Open Day speech 2023 – Henry – Head of School

I am Henry, one of the two Heads of School for Parsons Green Prep. I joined PGP in Year 2 from All Saints School, following in my older brother’s footsteps. He is now at Wetherby Senior School. When I look back at my years at PGP all I can remember is the welcoming and supportive atmosphere of the students and teachers.

I love this school so much because it is like a village school with a London approach to excellence, turning every challenge into an experience to learn. Some schools would want a lot of students but not PGP as it concentrates on quality not quantity. I just find it so cool that practically everyone knows everyone, helped by the gentle competition between the four houses – Earhart, Attenborough, Williams and Shackleton (just so you know, Earhart is the best!) – from Sports Day to raising money for charity to earning house points. We also compete against other schools in netball, football, tag rugby and cricket.

One thing that we have that other schools don’t have is STEAM. You see, most schools have STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) but we have added Art and all these link in to our learning topics.

There are so many weekly clubs before and after school. The ones that I have done in my time here include Lego Young Engineers, Debating, Quiz and my personal favourite, Coding, to name a few. So this means I know, first hand, what a great school PGP is. There are also learning opportunities that you can do during the day such as playing an instrument, like the piano, or LAMDA with professional actor Max Wrottesley. Talking about LAMDA, I have taken six LAMDA exams and all of those experiences have helped push my confidence to the next level so I can speak in front of all of you today.

If your child needs a little extra help, because we all have different ways of learning, the school can offer additional support with a Learning Support Tutor as well as booster sessions with the school SENDCo.

In PGP you get to go on residential trips from Year 3, such as Mill on The Brue in Somerset, Hindleap Warren in Sussex and, the most exciting, The Isle of Wight, which I will be going to in the summer term. I have shared some of my best experiences in these wonderful camps, building forts, seeing wildlife, climbing (and jumping off) towers, archery and just having a fun time. Through the year we also have lots of days trips to museums and other interesting sites.

My class is now concentrating hard on 11+. Every year, since the start of Key Stage 2 (which is Year 3), we have been preparing, little by little so it isn’t too daunting. It also helps that we keep the same teacher in Year 5 and Year 6 so we don’t have to spend time get to know them. We have extra 11+ Prep sessions on Mondays before school to also help. Whatever school I get into I hope it will be as wonderful, fantastic and welcoming as PGP. I will miss it!