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Contributions to the newsletter should be sent to:

Kate Woodmansee, Westbrook Hay Prep School

E-mail: kate_woodmansee@westbrookhay.co.uk

Our Westbrook Hay CommunityOur Westbrook Hay Community

www.westbrookhay.co.uk

On Sunday 23rd September, fifteen brave families were challenged to drive round 30 miles of lanes on a quest for champagne (and fluffy dice). Before we had even started there were arguments about how many jelly beans there were in the jar and some people did the quiz in a strained silence (tricky). We set off finally and did the first u-turn in the first five minutes, when we realized that we had missed four questions and were two miles off target. Things went smoothly (at 20 mph) until we stopped at Chipperfield Common to look for a butterfly and a bell. After several minutes of headless chicken impressions we jumped back in the car, none the wiser. Next we stopped to look at some graves and when we thought we were safe someone else pulled up and we were forced to run in order to hide the answer. Don’t mention bus stops ever again, if you do you might die! “Why?” I hear you ask, because we were forced to count all sixty-one on the route of the hunt and fifteen pubs. We were first to return from the noble quest in a nifty hour and a half, whereas the people who we will not name, (cough, the Rippers, cough), were last in three hours and ten minutes (good job the cakes were plentiful). It was a close battle between four of us Westbrook-hay-ites but the Cole family won in the end.

Many thanks to Sheryl and Stuart Martin for an entertaining afternoon.

Breakfast – the most important meal of the day – that is certainly the case at West-brook Hay.

Graham Taylor, the school chef was de-lighted with the incredible response to his offer to parents to join their children for breakfast one Friday in November.

Black pudding, Cumberland sausages, fin-est bacon, eggs and fried bread were ex-ceptionally popular. However, we were equally delighted to see the healthy op-tions of grapefruit, yogurts and cereals being considered with equal vigour.

Now Graham is pleased to announce the launch of the Westbrook Hay Friday Family Breakfast Club, at the incredible price of £2.50 per head. Please book before 10.00am on Thursday to avoid disappoint-ment. Remember Breakfast Club for the children is available every day of the week from 7.30am onwards.

This year's Christmas Fayre was a great event, enjoyed by parents, friends, staff and most importantly, the children. There were lots of stalls selling a variety of high quality Christmas gifts and many fun games and activities to take part in. New items this year were the 'Headmaster's Hampers' - packaged in true Fortnum & Mason style, 'Mystery Voices', 'Advent Calendar' and 'Animal Kingdom' with the most magnificent array of wild creatures ever seen at Westbrook Hay. All had plenty of interest, along with the old favourites of past years. Mrs Brown's obstacle course had over 100 participants and the Lucky Dip was very popular too, especially with Mr Young agreeing to complete a week's homework for two lucky winners. Father Christmas was exceedingly busy, ably assisted by Santa's Elves, hav-ing 127 children visiting him in his grotto - more than ever before. So check your stockings on Christmas morning children, to see if Father Christmas has worked his magic for you!

The organisers of the event, the Westbrook Hay Association, would like to offer its heartiest thanks to all those that helped to make this year's Fayre such a stupendous success, and we look forward to a repeat performance in 2008.

Our Orang-Utan

Eleanor and Teddy Grigg have kindly adopted a baby orang-utan on behalf of Westbrook Hay for a year. The appeal is to raise awareness and stop the destruction of rainforests and orang-utans in Borneo.

Breakfast Club

Christmas Fayre

Mr.Kelly with his prize Dr. Caine helping one of the children

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The Newsletter of Westbrook Hay Preparatory School Issue No.7 December 2007

The cheer that went up as we came to the end of the descent of Cader Idris was to celebrate England beating Australia in the Rugby World Cup, rather than completing a successful climb. It was a beautiful day to take on the mountain; the views had been stunning and everyone made it to the top with ease. Scaling Cader Idris was only part of our expedition. We collected data from a mountain stream, surveyed local beaches, visited Dinorwig pump storage power station and explored a disused slate mine; so by day, we were very busy. As ever, floodlit “man hunt” on the beach was a popular evening activity and sand dune jumping and swimming on Harlech beach were great fun.

It was a quiet journey home in the rain as attempts to catch up with sleep took place. A very successful trip we concluded!

