You are warmly invited to attend Speech Day on Saturday 10th July, for a full programme of events, please click here.

All Prep School children (from Year 3 - 8) are expected to attend school on Speech Day.  Pre-Prep parents are also very welcome to come to the speeches and prize giving.

Photos from the recent Year 1 & 2 production of Hansel & Gretel are now available to view in the Pre-Prep & Nursery Gallery.

The pictures were taken by Tracy Dening-Smitherman, who can be contacted on familyds@btinternet.com.

Yet again our young equestrian Pinewoodians did the school proud at the National Schools’ Cross Country Event on Sunday.  This event was well attended and run over a very well built course.  There were many substantial bonus fences that could be attempted and a timed section with a gate to open and close. 

Sadly due to a last minute withdrawal, we could not field a team but Jess Tregoning and Alex Norris represented the school as individuals.  Jess attempted all but two of the bonus fences to finish 6^th and Alex went for the lot but had one stop on the way for 7^th.

Interestingly our ‘team‘ had the best score but with only two members, we were not eligible for the team prize!  A terrific achievement though, and congratulations to Jess.

For the first time the Leavers' Trip took our Year 8's to France in the foothills of the Pyrenees, where they experienced everything from white water rafting to a local french tradition, a high ropes course and swimming in snow melt.

Here are some of their memories of the trip:

"The Leavers' Trip was the best I had ever been on.  It was an early morning wake up call, but I was still energetic because I knew that in a few hours I would be in France ... When I arrived at school, I could tell people were excited, by seeing people bounding down the stairs." 

"The flight was fine, even though there was some snoring coming from the teachers' direction."

"We arrived at the hostel in Seix and noticed straight away what we were in for - high mountain peaks and a rushing river excited the majority of us."

"On the first morning we were surprised with the dangerously fun (in some cases painful) experience of white water rafting."

"We got into our wetsuits and a few people looked a little like Borat and a few looked like Lara Croft."

"I think the whole year and not just me enjoyed rafting for the first time.  I personally thought rafting when the river was dangerously high was the best, as well as when we got to jump out.  One of my highlights was when Mr A-G jumped out of the raft and bobbed down the river, being hit by numerous rocks."

"During the festival of moving the animals up into the mountains, one of my highlights of the week came when Lee, Ollie, James and Spoons lost in a table football match against the girls and were forced to dance in the middle of all the parades."

"The second day was when the real adventure began and our four hour mountain hike commenced.  We experienced some incredible weather conditions, which enabled us to act as more of a team."

"We were lucky in that the weather stayed fair all the way up, so it was a surprise to see snow at the summit."

We spent the night in a cosy refuge and enjoyed a well-deserved supper after a freezing cold swim in a mountain river of melted snow.  I accidentally invented a slide down a waterfall, which left award winning cuts and bruises on my legs, but which everyone else enjoyed sliding down."

"That night, after supper, we sang old french mountain songs and then got some much needed sleep, even though I slept between Issy and Mrs Hoyland." 

"The girls and Mrs Hoyland were all in one dorm with a massive "pyramid" bunk bed."

"On the second day of the walk, spirits started generally low as it was raining, but then Philly and some of the other girls started singing and we all joined in - this was another highlight of the week."

"I will now be remembered for my life saving rugby tackle, which saved the headmaster's wife from slipping down 50 metres of ice and off the edge of a cliff. 

"To finish off the week, we did some high ropes, which were so high you felt like an ant."

"All in all, the week has been one of the best weeks of my life." 

"I enjoyed the trip very much, but it was rather upsetting that it was my last Pinewood school trip." 

With thanks to members of Year 8. 

To view photos from the trip, please go to the Events Gallery.

On Tuesday the Pinewood Polo Squad played a return match v Rendcomb College. Rendcomb had done their home work and cleverly marked Harry Davies, who loved the challenge and gave as good as he got; but Josh was given space to give Rendcomb scoring chances.

