Newsletters

Friday 23 April

To be a Pilgrim is to learn together, Episode 23

It has been wonderful to welcome Pilgrims and staff back to The Pilgrims’ School after the Easter holidays. We especially welcomed seven new Pilgrims from Year 2 to 7 and also Mrs Hunter who is teaching 3G, and Mr Schultz and Miss Owen who are joining Mr Nelson and Miss Jones this term as GAPs. It has been lovely to see a good number of boys return who were not able to do so when we re-opened on 8 March since they were overseas during lockdown.  

We are all looking forward to all that summer term entails: sunshine, cricket, swimming, summer concert, art exhibition, Y8 leavers’ programme, prize giving, and lots of fun and learning in the classrooms, art, DT, IT and music rooms. I know the boys are excited to be back. I hear it in their questions, giggles and chatter around School, in their sports, singing and playing. Many of them (and staff) have had haircuts (hurrah) or have been able to see their cousins or their grandparents in the garden. It feels as though we are at the start of a new beginning. 

I was thrilled to be one of the three or four people who were at the Royal Albert Hall when the Choristers recorded with the Royal Marines Massed Band for the Mountbatten Festival in the holidays. Photographs, marketing and social media were embargoed as a mark of respect for the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh as it was just before his funeral. The piece the choristers were part of, The Unknown Warrior, was incredibly beautiful and so very moving. It included the Last Post and a wonderful sequence of playing and marching which involved building a drum altar. We all had to pinch ourselves as we wondered was this really happening? 

All Year 8 boys are doing important exams this term; exams which mark the end of their time at prep school. Prep school is such a formative time. Common Entrance, Scholarship and Winchester Entrance and Election exams are a real right of passage. I have been so proud of the Eton Kings’ Scholarship candidates who have been doing their papers in the Pilgrims’ Hall this week – well done, boys. Likewise, the Winchester Entrance and Election boys who will begin their papers on Monday and the CE candidates whose exams are just after half term. Well done, boys, on your hard work, effort and learning. We wish you every success! 

Ah, the sun is shining and the boys have arrived again in the Quad. They are doing some cricket drills in their cricket gear, wielding bats and balls. They have just come back from Wolvesey. I do love the sound of cricket on a summer afternoon. Forgive me if I stop here and go out to enjoy it with them... 

Welcome back!

It is wonderful to have the boys back in school for the summer term.  The cricket nets are in full use and the associated sounds of summer fill the air... happy chatter, cricket bags being dragged around the site, the thud of wood on willow echoing across the Pre-Prep play area. 

Dr Essex has been challenging Year 5s to some table tennis matches. When she left the playground, Year 5 discussion followed, 'She's pretty good!' 

The maintenance team have worked tirelessly over the holidays making the school grounds look extremely smart. The Pre-Prep fence has been renewed, the equipment painted and upgraded, raised beds have been crafted for gardening and the Pilgrims' Hall ceiling has been dusted, removing decades of hard to access cobwebs!

Yesterday was #earthday. At Pilgrims' we take great care to respect our immediate and global environment. The boys will soon be sowing a wildflower meadow beside the river and National Trust bug houses have been installed to further encourage habitats in the school grounds. 

Mrs Brown

Easter Choirtime 2021

I can report on another successful Choirtime. The choristers served with distinction at services through Holy Week after the end of term. The traditional Palm Sunday procession was greatly modified with no procession through town. Nevertheless, the service was no less powerful. A succession of Evensongs followed before the boys took residence from Maundy Thursday in the very moving services through to Easter.

Not only can they belt out a tune, they have also been magnificent company. When they weren't singing, they were playing on the Grid, building Lego, contesting Connect 4 and Perudo, playing card games and practising card tricks. A few(!) Easter eggs were consumed.

The following week, the Year 8 choristers took part in A Commemoration of His Royal Highness the Price Philip from the cathedral. This and all other services can be found on YouTube.