As one year comes to a close it is perhaps a good time to reflect on 2007. Much has happened here during a busy year, the celebration of which culminated in Speech Day, where we said a final farewell to our leavers. They had certainly done us proud, with Chloe Hurst and Eleanor Daghlian topping the achievements with their schol-arships to Rickmansworth Masonic and Berkhamsted respectively. Year 8 main-tained our proud track record at Common Entrance, with the majority moving on to either St Alban’s or Berkhamsted. We were also very pleased to see the success of our 11+ candidates, who also contribute to the academic reputation of our school.

The recruitment into the school hit an all-time high this year, with nearly 100 new pupils joining in the calendar year. Parents need not fear; this should not be read as an indication of us wanting to increase class sizes beyond our maximum of 18, but it is nonetheless very encouraging to see the numbers at Open Days and parental tours and the very positive comments they make about the school and your children.

Car parking is the biggest concern (which school ever has enough?) but we are hope-ful of having begun to address this issue by the New Year and that there will be more room for you to manoeuvre in the morning and afternoon, and less congestion as a result on the drive. I still remain concerned by the speed at which we all negotiate the drive, but save actually standing in the middle of it of a morning (although that might have the reverse of the intended effect!) we must rely on good common sense and the recognition that it is the safety of our children that is paramount, even if this means it takes a couple of min-utes extra to make a slower ascent and descent. So, into 2008 with a smile and a firm resolve that we will build on the suc-cesses of 2007. It should be an exciting year in itself and one in which I hope you will all play a part. Keith Young

The new Lower School building has finally started and it is encouraging to report that the builders claim to be a week ahead of schedule after only four on site. No doubt the winter weather will play a factor, but if this pace is continued, we should be in by September 2008, which will be an excellent way to start the new academic year.

Obviously, with any building project there are associated frustrations and the slow development of the temporary homes for Swallows and Reception taxed us, but both classes are now enjoying super facilities and will no doubt be sorry to leave their wonderful surroundings in the inner gar-den.

Year 7 in Wales

2007-A Most Exciting Year

...nearly 100 new pupils joining...

Where have our classrooms gone?

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Autumn Term SportAutumn Term Sport

Invincible is not usually a word you hear in the same sentence as English football, but this season our ‘Colts A’ side have not only gone all season undefeated, but have won all their games by at least three goals.

As the season progressed, all the hard work on the training ground paid off, with neat, flowing football and a determination to win. The balance of the side was a key factor in the success this season, with hard working players in every position, all willing to work together for the good of the team.

44 goals scored, and only one conceded, is a testament to their dedication throughout the season. Well done!

The PE Department have been very fortu-nate to receive monies from the WBH As-sociation to purchase larger pieces of gym-nastic equipment. Here you see Christo-pher Bauldreay vaulting over the new buck and Hayleigh Griffiths and Gabriella Bexson demonstrating graceful moves on the two halves of the new bar box. This equipment can be used by all age groups in the school. This will add variety to a gymnast’s performance, give pupils a new level of confidence and will be enjoyed by children at the school for many years to come. Thank you so much. Pat Brown.

The 1st team has developed well over the course of the term. The squad put some inconsistent performances together early on but after finding the right shape, mix of players and formula, put an unbeaten run over the second half of the term. This shows the determination and character as well as the ability of the side. The two highlights were a semi-final place at the Under-13 IAPS Soccer Sixes Tournament in London and a superb 1-0 win at Lockers Park, from an Ollie Holt drive on the edge of the box. The boys have been driven forward by the irrepressible Luke O’Nien, while Kane Thomas has not been shy in front of goal. Henry Bexson has also im-pressed, with some strong performances on the wing.

Although somewhat upstaged by the Colts A’s magnificent season, the Colts B have also enjoyed one of their most successful times in recent years. In all we played 8 matches: won 5, drawn 2 and lost 1 – goals for 14 and goals against 6. Par-ticularly pleasing was the standard of foot-ball played, as well as the confidence and spirit that the matches were played in. The top goal scorer was Jasper Exley with seven goals. The following represented the team: Samuel Cummings, Alastair Custance, Frazer Ellis-Jenkinson, Jasper Exley, Fred Kelly, George Lewarne, Sam Marsh and Dev Patel. Andrew Grundy

1st Team Football

Back row: Adam Sibley, Joshua Awosika, Lee Tyrell,

Ciaran Simpson, Rhys Gordon, Christopher Bauldreay

Middle Row: Charles Martindale, Kevin Kirwan, Ethan Williams, Matthew Burr, Alistair Walters

Front Row: Rory Williams and Adam Winser

Invincible!

