The Explorer Newsletter Autumn Term 2024

A new ict suite for great walstead "robyn's nest"

It was a pleasure to welcome the Stuart Family back to Great Walstead to open our new ICT Suite. The project, which saw the complete refurbishment of three classrooms, was made possible by the Stuarts' very kind and generous donation.

The new facility allows our pupils to develop their programming and coding skills while incorporating modern design and technology software programmes, as well as some impressive hardware which include laser cutters and 3D printers.

This new facility has enabled us to develop our girls’ and boys’ love of an important part of their curriculum, building a solid foundation in IT and design technology. It was wonderful to welcome Robyn (OGW) back to Great Walstead to cut the ribbon and officially open the new suite now known as "Robyn's Nest". Our thanks to the Stuart family for making this all possible.

News from fogwa

This term FOGWA have made some very special charity contributions, adopting animals with The Aspinall Foundation. Please ask your children which animal their class adopted.

Pre-Prep all drew a picture of themselves or made a handprint to go on a lovely tea towel for our families to buy. They also had a special trip to the Christmas Grotto where they got to choose a gift for their parents/carers which they then wrapped themselves. We ended the term with the much-anticipated Christmas Bazaar which was bigger and better than ever before.

Our thanks to the FOGWA team for working so hard to organise all the events, and to our families for their support.

If you’d like to find out more about getting involved with FOGWA, please get in touch via gwfogwa@gmail.com – we’d love to hear from you.

Harvest Festival

We received a huge THANK YOU from the Haywards Heath Foodbank for the 510.9kg of food that you so kindly donated to our Harvest Festival collection. Your donations were delivered to the food bank by Mr Lindfield, Sammy, Ellie and Nicole and they were extremely grateful as stocks were running low. Milly and Bodhi added to this donation with our collection of over 400 advent calendars in time for the festive season.

“We are indeed blessed to have people like yourselves who help us provide support to local families, particularly in this time of continuing need.” Haywards Heath Foodbank

WHO's WHO?

Our school was founded in 1925 by RJ Mowll in Enfield, Middlesex as Kilvinton Hall, a boarding school initially for six boys. The school moved to Sussex two years later to a large Victorian house called Great Walstead. Immediately, great use was made of the 230 acres, including the woods where the boys were free to roam and, in 1945, the first Q-Day took place.

With little money to spare and a love of handiwork, R J Mowll encouraged the boys to learn practical skills in order to maintain the buildings – from erecting wooden huts to painting and plumbing.

One of his last acquisitions for the school was the purchase of an old double decker bus, without its engine, which became a classroom for the senior boys.

In 1960, Gordon Parke succeeded him as headmaster, with Mr Mowll and his wife, Norah, retiring to live in Walstead House.

Great Walstead School joining Ardingly College's family of schools

As we prepare to celebrate our centenary year, our governors announced an exciting new chapter in our history. Great Walstead has joined Ardingly College’s family of schools, which will secure our future for the next hundred years!

Both schools have long held a close affiliation, with many pupils moving on to Ardingly College’s Senior School at the end of their time at Great Walstead. We have a shared sense of values and a very similar approach to education.

Great Walstead’s strong brand remains unchanged as we look to build and develop children's attitude to learning, promoting a natural curiosity with a growing sense of resilience.

Those Great Walstead families who choose Ardingly’s Senior School will benefit from a smoother and more child-centred admissions and assessment procedure, avoiding the unnecessary stress of extra assessments.

Sporting Success

We have seen another action-packed term of sport at Great Walstead with all of our Prep School pupils representing the school each week with impressive determination and pride. In the Pre-Prep, Year 1 and 2 travelled to Bede’s School to take part in their tennis festivals and the future is definitely bright on the court. On the football field, our U13A boys were runners up at the Bede’s 7 a-side tournament and the girls have already made it through to the 3^rd round of their ISFA competition. Our relationship with Ardingly College is presenting new opportunities and members of our swim squad were lucky to receive a masterclass from former Olympian, Karen Pickering. Away from the sporting arena, Children in Need saw the return of the Walstead Mud Run and our pupils fully embraced our Mud Pi ethos whilst raising £2090.50 for charity.

Drama

As always there have been various performances this term as we welcomed in the festive season with amazing acting, dancing and singing. Audiences of all ages have been thoroughly entertained by the children bringing tales to life on the Chapel stage. We are immensely proud of all of the children and thanks always to parents and staff for their support.

Music

It has been another exciting term of performances showcasing pupil’s passion and talent for music.

The Chamber Choir attended a superb Choral Day held at Lancing College and relished the whole experience. The first Teatime Concert of the year truly highlighted pupils of all ages and abilities. It was brilliant to see a full representation of orchestral instruments blossoming. Recently, the Juniors sang with aplomb for their performance of ‘Kitty Whittington’, setting the stage for this year’s nativities. Pre-Prep delighted with their performance of ‘Tinsel and Tea towels’ and Christingle Service.

Next up, was the jam-packed Middles Christmas Concert. From recorders to class percussion pieces, we also had the Orchestra’s first official performance and time for a quick Tango lesson. Finally, the Chamber Choir delivered an outstanding Carol Service at the All-Saints Church, Lindfield.

We are looking forward to kick starting our Walstock preparations in the New Year; it promises to mark our Centenary birthday year in style. Our most heart-felt thanks goes to the Visiting Music Team and ‘behind the scenes’ heroes that help make the magic happen!

Kindness Week

During Kindness Week, Year 1 chose members of staff from around the school to thank for all the hard work they do for us. We attached a piece of chocolate to each thank you note and personally delivered them. Our aim was to spread kindness by making people smile and expressing our gratitude. Year 1 loved doing this and we learnt that showing kindness makes everyone happy.

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Centenary Celebrations & Save the Date

100 Years of Adventure: The Lantern Lectures

The Great Walstead magazine dated 1933 mentions a series of fascinating evening talks open to parents: The Lantern Lectures. We have re-instated these evenings during our Centenary year, with a variety of talks and workshops. A huge thank you to Sam, Mistress of Wine, for an enjoyable and informative wine tasting in November and to Christine Bulman for a festive wreath making in December.

In the Spring Term we welcome Sarah Benktander for Pinot & Paint on Thursday 6th February and Lucinda Miller, a leading naturopath and child nutrition expert, on Thursday 6th March. Please save the dates and we look forward to seeing you there.

Save the Date: 11^th May

Walstock will be our main centenary celebration for pupils, parents, staff and OGWs.

We have an active and growing community of Old Great Walsteadians, ex pupils, parents and staff. If you would like to join our OGWS and be kept informed of our news and events please visit our Alumni page.

Alumni - OGWs