclusivity: every member of Form 8 was involved and all of them handled their role, the archaic language, and the challenges they faced with aplomb.

Donna Fernley, Head of English at Sunninghill Prep School, commented ‘I was impressed by the group who performed with great confidence and focus; they demonstrated an impressive grasp of Shakespearean language and their diction and clear articulation were commended by the festival coordinator.  The movement work, devised by the pupils themselves, also complemented the action brilliantly.’

Later in the evening, we were all moved (most of us to tears) by the extraordinarily powerful Romeo and Juliet, performed by Victoria School, whose talented actors, many  in wheelchairs, showed us how to make the most of our talents, and also how to use language and movement to create meaning. Parkstone Grammar School’s Year 11 students were also very successful in conveying the brutality and madness of King Lear: a tall order in thirty minutes. 

Holocaust Memorial Day

Form 8s got the chance once again to mingle with the local community and share in the Holocaust Memorial Day experience held at the Corn Exchange in Dorchester.  The excellent art work produced by the children based on cut outs by the artist Matisse were displayed in the hall and pupils read extracts from two survivor’s stories of the Holocaust.  All of the children took part, in what was a very moving experience.

Thorncombe Woods Enrichment

Last Friday Form 4 went on a Creative Arts enrichment to Thorncombe Woods. We started our trip in high spirits and although it was cold, the sun did come out for us. We walked into a clearing in the woods and set up our base. The first activity was to eat our delicious packed lunches! After this the children were divided into groups for a scavenger hunt to find materials to make a sculpture based on the work of the artist, Andy Goldsworthy. The next activity was drama, where the children acted out the scene when Friar Tuck met Robin Hood. This was followed by bark rubbings and a lovely walk through the woods to Thomas Hardy’s cottage. An active, fun-packed afternoon was had by all!

Old Crown Courts

Form 8 enjoyed a visit to the Dorchester Old Crown Court on Thursday morning.  Local magistrates presented trials from 1799 and then the same cases in the present day.  Three lucky pupils ended up in the dock being sentenced for stealing apples!  All had a close inspection of the cells beneath the court afterwards; however we did bring them all back!

In front of a packed court, including local dignitaries, the magistrate publicly welcomed the children from Sunninghill and praised their behaviour and uniform.  He said they were ‘a credit to themselves, their school and their parents’.

Environmental Club

The Environmental Club has been busy this term building a Bug Mansion in the school grounds to provide a home for creepy crawlies in the winter months.

Artworks visit to the Pre-Prep Department

The Pre-Prep department had a real treat last week when ‘Artworks’ visited us for a Shadow Puppet Workshop.  The day began when the Reception children joined Forms 1 and 2 to watch a delightful compilation of Traditional Tales.  Characters such as big bad wolves, pigs, sheep and a shepherd boy to name but a few came to life with the skill of Steve Newton’s storytelling and fired the children’s imaginations.

Form 2 then spent the whole day taking an original tale and inventing their own plays by changing the settings and characters, or in one case by creating a new tale of their own based on the principle of good overcoming evil.  The setting included Deep Dark Woods, enchanted bushes, castles and towers.  The children enjoyed the opportunity to allow their imaginations to run wild, creating characters such as a unicorn, phoenix, witch, queen, princess, elves and dragons.  The children all made shadow puppets and scenery before working in groups to stage their play.  As you can imagine, this involved an awful lot of teamwork and co-operation.  Puppeteer, Steve Newton, was very impressed by the standard of work achieved and the children’s ability to listen and work alongside each other.

At the end of the day Reception and Form 1 returned once more for another puppet show, but this time it was the turn of the Form 2 children to take up their own puppets behind the shadow screen to produce their alternative tales, as their audience watched appreciatively.