New Gym Equipment

Colts B Football

Luke O’Nien

The under 9s have had a very interesting term. At the beginning I believed that we could go unbeaten, but we lost the first game! It was clear that we all had lots of hard work ahead of us. On playing in the first festival the As lost two and won one but there were some fine performances from William Alexander and Jeremy

Under 9 Football

Anton Sparby, Marco Wright, William Alexan-der, Jack Wadmore Adam Ripper, Jeremy Spreyer, William Wallis, William Copas-Budd, Luke Woodmansee, Edward Khan, James Young, Oreofe Akinseye, and Justin Upson with Mr.Proudfoot

Spreyer, whilst James Young was awarded the player of the tournament in the Bs festival. In the second festival both the A and B sides nearly won their competitions. The Bs drew all three of their games (when they were so close to winning two) and the As won two and lost one. This was a great achievement from all of the boys and I’m very proud of all the hard work they put in. Another special mention should go to Leon Sui for some excellent goalkeeping and Jack Wadmore for his quick feet in posses-sion of the ball! Well done. Greg Proudfoot

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Our Westbrook Hay CommunityOur Westbrook Hay Community

Some 600 tickets were sold for this sea-sonal extravaganza and the weather was kind to us all, providing a mild, clear night on which to see a wonderful fireworks dis-play put on by Mr Sayer and our own Mr Handscombe. Even with some rather chal-lengingly inadequate lighters, they man-aged to produce a pyrotechnic spectacle that had the crowd cheering to the last rocket. Chef catered this event for the first time and learned a great deal about the logistics of feeding so many from the con-fines of Eamon’s shed, so apologies for those who had a somewhat lengthy wait for their sausage on a stick or baked po-tato. As expected, the soup proved to be very popular, as did the mulled wine (obviously the Headmaster’s heavy handed application of the ingredients did nothing to reduce the restorative quality of the beverage). The children enjoyed them-selves (which is the main thing anyway) and those that stayed to the end saw the remnants of the mountainous bonfire slowly reduce to glowing embers.

Bonfire night

On a glorious day in September we held another enjoyable Teddy Bears’ Picnic to welcome all our nursery children to West-brook Hay. We were lucky with the weather, so parents and children really could enjoy the grounds whilst hunting for the hidden teddy bears. Mr. Marvel kept the children highly amused with his puppet show and animals. Thank you all for com-ing and bringing so many of your friends to our school.

Teddy Bears’ Picnic

Well done to so many of you for displaying your car stickers – it is also wonderful to see our Griffin in so many places. Our winners of the photo competition were –

Paizlie Kerr, Alice Ripper and George Simons who will be enjoying a family trip to the cinema for their entries – all can be viewed on the school web site.

Car Sticker Competition

Fireworks picture created on the computer by Edward Bryant 2S

FOOTBALL FEVER

AT WESTBROOK HAY

Football Fever is holding some Christmas Fun Days to occupy your children before the festive season gets into full swing (and possibly to give you time for a little more shopping or cooking!)! We have 3 fun days taking place: we are at Westbrook Hay on Wednesday 19th December from 10am – 3pm. If your child would like to join us for the day please contact Mr. Stedman on 07957 560932 or emai l s tu-art_stedman@westbrookhay.co.uk. If your child joins us he or she will be involved in lots of fun games, small-sided matches, treasure hunts and much more!

Harvest Service

This year's Lower School Harvest Service was a very happy event. The children in Robins, Swallows, Reception and Year 1 all spoke and sang beautifully about the meaning of Harvest. The produce that was collected was gratefully received by the Hemel Hempstead Salvation Army.

This Year’s School Charity

This year, Westbrook Hay’s chosen Charity is the RETRAK APPEAL- a charity that has links with local churches in our area and aims to provide education, medical help, shelter, activity programmes and ultimately foster homes for the literally thousands of street children in Uganda, Kenya and Ethio-pia who currently inhabit the rubbish dumps and waste-sites in their towns and cities. Our aim is to raise £2,000 to help them, with a specific goal as yet to be de-cided. From the donations received at the end of our Harvest Services, and from the Appeal Committee’s stall at the Christmas Fayre, we have so far raised £305.23. Fur-ther donations this academic year will come from our Carol Services plus collec-tions made at our three Musical Concerts being organized by Mr Savage, together with the proceeds from a second-hand sale organized for next term, the Summer Fun-day Stall, plus various other money-making opportunities the Appeal Committee (children representing Years 3-8) have up their sleeves! As ever, the continued and wonderful support of our parents is the core of our project being a success, and we are most grateful to you all.

