On Thursday 29th April the Pre Prep Children went on a trip to Park Farm in Snettisham as part of their Spring Week. It was a beautiful morning and the children had a wonderful time feeding the goats, looking at the chicks, collecting eggs, laughing at the llama and playing with the tortoises.  After a break and a much needed icecream, kindly donated by Mr and Mrs Flux, the children went to feed the lambs. As we had waited a little later to make our visit this year the lambs were somewhat larger and quite difficult to control! However, we all had fun feeding them and were able to hold on to the bottles - just!  This year Nellie the sheep dog wasn't around so some of the children also had to try doing his job; they were suprised at how difficult it was!

We all had a wonderful day and would like to thank Mr and Mrs Stanton again for organising the trip and Trevor and the staff on the farm for making it such a worthwhile morning. 

Mrs Skipper

GLEBE HOUSE SCHOOL DOG SHOW

Get ready for the second Glebe House School Dog Show, held in conjunction with our Summer Fete on Sunday, 16^th May! Entries are from 12 pm and judging is from 1:30 pm. We also have a heel work to music display at 1 pm which will be well worth watching.

Last year we managed to take over £500- and we are hoping to do even better this time around. If anybody would like further information about the Show please contact Amanda by phoning 01485 – 534481 or sending an email to amandaknight@supanet.com

We look forward to seeing you there! 

Well Done to all of the Pre Prep Children who made some absolutely fabulous Easter Bonnets to parade in school today.

Mr Crofts had a very near impossible job to decide upon a winner for each class. 

However, the final decision went to:

Reception - Jessica

Division I - Arthur

Division II - Taylor.

On Wednesday 17^th March, the Division VI and VII girls went to the Corn Exchange in Kings Lynn to listen to the BBC Concert Orchestra perform a range of music throughout time.

When we arrived and settled into our seats we were met by Claire Bloor, the singing teacher from Glebe. Claire went on to the stage and did some warm up games with the whole audience of around 700 children before we sang our prepared song, “Working Together.” Claire also introduced us to the composer of this song who was playing the guitar accompaniment for us in rehearsal, Sarah Freestone. Everyone joined in and it sounded really lovely.

Our host for the event was Television presenter Nihal Arthanayake and he helped us to understand all about the different sections of the orchestra and the many different types of music that they can play.

The first piece was called “Montagues and Capulets from Romeo and Juliet by Prokofiev. Then we were delighted to hear the well know theme tune of Futurama. Everyone was clapping and stamping their feet in time with the orchestra!

The conductor of the Orchestra Matthew Coorey spoke to us about each section of the orchestra and also introduced the percussion section who were then joined by King Edward VII High School playing a range of percussion instruments. The percussion player from the orchestra had arranged this piece and it was incredibly effective.

Next Nihal explained to us all the different types of music the concert orchestra play and how they had recently performed a piece by Barnaby Taylor written for the Television Series, “The Great Rift.” We were able to watch film footage of the series at the same time and some of us had actually seen it on television but it was much more exciting with a live orchestra playing.

Soon afterwards the award winning DJ, DJSwitch, came on stage and performed Prokofiev’s Concerto for Turntables and Orchestra. We didn’t realise orchestras and DJs got together; it was quite an odd mix! However, we thought it was really interesting how the composer had combined classical music with a modern DJ.

A band from Terrington St. Clement’s High School sang a piece called, “One Day Like This” by a group called Elbow with the support of the full orchestra.

The aim of the Music Mix concerts is to encourage children from Key Stage 3 to appreciate the wide variety of music that they may not otherwise come into contact with. It was an excellent performance and a great experience. I think we all realised that Classical Music is not what we thought it was and is really very interesting.

We would like to say a huge thank you to Mrs Skipper and Miss Brady for taking us and hope we can do more things like this in the future.

Division VI and VII Girls.

What a wonderful afternoon's entertainment and a true insight into the special and unique quality of Glebe House School. An unmeasured commitment to the performing arts and the nurturing of each and every pupil.  Their confidence, enthusiasm and sense of team spirit shone throughout the entire production; the pride flowing around the audience was electric! 

The show commenced with an enthusiastic rendition of "I Can Sing A Rainbow" and the resonance of children's beautiful young voices filled the Hall.  All credit to Mrs Skipper, a thoroughly dedicated and talented music teacher whom all of the children adore.  The pupils were dressed in various outfits representing their house colours - Barbers in yellow, St Edmunds in green and L'Estrange in red – a cheerful visual accompanying attractive stage props made skilfully by the pupils.  The management of their performances was slick and professional with each child knowing their roles, actions and whereabouts! 