Mr Short

School Record! 146 in Grade 8 Percussion

Many congratulations to Nye for securing himself the incredible mark of 146/150 in his recent Grade Eight percussion exam.

Distinctions are awarded from 130/150 upward, and a score over 140 is outstanding, at any grade.

To have achieved this in a Grade Eight exam (not least of all in a largely virtual year) is an exceptional achievement. 

We are very proud of this young man, whose music-making is furthermore marked by his deep commitment, humility, and willingness to help.

Bravo!

Mr du Plessis

The Sky at Night - April 23 Onwards

The Pink Moon on Monday April 26  – A Supermoon!

The moon will officially reach its full phase at 3:31 GMT on Monday April 27. April’s full moon, is commonly called the Pink Moon. When full, the moon’s geology is enhanced - especially the contrast between the bright, ancient, cratered highlands and the darker, younger, smoother maria. This full moon will occur less than 12 hours before the point in the moon’s orbit when it is closest to Earth, generating large tides worldwide and making this the second of four consecutive supermoons in 2021. Supermoons look about 16% brighter and 7% larger than average.

Mr Hammond

This football European Super League saga has been incredible, hasn't it? At its worst, it highlights the running of these football clubs in the purest business sense. On the plus side, the players have shown loyalty to the fans and the clubs for which they play a part. It reminded me of a story I heard from a lecturer on my university course: A man living on a street was bothered by the noise coming from children playing football outside his house. Racking his brain, he decided on a course of action to remedy the situation and bring peace to his street once more.

The next time the children were out playing football, he went out and gave each of them a pound. Sure enough, expectant of being paid again, the children re-appeared the following evening. The man went back out to them armed with cash, but this time just gave each fifty pence. The kids were disappointed, but, nevertheless, they came back the next day. Playing football, they were met by the man as he came out to give them more money. 20p was their reward.

The kids played football again the following evening. This time the man didn't come out at all. The kids went home and didn't come back.

This story highlights the nature of intrinsic and extrinsic reward. In the first case, we play the game for the sake of the game. This brings about the physical benefits of course but in addition, the mental and social positives. In the second there is money, trophies, glory. For those with aspirations as a professional sportsman we do, of course, wish to do as much as possible to help them achieve this dream, but ultimately games were created because they were fun! The Victorians are well-known for recognising sport as the great socialiser. That's want we want from sport - not just the back page photo moments, but the shared experience with mates. Professional sportspeople operate within this interesting conundrum of loyalty to 'club' and as a commodity that reaches the end of its life. The man in the story got what he wanted when the children stopped playing outside his house, but we mustn't forget that playing sport, joining a club or being part of a team is - fun.

On a practical level, it's great to see all the boys back at school and be back out on the fields. The staff were buzzing during our cricket session, proving what a mood lifter physical activity is and the boys were no less buoyant during Games. As far as fixtures are concerned, these can be viewed via SOCS, reached via the home page of My School Portal. They were made early last term, but after guidance from the ECB and government came out there were a couple of cancellations. Currently, we're looking forward to matches with Forres Sandle Manor on Saturday 8 May. I'm also sorry to say that spectators are not currently permitted, again following the latest guidance. I foresee this easing, with mitigations, at the next stage but will keep you informed.

It was great to see the sailors get to SWAC on Wednesday (see photos further down). A lot of work went into getting the boys to this, and I'm hugely grateful to Andy Foley, our Head of Operations for practicalities, to Laura Brill and Craig Schulz, for accompanying the boys and, above all, to Angela Slater who has spearheaded this entire process, drawing everything together and leading this group.

I'm continuing to appraise the situation with other activities that we run with the support of the College. They continue to be hugely supportive to us but, as you may appreciate, there is more to the task than simply picking up where we left off in Summer 2019. I continue to hope to have some measure of what we have offered in the past, but I forewarn that it may well be more limited. Thanks for your patience and support. 