View down the DwygyfylchiSychnant Pass

William Garnett and Ellie Thomas

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Budding brass players – show your mettle!

Music and DanceMusic and Dance

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Though I have the privilege of hosting this annual musical bash, one of its strongest features is that it’s a culmination of work put in by the whole school community. The many members of staff belonging to the four houses, who work tirelessly in mar-shalling their troops and whipping up their enthusiasm for the House Song; the odd parental Costumes and Props contingent; the peripatetic instrumental teachers; the Headmaster who takes the hot seat on the day; and of course the children them-selves, who lift everything to memorable heights – all of these have my huge thanks for making my first Westbrook Hay House Music Competition a very happy occasion. The lead up to the event this year was protracted by my absence due to illness (did the delay heighten and intensify the sense of anticipation? – Perhaps a little), yet when November 16th arrived everyone said they were just ready! The solo items (and one duet) went fairly smoothly, with no real casualties due to nervousness. We had everything from the inexorably trans-porting excitement of the drumkit and the cornet, to the lyricism of the violin, charac-terful playing of the saxophone, the subtle-ties of acoustic guitar and even harp, and one vocal entry with pupil accompaniment. However, the prize went (for the first time in its history, I’m told) to a pianist.

The house songs, at least in their spectacle and vivacity, will not have disappointed anyone. But then, it would be hard to find

a more upbeat choice of theme than this year’s “The Music of Abba”. There were entries that were big on character and en-tertainment value (Taylor Bryant as every-body’s mother will live for a while in our memories), some big on spectacle and impressive props, but it must be owned that the winning song won because, in addition, it stood out as displaying the fin-est musical quality. Congratulations, then, are due to:

David Cartwright (Best Performer)

NELSON house (Best House Song)

WELLINGTON house (House Music Cup)

The one change I made this year (having the solo performances in their entirety, then all the house songs together in a separate final section) has been well re-ceived. I do plan further changes for next year’s competition, principally in an effort to give each house the chance to showcase its members proportionately to the musical talent with which it is blessed, rather than a blanket “three from each house”. Finally, I have the idea of having henceforth an invited expert adjudicator from outside, giving the Headmaster a rest from this task. However, I came away this year con-vinced that finding someone who, whilst being as musically astute, can do the job with such insight and sensitivity, is a rather tall order. – A case of “Watch this space” I think! Gary Savage.

House Music Competition

The dance display this year was a great success. All the children enjoyed the danc-ing and the performance. The ballet danc-ers were a range of levels from primary to grade 3 and it was a good variation of mu-sic from Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Schubert etc. The lower and middle school enjoyed dancing to The Beatles, Mamas and Papas and Michael Jackson. The Upper and Mid-dle School danced to Queen’s “We Will Rock You” and the girls performed various tracks from Chicago the musical. I am delighted with the performance. One of the grand parents commented “I’ve been to various schools to see their shows and this is the best I have seen!” I am very proud of the children. Teresa Henderson

Dance Display

Mr Savage wants a brassier music depart-ment, so early next term there will be a real opportunity to find out whether there is a Trumpeter or Trombonist inside you itching to get out. Don’t miss out – watch out for this fun session!

Isobel Southwood, Chloe Hurd, Katharine Mayer and India Bates

Autumn Term SportAutumn Term Sport

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This term, being my particular favourite on the games front as I am still a netballer myself, has given me a lot of pleasure.

I can’t say that the girls’ teams have won every game but in all the teams there have been some exciting matches and most importantly every girl in the school has had an opportunity to be a part of a team and enjoy playing.

The U8s were so excited to play in their match against Chesham Prep. The match saw lots of players not necessarily sticking to their own areas on the court and Chesham dominating most of the match with at least 40 shots at goal but fortu-nately for us, none going in. In the last minute the ball managed to get into our attacking goal circle and with the ball in Miranda Tubb’s hands ready to shoot, we held our breath. Oh no – the whistle went before she had a chance to shoot – ah! But that was because about five Chesham play-ers were all offside in the circle. Once in their rightful areas Miranda was given the chance to shoot and ‘what a fantastic goal’. Our one chance and it went in, winning us the match 1-0. Well done to: Miranda Tubb, Ffyona Spreyer, Annabel O’Sullivan, Isobel O’Sullivan, Millie Bowra and Sophie Levy.

