This year's Harvest Festival took place just before half-term. It was, as always, a great moment to celebrate Nature and all the good things that it brings us.
Food, donated in tins and packets by our Pre-Prep and Prep families, was gathered together and delivered to Barnes Foodbank. A profusion of fresh produce grown on our school allotment and a selection of condiments made with Harrodian-grown ingredients were also collected and displayed beautifully in the Pre-Prep courtyard, below, and were sold via an honesty box.
To mark the occasion, our Pre-Prep pupils hosted a special Harvest Festival assembly during which they welcomed each class onto the stage to either sing a song or recite a poem, while narrators, Emma and Brando (PP3RNA), Maya and William (PP3KHO), explained the significance of harvest time.
It was also Reception's first time on the stage and they sang with great enthusiasm and energy.
Mr Hooke also enjoyed the assembly, handing around fruit and herbs grown on the allotment for children and parents in the audience to smell and also giving them pieces of bread and fruit jam (made from fruit grown on the allotment) to taste!
Many families came to support the event as did a number of our parent allotment volunteers. A big thank you to our Prep children too, who also gave donations of food.
Barnes Foodbank (a satellite of Richmond Foodbank) was very grateful for the generosity of Harrodian children and parents and for their many donations to a worthy cause. The shelves of the food bank are now brimming (below) and the total weight of food donated came to 294.45kg, that's the same weight as three pandas! It will feed 24 people (each for a three day period). 
Harvest Festival also serves to remind pupils - and teachers - how lucky we are to have daily access to the wonders of nature. All Harrodians enjoy plenty of time outdoors during lessons or playtime, in our grounds, our gardens and in the allotment, where a number of lunchtime clubs take place. For this and much more, all of us are truly thankful!
