The Duke of Kent, first cousin to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, visited the school on Tuesday 20th October.

Please click here for more details.

Year 6 visit the Humphrey Head Outdoor Eduction Centre

In February Year 6 visited the Humphrey Head Outdoor Education Centre near Grange-over-Sands in Cumbria for an action packed week of adventurous activities.

Please click here for more information.

Year 5 visit Bewerley Park FSC

In January Year 5 visited the Bewerley Park Outdoor Education Centre – and won a big pat on the back.

Please click here for more information.

Year 9 Teambuilding with The RAF

Year 9 pupils took part in a 'Team-Building' Day organised by the RAF in our School Hall. Teambuilding is an important factor in any environment, its focus is to specialize in bringing out the best in a team to ensure self development, positive communication, leadership skills and the ability to work closely together as a team to problem solve.

Click here to see photographs.

Art Prize

Hill House School pupil Abigail McMahon beat 18,000 children to win a major prize in a contest organised by the national Woodland Trust.

Abigail receives a butterfly house in which she can grow her own butterflies as the prize for her entry in the ‘Use of Colour’ category of the Nature Detectives art competition.

Competition organiser Danielle Evans of the Woodland Trust, based in Gainsborough, said: “Abigail’s entry was excellent, really outstanding. She made fantastic use of yellows and oranges – subtle, with lots of shading. Her use of colour was unique.”

Abigail is seen with Esther Parkhurst who produced the very seasonal April picture for a national charity calendar.

U13 European Rugby Tour

Pupils are visiting Paris for the School’s International U13 Rugby Tournament from Friday 26 March to Tuesday 30 March. They will play two matches against French club teams.

The pupils will also visit the Eiffel Tower, take a cruise on the Seine, and have a trip to Disneyland.

Road Safety

Y11 pupils heard a talk on safe driving by the Doncaster Road Safety Education Team, with Judith Shaw, and PCs Stephen Thomas and Steven Hatfield, as part of the www.drive4life.org campaign in South Yorkshire.

Our wizard Wizard of Oz

Students wound their way down the Yellow Brick Road in a lively Junior production of The Wizard of Oz.
A resplendent Dorothy, a saddle-sore Scarecrow, a Tin Man complete with oilcan, and a Cowardly Lion more concerned with manicures than manliness all travelled to see the Wonderful Wizard of Oz to ask for very special gifts.
The Wicked Witch of the West and her crew of Riff Raffs did all they could to hamper Dorothy's progress; nevertheless, a helpful band of Munchkins and a very popular Glinda the Good ensured they reached the Wizard, and helped raise the Wicked Witch from the depths of the stage to join an Ozian party to celebrate the courage of the Lion, the brains of the Scarecrow and the heart of the Tin Man and to wave a fond farewell to Dorothy and Toto as they went back Over the Rainbow to Kansas.
All the students deserve special thanks for their time and commitment as do the many people who helped with costumes, props and make-up. Although a Junior production, this was really a whole-school effort as students from across the age range, teachers from all three sectors, and parents all pulled together to create three wonderful evenings.
Particular thanks go to Mrs Lee for her directorial enthusiasm, Mrs Leach for illuminating the cast so professionally, Miss Jones for her back-stage multi-tasking and Mr Ross for the music.

Nativity 2009

From Tinsel Town to Bethlehem

The Lower School took their audience all the way to Hollywood for the Nativity play with a plot that involved a group bunch of star-struck fans waiting eagerly for the presentation of the Outstanding Contribution to Christmas Award. The competition was tough and to the fans’ surprise finally won by an unknown - Beth, the Star of Bethlehem. Beth then took the audience from Tinsel Town to Bethlehem so she could explain why she was the true Star of Christmas.

All the children worked tremendously hard to learn their lines and delivered superb performances on all three days. Thanks go to all the staff for their hard work, especially Mrs Lee for all her dedication in producing the Christmas Presentation.

Well done everybody.

To see photographs of the Lower School Nativity please click here.

Frootshoot the Musical

We enjoyed a visit by children from Westwoodside and Auckley Primary Schools who joined us for a day of music and drama at the end of which they produced 'Frootshoot the Musical!'

Please click here to see some photographs of the day.

Children in Need - Funky Friday - Do Something Different

Students and teachers were literally driving each other up the wall today as the country’s tallest mobile climbing wall, along with its little brother and sister; visited the front of our school today. Students of all ages were encouraged to climb anything up to 9meters (approx. 30ft) in aid of the Children In Need appeal and together we managed to raise more than £3,000.

