Light Relief from the Dark Side

Posted on: 04/11/2022

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Celebrating Halloween and Day of the Dead, with costumes, decorations and pumpkin carvings, brings light relief to the darkening days of autumn.

On Friday 28th October our Prep children enjoyed taking part in the annual house pumpkin carving competition, as well as joining in with a whole-school costume day.

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Pre-Prep children looked both scary and sweet as they enjoyed their own Halloween catwalk as part of Ms Sampson's Friday afternoon singing session in the theatre.

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A group of 15s Prefects dressed up as black cats and visited the Pre-Prep classrooms to play trick or treat on the children and offer them a sweet each. 

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Other Senior Prefects worked hard decorating communal areas of the school. Staircases, pictures and wall cabinets were draped in cobwebs and spiders, all adding to the atmosphere. 

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During break there was a special Halloween treat sale, raising money for our 13s as they embark on their YPI (Youth Philanthropy Initiative) and start fundraising for local grass roots charities of their choice. 

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Our Sixth Formers enjoyed a special Halloween themed social after school from 7 until 9pm hosted by staff in the Marquee - one of few occasions where Lower and Upper Sixth get together informally to socialise.

A few days later, on 2nd November, Spanish teacher Rosa Rubio-Montes initiated a Day of the Dead celebration. She dressed up in an incredible costume, below, ran a special tequila competition for staff, organised chilli con carne for lunch with the school chef and also decorated the dining room with inflatable skeleton masks! Harrodian pupils studying Spanish learnt all about the Dia de los Muertos festival, which largely originated in Mexico, in their lessons on the day.

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But it is the carved and decorated pumpkins that our Prep children bring in which always succeed in catching everyone's attention and this year's collection certainly made an impression.

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A final selection was made and can be seen in the two photos tables below:

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The 8 winning pumpkins were created by pupils across all houses in the 9s to the 11s, with ideas ranging from an interpretation of Eric Carle's very, very hungry caterpillar, a giant eyeball with a black crow perched on top, to a call for freedom for Iranian women represented by a triplet of pumpkins (in the colours of Iran's flag) that were carved with the words; women, life and freedom.

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The winners of the pumpkin carving competition were:

  • 1st Place: Roman L, 10s, Ferry
  • 2nd Place: Theo J.,11s, Thames
  • 3rd Place: Daniel M.,11s, Bridge
  • 4th Place: Bella P., 11s, Lonsdale
  • 5th Place: Brando E., 10s, Lonsdale
  • 6th Place: Arsen T.,9s, Lonsdale
  • 7th Place: William S.,11s, Ferry
  • 8th Place: Arabella C.,9s, Ferry

Head of Lonsdale House and Italian teacher, Ms Magoga, is thrilled that Lonsdale house won overall first place in the pumpkin carving competition with three winners in the top eight (photographed below with Lonsdale kids holding the pumpkin trophy).

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'I am so impressed with the pupils from Lonsdale house. They all made such an effort with their creations and brought in the biggest number of pumpkins out of all the houses - 134 in total! They really deserve the trophy for this competition,' she says proudly.  

I am so impressed with the pupils from Lonsdale house. They all made such an effort with their creations and brought in the biggest number of pumpkins out of all the house - 134 in total! They really deserve the trophy for this competition. 

Head of Lonsdale House and Italian teacher, Monia Magoga

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