Press Releases
Young poets are celebrating seeing their work in print in the recently published anthology Little Laureates 2008 Gloucestershire.
The youngsters, aged from seven to eleven, entered their poems into the Young Writers competition earlier this year. Their poems were then selected to appear in the primary school poetry series, which showcases the best children's poetry from across the U.K.
Headteacher, Mrs Sheila Bradburn, said "The children enjoy expressing themselves through poetry. Their imaginations are given free rein, creating poems that are sometimes wonderfully zany and at other times sensitive and perceptive. We congratulate them all on their literary success."
Pictured (left to right) are: Emily O'Dell, Abbie Gordon, Angharad (Harri) Davies, Jade Ellis, Ellen Ham, Rebecca Staite and Molly Adams.
Hopelands Preparatory School has been awarded the coveted Artsmark Gold Award this year by the Arts Council of England. This is the highest level of the award, granted for excellence in art, music, dance and drama. It demonstrates the school’s strong commitment to the arts and also acknowledges the strengthened relationship – through art – between the school and its community.
In addition to the regular lessons, the school organised several workshops including African drumming, African sculptures, model making, model animation and creative writing. The pupils also took part in the Gloucestershire Dance Festival and the Cheltenham Festival of Performing Arts. Examples of their artwork are currently on display at the Brewery Arts Centre in Cirencester and some of their poetry is shortly to be published in the anthology Little Laureates 2008 Gloucestershire.
Headteacher Mrs Sheila Bradburn said: “Artsmark Gold is a fabulous achievement and I would like to thank all the school staff, in particular our arts teacher Mrs Pauline Chidlaw, our music teacher Mrs Lizzie O’Dell, our dance teacher Mrs Karen Perrins and our drama teacher Miss Erin Campbell. The children have achieved so much this year and with such great enjoyment. I am delighted the school has been recognised with this award.”
Pupils at Hopelands Preparatory School were thrilled to win two cups at the recent Cheltenham Festival of Performing Arts.
The Year 6 children were awarded The Stewards Cup for their Junior Themed Drama (11 years and under), while sisters Emily and Ellen Ham in Years 4 and 6 were awarded The A.N. Cole Challenge Cup for their Violin and Cello Duet (under 15 years).
The newly formed school choir also performed very well, receiving a Distinction in the section for Junior Choirs (11 years and under). Young pianist Tobias Beardsley (Year 4) was awarded a Distinction for his Piano Solo (9 years and under). Pupils in Years 3, 4 and 5 received Honours for their Junior Themed Drama (11 years and under).
Headteacher Mrs Sheila Bradburn said, "Cheltenham Festival gives the children a wonderful opportunity to perform in a venue like Cheltenham Town Hall. They all did extremely well and I am immensely proud of them."
Mr Stephen Carter, year 5 teacher at Hopelands Preparatory School, had the idea of organising a spelling competition, or spelling ‘bee’, for the pupils at Hopelands. All the children from years 2 - 6 took part in separate bees held over a week-long period and the morning of Friday 23rd May saw the grand final held in the school hall in front of staff, pupils and parents.
Winners from each year battled it out and after a nail-biting finale. Jacob Herbert (year 3) just pipped Molly Adams (year 5) to the title of spelling champion.
Mr. Carter told the Stroud News and Journal, "The children really enjoyed the challenge of learning the spellings and competing against each other. I was particularly impressed with how brave they all were to compete in front of a large audience. The bee was a great success and I hope to organise it again next year."
Four young runners from Hopelands Preparatory School celebrated their recent success in being selected to take part in the County Cross Country Championship at Newent on 15th March 2008. Together they represented one-third of all the girls selected from the Tewkesbury District, with which the school is affiliated.
To win selection, each child competed in a minimum of three races against two hundred runners from thirteen schools, large and small, across the District. The Hopelands girls won the Tewkesbury Primary Schools Sports Association¹s Small Schools Cross Country Girls Winners Shield. The combined results of the Hopelands girls and boys placed them second overall for the Association¹s Small Schools Cross Country Trophy.
The school wishes to thank their PE teacher, Mrs Jacky McQuillan, for all her guidance, encouragement and role as Team Manager for all the Tewkesbury District Girls competing in the County Championship.
Pupils from two Stonehouse schools - Hopelands Preparatory School and The Shrubberies School - captivated the audience at this year's Gloucestershire Youth Dance Festival with their poignant piece of integrated dance.
Choreographed by the children themselves, who based their movements on their favourite hobbies and letters of their names, the dance was entitled 'Pull It Out Of The Bag' and performed to 'Flashdance'. A rehearsal for this dance was featured on BBC Points West on 8th March 2007 to help promote integrated dance in primary schools.
The 24 dancers aged nine to eleven years old have been working hard together on this project since Christmas, each learning from the other while having a huge amount of fun expressing themselves in a dance environment.
Both schools would like to thank their Dance Teacher, Mrs Karen Perrins from Gloucestershire Dance, and everyone who assisted with the project, including Ring and Ride who helped with transport and Gordons (Stroud) Ltd who donated the outfits.
Another group of 10 Hopelands dancers aged eight to eleven years old also performed a piece entitled 'Shhhh', a lively interpretation of 'Oh So Quiet' by the Icelandic artist Bjork, incorporating ballet, Irish dance and synchronised swimming movements!
Both dances were performed at Stratford Park Leisure Centre in Stroud on March 22nd.
