Being part of Bryanston… the new experience. ​​​​​​​

From conversations pitch-side at matches to meetings in my office, the inquiry about what our recent merger means for BKH has been strong.

The team has worked hard to make sure the pupils experience the benefits of the merger straight away. The Bryanston and Knighton House staff have been brilliant at looking for opportunities and have not been slow to find them. Our Year 7s and 8s take it in turns to go up to the cutting-edge Bryanston DT Workshop on Friday afternoons, to have lessons taught by the team there in Resistant Materials — they are making wind chimes out of metal, wood and plastic — not many prep schools could boast the equipment and expertise we now have access to. We are similarly fortunate to have the Director of Sport and Head of PE come down to run a weekly games session on Tuesdays, which is enabling us to offer greater breadth and specialist training; on Saturday mornings, as part of our enrichment programme, the Bryanston Outdoor Education Department is kindly running a programme of Adventure Training. This pioneering programme has included the Climbing Tower, Low Ropes, and eventually will form part of a junior Duke of Edinburgh style scheme, where our pupils earn merits in different areas such as: challenge, service, skill development, expedition. We have also been fortunate to have Christina Scott, Bryanston’s Head of Strings who is running a Beginners’ Masterclass in violin. And we now share our Chaplain with Bryanston senior school, the Rev’d Davis. Harvest Festival last Friday, 8 October, was wonderful. Our Pre-Prep and Junior Choirs sang beautifully to celebrate this time of year when we focus on generosity of spirit, kindness and care.

This is just the beginning, and next term we are expecting to cast some of our pupils in the Bryanston musical, Beauty and the Beast.  A new opportunity awaits them as part of the brilliant Bryanston drama department, in front of a full house in the Coade Hall Theatre.

In short, it has been wonderful to create an immediate impact on the daily school experience of BKH pupils, which takes advantage of the amazing depth of skill and facilities we are now so lucky to be part of. And I am confident that this is just the beginning.