Dulwich Prep celebrates 75 years, Peace Project collaboration between two Tunbridge Wells schools and Kerala in southern India

Dulwich Prep celebrates 75 years

Celebrations for the 75th Anniversary of Dulwich Prep School in Cranbrook reached a climax with a concert at the Assembly Hall Theatre in Tunbridge Wells where pupils past and present performed songs, dance and poetry celebrating the history of the school through the decades.

Sketches re-enacting the evacuation of pupils from Dulwich College Prep in London to Cranbrook were a poignant reminder of wartime and brought vividly to life the early years of the school.

Years 7 and 8 walked the three miles from Cranbrook back to Coursehorn dressed in costumes from the 1930s and 1940s, recreating the walk the founder pupils made 75 years ago when they set up an emergency camp amongst the orchards of Kent in 1939.

Dulwich Preparatory School, Cranbrook is an independent day and flexible boarding prep school catering for boys and girls from the ages of three to 13.

Peace Project

A joint collaboration took place between two Kent schools when Tunbridge Wells Girls Grammar School and Judd School joined forces to travel to Kerala in southern India for three weeks as part of a cultural exchange programme, also known as the Peace Project 2014.

Teachers and students lived with their host families in the town of Kochi and took part in a range of activities, including an elephant ride, henna tattooing and learning traditional dances.

They also visited the Lotus and Golden Temples, museums, tea and spice plantations, and the beaches at the southern tip of India.

Events to raise money to enable both schools to host a return trip for the Indian students took the form of a quiz night held at TWGGS a Christmas Fayre at Judd. Monies made from these proceedings will be used to help pay for trips and events so that the visiting Peace team can experience a taste of English life and give them the opportunity to see London sights.

The India Team welcomed our students into their way of life and culture, so the pupils of TWGGS and Judd would like to offer them an equally memorable time in the UK.

Any contributions to this worthwhile cause will be greatly appreciated.

For more information on how to give a donation, please contact Mrs Lynda Wybar at Tunbridge Wells Girls Grammar School on 01892 520902.

Young Musician hopeful

One of Ashford School’s talented pianists has made it through to the final of the Marlowe Young Musician of the Year competition.

Govind Dhiman, 15, a pupil of Stephen Dandridge, impressed the judges with his variations from Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.

He now faces an anxious wait until 3 February to compete for the prestigious title in the final taking place at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury when he will be playing the complete Rhapsody, accompanied by the Kent Concert Orchestra.

New head for Northbourne

A new Headmaster will take up the leadership reins at Northbourne Park School from September 2015.

Sebastian Rees, currently the headmaster of Seaford College Prep School in West Sussex, will take the place of Edward Balfour at the Deal-based day and boarding school for three to 13 year olds.

Prior to joining Seaford in 2012, Sebastian was for six years the Directro of Studies at the Junior King’s School Canterbury, where he moved from being the assistant head teacher at Northbourne Primary.