Following a drinks reception at School, our Year 8 Leavers were chauffered  to Stone Manor Hotel in a variety of stunning cars, from Bentleys to Porsches, Lamborghinis and an Aston Martin for their Leavers’ Prom.

They are moving on to Bromsgrove, RGS, King’s and Malvern St James. We wish them all every success for the future.

This year’s Summer Concert was a riot of colour and a spectacle of sounds inspired by a kaleidoscope of musical genres.

The evening commenced with a selection of finely tuned pieces by the Brass Group. This was then followed by the Percussion Group with two pieces, one of which involved body percussion and chairs, before being assailed by the whole work of African drums and marimba. Saxophones were up next with a couple of numbers including one by street band Lucky Chops. Strings followed this with some Bach and Schubert. We were then treated to a performance of Vivaldi’s double cello concerto with our two superb Year 8 cellists.

We then moved onto the Off Beats who, despite being a training band, showed us some wonderful ensemble playing and solos. We then had the Groove Diggers who played two of their hits, Lola’s Theme and Feeling Good and a very precise offering of All Blues by Miles Davis. We also had offerings from the Senior and Junior Choirs. The latter took on a couple of pop hits whilst the Chamber Choir performed a wonderful rendition of Fields of Gold and Defying Gravity from hit musical Wicked. We then had a short rendition of highlights from Joseph with some great vocal solos.

In the second half, we began with the Girls’ Harmony Choir breathing life into Somewhere over the Rainbow and True Blue. This was followed by the Orchestra who entertained us with some big screen classics with the themes from Game of Thrones and Pirates of the Caribbean, which were played with real energy and accuracy.

Finally, we had Katy Perry’s Firework and Gold by Spandau Ballet. This featured every child from Years 5 to 8 on stage and Mr Price on saxophone wearing a sequined jacket!

Well done everyone!

Year 1 had the opportunity to explore and play at the amazing adventure playground at Sycamore Adventure in Dudley this week. They had exclusive use of an exciting play environment and a wide selection of toys and loose parts to stretch their imagination. It was the perfect place to enable the children to direct their own play without the intervention of adults.

The team at Sycamore built a campfire and cooked popcorn for the children.  This provided a great social opportunity and a chance to get feedback about this lovely trip.

On 23rd June, we had the perfect day for our Prep Prize Giving and Sports Day.  Mrs Toms opened proceedings with details of the year’s highlights, from Armstrong Mthembu’s first visit to Winterfold, to pupils and staff from Winterfold and Bromsgrove ‘hitting Hadrian’s Wall’ to raise money for Ncemaneni pupils to have the ‘shoe that grows’.

Tributes were paid to Mrs Veronica Grindley, Ms Claire Florida-James, Mrs Joy Humfries who retires this term after 34 years of service and David and Sue Aldred who received a standing ovation from parents, staff and children. Mrs Toms thanked them all for significantly contributing to the life of the School.  They will be missed.

Sports Day was a huge success with everyone enjoying the event.  Mr Price was the compere and DJ for the afternoon, Mrs Humfress and Mr Brinkley organised the races, ably assisted by the gap students, with Mr Cotterill and Mrs Miles as Track and I.T Co-ordinators.

In addition to the eagerly awaited Parents’ Race, there was a final relay race for staff, former pupils, Dads and Mums which was a lot of fun and competitive!

A delicious afternoon tea on the front lawn was enjoyed by everyone whilst the results were counted.  Congratulations to Eagles who were the overall winning Pack.

On 25th June, Pre-Prep held a very successful Prize Giving and Sports Day.  Congratulations to all of the children for their continued effort throughout the year which was reflected in all of the certificates and prizes awarded during the ceremony.

Parents, guardians, staff and children were treated to When Goldilocks Went To The House Of Bears, I can sing a rainbow, Colours of the Wind, Red, Yellow, Blue, Shades of Blue and Who Put The Colours In the Rainbow beautifully sung by Kindergarten 1, 2, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2. There was also an excellent musical interlude by The Groove Diggers.

The children thoroughly enjoyed their Sports Day, followed by a delicious afternoon tea on the front lawn.

On 21st June, Year 4 performed Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes in a packed Penryn Hall.

The children directed their own short sketches, providing costumes and suitable props for the presentation.  It was a great opportunity to focus on  key Drama elements previously focused on in lessons; projecting voice, engaging with the audience and using movements and gestures to represent their characters.

The children were all very keen to learn their lines and showed excellent teamwork and cooperation. Year 4 performed brilliantly, demonstrating a vast array of skills and proved that this particular year group are very talented on stage.

Well done Year 4 – a successful, entertaining evening to celebrate all your hard work.

The Year 7 Snowdonia trip is intended to be a challenge for the pupils and it certainly lived up to that this year!

The plan was to camp low on Friday night and then move camp further up the mountain on Saturday morning, before heading to the summit and wild camping on Saturday night. Snowdon had other ideas though and an important lesson in decision making in the mountains was learned. The weather was wet and windy from early on Saturday morning, so with everyone getting wet and cold, the decision was taken to turn back before the summit and pack up the wild camp. Year 7 did this incredibly well and carried their very large expedition packs back down. The mountain will still be there next time!

They then had the opportunity to do some orienteering on Saturday evening, as well as having a well-earned warm shower and a hot meal. Sunday was spent doing various rock-climbing routes and the group showed superb teamwork. On the way home on Monday, they stopped in Llangollen for a white-water rafting experience and everyone had a great time.

Well done to all of the pupils for the way very positive way that they all approached the trip. They all gained a great deal from their experiences.