It was the U10Bs who made such an im-provement. Playing Chesham Prep on their home ground and without a win so far, at half time the team were 1-0 down. I don’t know what Emily said to them for their team talk but they started the 2nd half with renewed vigour. Phoebe Scott as shooter scoring goals non stop, Estela Innes work-ing hard in defence and the whole team pulling together, the match ended with Westbrook Hay winning 5-1. What a su-perb result.

The U9s similarly have had good games as have the U10As with Natasha Martin settling into a shoot-ing role and scoring on a regular basis.

Back: Lizzie Wood, Eliza-beth Godfrey-Gush, India Bates, Isobel Southwood, Natasha Martin

Front: Katharine Mayer, Alice Woodmansee, Chloe Hurd

Pat Brown

The senior team have won 5 out of 7 matches and this season they have really improved in all areas. They work hard for each other, backing each other up and giving positive encouragement to really perform as a team.

Next term is the hockey season; perhaps our toughest out of them all. I am sure they will all be just as committed.

Back: Claire Allen, Ella Hockings, Eleanor Grigg, Charlotte Cook,

Front: Gabriella Bexson, Hayleigh Griffiths, Robyn Khan

Netball 2007

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ActivitiesActivities

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Early on in the term, as part of their sylla-bus on Victorians, Year 5 visited Chiltern Open Air Museum. All the children enjoyed going back in time and experiencing ‘Victorian School Life’. Much to their amazement the pupils learnt that teachers were, indeed, much stricter in the 1800s......and much to their relief the pun-ishments today are rather less severe! Adding and subtracting using decimal coin-age seems so much easier than pounds, shilling and pence! However all enjoyed playing with the simple but effective toys that were a part of any child’s upbringing in that era. In the farmyard the children were able to see how basic many of the farm tools were and the uses of the differ-ent buildings ranging from the cattle byre to the grain store. As ever the day proved to be a great success with so much to learn beyond the classroom.

Many of you will be aware of the wind turbine as you pass Kings Langley on the M25. This is part of the Renewable Energy Systems headquarters and it has several other examples of “green” power, including solar energy, an underground heat store and a biomass boiler and crop. Year 8 were lucky enough to visit on a sunny and windy afternoon, so we saw all the various types of renewable energy in action – the highlight was a solar powered train, the speed of which the boys could control by the shadows they cast on the solar panels.

On Monday 26th November Year 6 were taken by Mr Young, Miss Smith and Mr Woodward to the RAF Museum in Hendon. This trip enabled the children to gain more experience of what life was like in wartime Britain, as part of their World War II his-tory studies. When it comes to hands-on involvement, the Museum offers plenty of variety. The children began by taking part in the Evacuees Classroom Experience, based around a 1940s style lesson. This included the use of the nib and ink-well pens, learning about ‘old’ money, and hav-ing a maths lesson involving pounds, shil-lings and pence. The children enjoyed fill-ing out authentic identity cards, and mak-ing the gas-mask boxes that would have been part of a child’s everyday get-up dur-ing the War. Probably, the two highlights of the lesson (apart from the fearsome strictness of the teacher!) were the air-raid, when everyone (including Mr Young) had to dive for cover under the desks, and the (thoroughly deserved) ‘caning’ of Adam Winser, for a long list of heinous misde-

meanours. The museum itself offered the opportunity for the children to see close up a huge number of fantastic and resplen-dent aircraft, Air Force trucks, motorbikes, jeeps, personnel and uniforms. Then it was off to the Aeronauts Interactive Centre for some more hands-on experience of all sorts of flight gadgetry, from balloons to bombers, and parachutes to helicopters, and where the children could test their skills in simulated take-off and landing pro-cedures, bombing raids etc. After lunch, the ‘Our Finest Hour’ Sound and Light Show told the story of the Battle of Britain in graphic and moving detail. Finally, no trip would end satisfactorily without some essential retail therapy, provided this time by the museum shop and its magical as-sortment of RAF memorabilia – and sweets! All-in-all, a very worthwhile, soundly educational and thoroughly enjoy-able trip. This was our fifth consecutive visit and we’ll definitely be back again next autumn.

Year 6 Trip to RAF Hendon

As part of the History curriculum, Year 3 pupils enjoyed an exciting trip to St Albans Museum on December 6th to learn about the Roman town of Verulamium and to investigate Roman artefacts.