The Red Team, L'Estrange, was the first to treat the audience to their "pitch"!!  A poem, entitled "Red", written by Mrs Skipper, was accompanied by vibrant, ruby red artwork mastered by the team. All absolutely stunning!  Images of Santa's red cheeks, red holly berries, juicy cherries and fresh scented roses flowed around the Hall! The cheerful and amusing rendition of “Red Red Robin" sent many a foot tapping and smiles abounded in the audience.  George Morrison was a notable credit to his team; his voice clear, eloquent and engaging. A young George Clooney in attendance at Glebe! 

Next to perform was the Green Team, St Edmunds, fondly known as "Saints".  The overwhelming impression of this team was the sense of joy of performance with never-ending smiles and boundless enthusiasm from each and every team member.  Again the artwork, this time in resplendent green, was stunning, and added visual pleasure to the recital of a poem entitled "Green", written by James Horner.  We were treated to watermelons, sparkling emeralds, delicious bright green apples, spinach and broccoli!  "Song of the Saints" was "Five Little Green Frogs" - just brilliant!  The audience was captivated by clear, vibrant singing and comedic quality of the team's performance.  Sam Stonebridge is definitely a star in the making, totally mesmeric!  I was bursting with pride as I observed my own daughter, Maude Poulter, at the tender age of 4, and the youngest in “Saints”, just revel in her confident contribution to her team's performance, enjoying every moment of her time on stage with gusto and obvious joy!  

Now Barbers' turn, the Yellow Team!  Anna Sowerby introduced their offering with her usual eloquence. Such an exquisite voice projected with maturity and professionalism, another star in the making!  The humorous poem, "Yellow", written by Mrs Playford, conjured up images of bright sunshine, hot buttered crumpets, fizzy sherbet dips, honey and custard cakes.  Made our mouths water!  The song "I'm A Spring Chicken" was outstanding, with the audience in complete stitches!  George Hipwell and Piers Henderson proved very funky chickens indeed! Emma Carnell and Jessica Jamieson danced beautifully, the entire performance choreographed by an extremely capable and proficient Anna Sowerby. 

The older members of each team then explained the history behind the names of their houses which was extremely informative and interesting.  L'Estrange (Fr. Estrange, Eng., foreign or from a foreign land) is named after a local landowning family which can be traced back to the 11th century - Glebe House School was built on some of their land.  One of the popular names of the L'Estrange family was Bellatrix and there is a character in "Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows" called Bellatrix Lestrange - she is an evil, pure-blooded witch and her character is played by Helena Bonham Carter! 

St (King) Edmund had a colourful and rather gory past!  In 1855 the Vikings invaded his kingdom not far from Hunstanton and took King Edmund prisoner.  Because he would not worship their Viking God he was taken to a field and killed with arrows and had his head chopped off.  When the Vikings returned to the field to remove his body a wolf was guarding King Edmund's head which is why he is often portrayed with an accompanying wolf.  In 1050 a woman who was mute prayed beside King Edmund's grave (in Bury St Edmunds) and when she left she could speak.  

And as for the Barber House, it was named after Howard Cambridge Barber who, in 1901 bought the site of the School and named it Glebe House School.  The name Barber stems from a Scottish name and related to the mediaeval trade of “barbering” which cut hair, performed surgery and pulled teeth! Samuel Barber was a famous American composer and his composition "Adagio for Strings" was being played as the audience settled into their seats prior to the afternoon's performance. 

Deciding upon the winner was a non-enviable task for the Judge of the Festival, Christine Earnshaw, Mayor of Hunstanton!  Each and every child deserved being credited for their huge dedication to team spirit, hard work and their brilliant contribution to such an enjoyable and impressive show.  Mrs Earnshaw said she could already pick out the stars of the future and judged the competition on presentation, projection, words and actions.  She admired the exquisite artwork and voiced her immense appreciation for the confidence of all the children involved.  The Team she chose was the one which worked together best and amused her the most. She asked the question of herself as to which performance she thought would be the most polished to compete against another school.  She chose the Green Team, St Edmunds, to tumultuous applause!  Tayler Fincham and Maude Poulter, the oldest and youngest members of "Saints" were presented the Shield by Mayor Earnshaw and congratulatory cheers from pupils and audience projected around the Hall. The energy was magical!

The afternoon's entertainment ended with a mouth watering finale of "I Love Chocolate" which was a wonderful and fitting end to a most memorable and enjoyable Festival. Many congratulations to everyone involved in such a tremendous production.

Our daughter, Maude, leaves Glebe House School at the end of this term, as we are moving across “The Pond” to Los Angeles, California.  There are no words to describe how we feel about the incredible start she has been given, both in education and life values, at Glebe Nursery and Glebe House School.  Her happiness, confidence and enthusiasm for life and learning and her love and consideration for family, friends, teachers and environment is indicative of the exceptional foundation provided by such a remarkable School. A heartfelt thanks to the whole team at Glebe, we will miss you!  We look forward to catching up with Sam Stonebridge in Hollywood!  And, as our Governor of California, Senator Arnold Schwarznegger would say, “We’ll Be Back”!!!! 

Katie Poulter, March 2010.