Pinewood started with a one goal handicap, which they clawed back in the first chukka. The second chukka went from end to end with both teams popping in goals and Sophie Akehurst destroying one goal post! The hooter went with Rendcomb pressurising the Pinewood goal; Harry broke out and played a long shot which was chased hard by Harry and Felix and with less  than 5 seconds remaining Pinewood scored the winning goal.

Following the match the presentations were made to Harry Davies, Felix Spooner, Sophie Akehurst, Georgie Bethwaite and Issy Hills and this was followed by delicious picnics. It was a wonderfully exciting match and a great way to prepare for next week's Papplewick Tournament.

I am hoping that some new player will take up this exciting sport so that Pinewood continues to produce a team in 2011.

About 20 girls and boys travelled to Radley to compete against 29 Prep Schools to qualify to compete for the Mercian Region at the Prep Schools Nationals. The squad performed really well and four children qualified:

Under 14 Girls: Georgie Bethwaite – Triple Jump, Phillippa Hall - the Javelin.

Under 13 Boys: Jack Wright – Discus

Under 12 Girls: Gabby Cook qualified in both the Discus and Shot.

Most other competitors produced pbs, while Islay Kingham finished 3^rd in the U12 200m, and the U14 Girls Relay team (Phillippa, Georgie, Ella Upton and Olympia Olympitis), in a blanket finish, also finished third.

School Records were set by: Issy Sage in the Under 14 1500m and Gabby Cook in the discus.

Photos from the recent Leavers' Trip to the french Pyrenees are now available to view in the Events Gallery.

To view the full rehearsal schedule for all end of term musical productions (including A Midsummer Night's Dream, music for the FOP Summer Evening, Leavers Concert and the end of term concert), please click here.

Congratulations to all our Year 8 pupils on passing Common Entrance.

This has been another year when we have achieved 100% success and this year's results are the best ever.  Well done to all the pupils, who have worked so hard and to the staff who prepared them so well.

Following a record number of scholarships and success at Common Entrance, this year's Year 8's will be moving on to the following schools:

Our annual meeting for Years 3-5 with Beaudesert, Prior Park & St Hugh's

Sadly due to horrific weather this meeting was never completed.  Nearly 130 children competed against each other and the elements and all the middle distance events were completed, the 200m were run and some long jump and vortex throwing was measured.

The Pinewood teams were competing exceptional well and we had a good number of highly placed athletes. It was a great shame that we are unable to let the children finish the short sprints, relays and field events, but the weather conspired against us.

Friends of Pinewood will be running a home produce stall at the Summer Evening, so get planting, making and cooking now!

Photos from the wonderful Year 3 & 4 production of "Romeo & Juliet" are now available to view in the Events Photo Gallery.

A number of the photos were taken by Tracy Dening-Smitherman, who can be contacted on familyds@btinternet.com.

Ryan shot the Devizes Top 10, the second of three County selection tournaments. 

In very gusty conditions Ryan put in a solid performance to win again by a huge margin, setting another personal best score, and breaking another club record.  With only one qualifying event to go, and winning the first two qualifiers, Ryan has all but assured himself of a place representing Dorset and Wiltshire in the Inter County Championships.  Ryan won the Dorset and Wiltshire County Championship last year and has now won 9 County level Tournaments in succession including Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Gloucestershire County Championships.  Ryan’s next major competition is the National GB Championships at the National Sports Centre, Lilleshall, on the 4^th July where he will face the best archers from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales and where he is targeting a top three finish.

Congratulations to Lucas Arkwright, who has achieved great success already this year in athletics.

Lucas was 4th (coming in behind James Eyles) in the Wiltshire Amateur Athletics Championships, when competing in the U11 category and therefore a year younger than all the other competitors.

He also finished 2nd at the Sandra Luke Memorial Cup, Oxford.  He came first in the Cricket ball throw with a throw 5m further than his nearest competitors of 34.10m.  He then came 2nd in the 800m, with a time of 3:03.6mins, beating his PB by some 15 secs!  He came fifth in the Long Jump with a distance of 29m.  There were 17 competitors in total.