Renewable Energy Systems

Year 5 Visit to Chiltern Open Air Museum

Despite the weather (which would have made the bravest Roman soldier want to return to bed!) the children had a fascinat-ing time and were delighted to explore the exhibition which included skeletons, mosa-ics, coins and armour. They also watched an interesting DVD about the site. The highlight of the trip was the handling ses-sion. Pupils became Historians and worked out which objects were real and which were reproductions. They also had fun trying to guess the purpose of some of the more unusual objects such as strigils!

Year 3 at Verulamium

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ActivitiesActivities

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Year 6 celebrated “British Food Week” in their science lessons by cooking a full Eng-lish Breakfast on the Bunsen burners. It was an opportunity to explore “reversible and irreversible changes” in the kitchen – and to look for the budding Jamie Olivers of the future! Year 8, meanwhile, tried their hand at making home made bread to look at the growth of yeast in different conditions. The “Blue Peter” principle of producing “one I prepared earlier” was used for the subsequent tasting session…

This term we have run two highly success-ful Science workshops with the Year 3 and 4 children. These workshops are held in the Science lab, over a two hour period enabling the children to plan, set up, test and evaluate a whole experiment. The Year 4 task was to find out how to stop a snowman from melting, which was linked to their class work on insulators and con-ductors. Their results showed the best ma-terials for wrapping up a snowman to stop him melting was cotton wool or bubble wrap! The Year 3s investigated which rock would be the most suitable for making a statue. After varied tests most concluded they would use either marble or granite for their statue. Throughout the workshops the children produced highly informative posters and the Year 4s went on to graph their results in maths. These workshops are not only highly enjoyable for the chil-dren but they also help to reinforce class-room learning. Gemma Mitchell

Science Workshops

Marco Wright, James Young, Hamish Michie and Miranda Tubb

for the children in Swallows, who created a market stall of fruit and vegetables and were taught where each came from. Chef provided a tasty traditional British Menu for the week’s lunches, including roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, and Cornish pas-ties. The tasty changes to class plans were geared at encouraging children to be food aware and to have a healthy approach to their diets. Students also kept food diaries throughout the week to monitor if they were eating the recommended five fruit and vegetables a day.

Food Glorious Food The children discovered that their lunches do not start out in the supermarket during British Food Fortnight. The pupils found out the origins of their foods and caught up on a history of traditional British din-ners. Food was the theme in all subject areas, from looking at how meals fit into celebrations in RE and History classes to translating English food words in language lessons. There were no unhealthy snacks

Some of Year 6 investigating the science of food

My Year 7 English group set off on a three stop tour to explore Game meats as part of British Food Week. This was part of our unit on Roald Dahl’s ‘Danny: Champion of the World’, which like many of Dahl’s books has as its main character an inspiring child protagonist who is imaginative and intelli-gent. For those that have not read the book, it is largely based on the keeping (and poaching!) of pheasants. Our first stop on the tour was with Mr Joe Collier and team at Eastwood’s Butchers, Gravel Path, Berkhamsted. We were extremely impressed at the standard of cleanliness, friendliness of the staff, and fabulous dis-play of food on offer. The food was clearly very good quality and the boys weren’t expecting to see such an array of things they’d like to try! (Hot sausage rolls were also laid on by Eastwood’s and I can per-sonally vouch that they were a very tasty gesture indeed!) Our second stop was with Mr Stuart Hutchinson, game dealer at Gade Valley Game. This was extremely interesting and very visual. Such an ani-mated and engaging speaker, Stuart capti-vated the children and kept them en-thralled as he showed them various furred and feathered game from the smallest pi-geon to a whole roe deer. We watched him prepare Pheasant, Partridge and Pigeon

through to the stage of the meat we had previously seen on display in the shop. The boys were fascinated as he skinned and gutted both Hare and Rabbit, they felt the skins of various game, and some even braved holding a pheasant’s foot and pull-ing the tendons to make it wave! Our last stop was to the Gaddesden Estate, where we could look around accompanied by Game Keeper, Mr Mick Ginger. He showed the boys round the various pens and ex-plained how Pheasant and Partridge were reared. He ran through his daily jobs, intro-duced us to his working gun dogs, let the boys sit in the truck used for transporting the guns, and best of all, took them into the woods and fields where they could see pheasant running free. We then returned to school where Chef cooked the produce we bought from Eastwood’s, filling the corridors with delicious aroma! Julie Leach

Is the game up for Year 7?

Taylor Bryant, Dylan Tenty, Ryan O’Sullivan and Oliver Hurd