The swimming pool is coming online, and we expect to take sessions through the summer. These will be in the guise of curricular PE in conjunction with athletics, ad hoc Games sessions and in the evening for boarders. Pupils will need their kit, as listed in the school kit list. Thanks for bearing with us through our launch of cricket kit through Stevensons. In case, you haven't seen other correspondence, we will take a relaxed approach this summer, meaning we will be happy to see cricket clothing other than that from school. For matches, we will wear whites (trousers) and our formal green jackets. For training sessions (Games), the boys should wear shorts or tracksuit bottoms. Year 3 don't need the white trousers, as we typically have fewer matches.

Finally, round one of Year 7 Set matches will take place this Saturday 24 April for all in year 7 cricket groups. 

Matches are due to end at 1630. Collection will be at 1645 from the yard gate. We will ensure choristers get to practice on time.

On Wednesday 28 April, we will hold an intra Year 8 cricket match finishing at 1730 with collection at 1745. 

All other games groups will finish at the normal times. 

I look forward to seeing you in due course.

Andrew Short
Director of Sport | Housemaster at Main School

The Sailors are back on the water at last

Having missed last Summer and the previous Autumn seasons, we were delighted to get back down to SWAC on the first day of term. There was a steady breeze blowing onshore which did not make conditions easy, particularly for the beginners, but fortunately the tide was flooding which helped us a lot. The more experienced sailors took the Laser Picos out for a spin in a gusty spot up river and I even caught a few of them planing! The beginners started off with some dry tacking - it really helps if you can turn a boat through the wind - and the improvers rigged the RS Qubas onshore before heading out for a spin too.

The sun shone, the boys were happy to be on the water, and all returned to school full of stories and chat. We're looking forward to next week already. And thank you to Mr Schultz on the safety boat for the lovely photos!

Mrs Slater 

The Swimming Pool

Staff training (in the picture below), pool repairs and maintenance will all enable swimming at Pilgrims' to start very soon. The water is heating up to a comfortable 27 degrees, and we just need the weather to continue as it has been this week!

The Workshop

From Mrs Ross

What a wonderful sunny start to the new term!  The boys have been enjoying the Pre-Prep Garden at every opportunity this week.  We have welcomed Daniel back to school in Year 1 and also two new boys, Teddy and Benjy have joined our Year 2 class.  We are so excited to be back in school with your boys who, as always, are a pleasure to work with.  

Our new raised, vegetable beds have been put to good use this week with Mrs Walker during Forest School sessions, and Year 2 boys have been given the responsibility of watering our seedlings each day using home-made, recycled watering cans.   

I would like to invite all siblings and parents of Pre-School children to come to our Gruffalo Hunt.  Leaflets came home in your sons' Book Bags on Tuesday.  Do please give them to friends, family or neighbours who might be interested in joining the fun!  Places can be booked by phone or email to our Admissions department, or via our website.

Year 1 

What a wonderful first week back in Year 1! The boys have been a joy; full of enthusiasm for their learning and using good manners. In Maths, they have begun learning about grouping in preparation for multiplication and division. They have thoroughly enjoyed using lots of different resources to make equal groups and have also been spotting mistakes in groupings. We have made the most of the beautiful weather, enjoying snack time outside and learning everywhere possible. The boys have remembered a great deal from our PSHE lessons about healthy eating and I have been thrilled to hear about the healthy choices they have been making at home too!

Mrs James

Year 1 focused on our wonderful birds during their Forest School lesson. After learning a few names of some the birds they would see in their garden, we spent some time chatting about how they constructed their amazing nests. I then challenged the boys to create their very own super sized nests, I encouraged them to think about the shape, how it is constructed as well as making it a comfortable place to sit!

Year R also had a look at how to create a nest, but one of a more suitable size for a bird. With care and attention the boys designed a cosy and safe dwelling to place their own decorated egg.

Year 2 ventured to Elizabeth Mead and went on the hunt for as many small twigs and branches they could find. Their challenge this week was to create their very own twig skeleton! Perhaps we didn’t quite have the right number of bones for our skeletons, but we made sure it had the right number of fingers and toes!

Mrs Walker