Bugsy Malone

In Great Walstead’s 100^th year, it was felt that ‘Bugsy Malone’ would be a fitting musical tribute to the School’s beginning in the 1920’s. The story is set in the American Prohibition era and tells the story of the rise of "Bugsy Malone" (Sammy S) and the battle for power between "Fat Sam" (Seb D) and "Dandy Dan" (Fintan L). We had a fabulous cast this year with children wanting to be involved in all areas. With Ben and Shrey on lights and sound and then Toby taking the role of stage manager for a second year in a row alongside George and Spencer, we had a great team of students supporting the show. “It was fun to get involved in something different” said Spencer about his time backstage.

This year brought an extra challenge to rehearsals in the form of ‘splurge’. With Dandy Dan’s gang taking over the city of New York with machine guns that fire gobs of splurge instead of bullets whilst Fat Sam’s hoodlums rely on old fashioned custard pie attacks. As a teacher, the idea of kids on stage shooting splurge around gave me a good few sleepless nights. But everyone involved worked hard and sensibly to make it possible and it was clear on the performance nights that a whole lot of fun was had by all - even if we are still clearing splurge from backstage in the PAC! There were some dazzling dances performed by Emma, Poppy-Alice, Darcey, Bella H-D, Susie, Posie and Amelia who played the Speakeasy girls and Emmy really shone in the limelight as Tallula. Both Lucie (Fizzy) and Milly (Blousey) performed heart-felt solos that captivated the audience. All the children involved in the gangs gave hugely entertaining performances and weren’t afraid to be splurged which was great. Fintan commented that “it was fun to have the experience of playing a main character”. There was also a huge amount of fun backstage and in rehearsals. This is what pulling a show together is all about and we are incredibly proud of everyone involved for their dedication and passion in bringing ‘Bugsy Malone’ alive on the stage.

Huge thanks from us as teachers to everyone involved and also those who helped out behind the scenes. Another year of exceptional talent on display for the performing arts.

WHO'S WHO?

Hugh Lowries

We interviewed Hugh Lowries who was a pupil here 1954-1958 and Headmaster from 1991-2006

My parents had heard about Great Walstead and sent me there to board at the age of 7 in 1954. I missed my parents but mostly enjoyed the school, especially as I got older. I left in 1958 to go to Steyning Grammar School and then on to Bristol University. I came back to Great Walstead as a teacher in 1969 when Gordon Parke was headmaster. I met and married (1979) my wife, Zilla, who came to teach at the school. We had three sons who all attended the school and then Ardingly College. I was appointed headmaster in 1991 and then retired in 2006.

Favourite part of GWS: There were a number of things that made Great Walstead special for me: It gave me the chance to learn lots of different things and many children also found that. It had a strong Christian emphasis which reinforced my own Christian faith; it had glorious woodland grounds; it was very friendly; in many ways it felt like a family.

Favourite school lunch: Fish and chips!

What were you best know for: I believe that every person, whether child, parent or member of staff, including domestic and maintenance staff, is made in the image of God and therefore supremely valuable. I wanted therefore, though I would not claim to have done this well, to value each person for who they were. When headmaster, I liked to have my study (office) door open as much as possible so that people could see me if they wished.

Animal Magic

Reception and Pre-School had a wonderful time learning about various different animals from around the world in our Animal Magic visit. These included rabbits, a bearded dragon, winter white hamsters, a cockatoo, a hedgehog, an armadillo and many, many others. The children were allowed to hold, stroke or feed the different creatures and relished in the opportunity to find out about each animal and ask questions. Watching the cockatoo fly and feeding the guineapigs were definitely highlights! The children were very careful and came away curious to find out more.

Sport

The spring term is always an exceptionally busy one on the sporting front. There is rugby, netball, hockey and football, as well as a few cross country events and swimming galas thrown in for good measure! Our U13 boys hockey team came agonisingly close to qualifying for the IAPS national finals – an inspired goalkeeping performance against the team in the semi-finals led to a tough loss. Our girls football programme is growing from strength to strength. The popularity of the sport is certainly rising and our strength in depth across all teams is becoming increasingly apparent. The season culminated in our annual U13A and B tournament where our girls played with confidence and secured some great results. We now look forward to the warm sun of the cricket season.

Our biennial ski trip jetted off to Austria over the Easter break. As in previous years, it was wonderful to see pupils from different year groups enjoying each other’s company and making exceptional progress on the slopes. There was plenty of snow, smiles and sunshine throughout the trip.

Art

Art Scholars have celebrated the Centenary by creating a 1925 – 2025 display inspired by Jasper John’s number paintings. We used watercolour and colour pencil to create a tonal piece with contrasting cool and warm tones. These final pieces are now hung in Mr Calvey’s office for visitors to enjoy.

Out of this World

Year 5 , 6 and 8 enjoyed an ‘out of this world’ experience this morning, inside an inflatable planetarium from Herstmonceux observatory. We travelled through space to see the planets in detail, learn more about our moon and the Sun and learn many new interesting facts.

“I enjoyed seeing all the planets and stars moving and changing. I learnt that the Sun is white, and it will explode in 4 billion years.” Marnie S

“I really enjoyed it. It was really cool and very interesting; I learnt if you went to Jupiter your blood would turn to diamonds!” Nicholas S

THE TOWNSEND-WARNER HISTORY PRIZE 2025

Great Walstead had two entrants into this national prep school competition which encourages the study of history; Fintan L and Bodhi R. The competition is not linked to any national testing but aims to provoke interest and delight in historical reading, facts and analysis.

Bodhi R won Round 2 - resulting in 3^rd overall with the examiner remarking that: “Ross wrote with range, maturity and great fluency.” Finton L was 113^th out of 245 overall. Congratulations to both pupils, we are all very proud of you.

World Book Day

On the morning of Thursday 6^th March, Years 3-8 congregated in the chapel for a celebration of World Book Day. There were some phenomenal costumes on display as well as a real buzz about reading, authors and stories. This was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate reading in our community, including those who have joined the Walstead Millionaires’ Club; and this year it was also used as an opportunity to launch our ‘Celebration of Writing’ for 2025. Pupils worked in year group teams to craft writing, personal to them, on the theme of: “What makes Great Walstead great?” We look forward to seeing the published results in the Summer term.

Science Fair

A group of year 7 pupils headed off to the inaugural Cottesmore Science Fair. They had been tasked with planning and carrying out their own investigation. They put together display boards to show off their projects and presented their work to pupils from other schools, science teachers and parents.

Molly W won the prize for best project: “How does changing the soap you use affect your hand cleanliness?”

What an amazing achievement and congratulations to them all!