Lower School children amazed their teachers by scaling one of the taller walls and, not wishing to be left behind, Mrs Fearns reached the top too before performing a very graceful landing! Mrs Jackson, complete with Funky Friday fairy wings, flew to the top on at least two occasions in aid of the national appeal to support underprivileged and disadvantaged children and young people in the UK. Middle and Senior School students and staff gave it their all on the goliath wall and a great time was had by everyone who took part.

The fun didn’t stop there, however, as the much anticipated and awaited House Song contest helped launch our afternoon session. All students took part and the songs, although diverse in nature, were equally well performed. Special guest judges, Dannii Minogue (Mrs Davidson); Cheryl Cole (Miss Powell); Louis Walsh (Mr Lane) and a certain Mr Simon Cowell (Mr Wallace) found choosing the winning house to be an almost impossible task as the standard this year exceeded all others. Unlike their television counterparts, however, the judges did not have to go to Dead Lock to make a decision and Master House emerged victorious with their take on the St. Trinians title song by Girls Aloud.

It has been a fantastic day for all students and staff at Hill House as well as for staff and students of local schools who came to share in the fundraising and roof-raising day. Special thanks go to Mrs Lee (Charities Coordinator) and Ms Hallam (PE Department) for organising the various aspects of the day, as well as to all the staff and students who partook in the events and helped to raise much needed funds for Children In Need.

Please click here to see photographs of the climb. Photographs of the House Song Competition will be posted soon.

Nursery Visit Bawtry Library

Please click here for more information & some photographs.

The Z Factor

The ‘Z Factor’ came to Hill House School today as, with traditional drums and dress, the Mighty Zulu Nation descended upon us. With an explosive opening to the day, the Zulu Warriors told us traditional stories, sang us traditional songs and danced traditional dances. The fun didn’t end there, however, as a programme of workshops was scheduled for Years 5 to 8 throughout the day. Here, the students got up close and personal with our Zulu guests, talking with them, learning their language and learning how to greet a warrior from Zululand.

The day ended even more explosively than it began with a veritable celebration of all things Zulu as the Middle and Senior Sectors recombined for a festival of sound. During the workshops, the warriors had turned our Year 8 students into a tribe of Zulu dancers and Year 7 were moulded into an African Choir. Years 5 and 6 were also taught a Zulu dance which included a lot of wiggling and scaring off others! The festival was a chance to show one another all that had been learned today. As organiser, Mrs Parkhurst said, today was a real “multi-cultural experience” for all concerned and the staff, students and Zulu warriors all seem to have had an enjoyable, creative and educational day. We thank Mrs Parkhurst for all she did to organise today and to the Mighty Zulu Nation for taking over the school on the last day of half-term in order turn our students into a clan of little warriors!

For more photos of the Lions of Zululand please click here.

Royal Visit

The Duke of Kent, first cousin to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, visited the School on Tuesday 20 October. This was a happy and historic occasion – the first Royal visit to the School.

The Duke, who is President of the All England Lawn Tennis Club and President of the Scout Association, flew into Doncaster Robin Hood Airport for the morning visit. He was greeted at the entrance to Hill House by the Lord Lieutenant of South Yorkshire, Mr David Moody.

The Civic Mayor of Doncaster, Cllr Ros Jones, her consort Mr Alan Jones, and Mrs Liz Paver, Chair of the Governors of the School were then presented to the Duke, followed by Head Girl Sophie Merrett, Head Boy Marcus Hooper, former Principal Jack Cusworth and Principal David Holland.

Mr Holland escorted the Duke on a tour of the building which included a display of memorabilia connected with the School’s history in the Board Room, children acting nursery rhymes in Master Hall, a rugby match on the sports field, excerpts from ‘Salem’ in the Theatre, and art and language displays in the Cusworth Library.

The Duke then entered the Main Hall where Mrs Paver welcomed HRH, and the parents and external guests who attended, and invited the Choir to sing ‘Amazing Grace.’ The Duke was then invited to unveil a commemorative plaque by the Head Girl, and to sign the Visitors’ Book by the Head Boy before leaving.

Guest Art Day

Hill House welcomed Year 5 children from Ranby, Auckley and Misson Primary Schools who joined us for an art sculpture day on Friday 18th September. They made some beautiful work and enjoyed our school dinners!