Message From the Head 
Dear Parents,
Welcome back to the second half of term. Our older pupils’ 11+ and 13+ results are now coming in, and for 2025, these include Charterhouse, Churcher’s College, Cranleigh, Farnborough Hill, King Edward’s Witley, Prior’s Field, Seaford College, St Catherine’s, and Lord Wandsworth College. This success is complemented by encouraging scholarship news. For now, a special mention goes to Luke for securing our first-ever design engineering scholarship at Charterhouse and to Lexi for earning sports scholarships at both Farnborough Hill and Prior’s Field. More news to follow.
As we celebrate, it is time to embrace our upcoming 75th anniversary. We are planning a series of events, including a big party for both our current community and alumni, reaching all the way back to the 1950s. Details will follow, but we are looking at Saturday, 20th September for our centrepiece event, so please save the date.
While you have your diaries out, we’re excited to announce that our Spring Art Exhibition is returning, bigger and better than ever, during the week of 23rd April. For those new to the school, we transform the Chapel into our very own version of Tate Britain, showcasing pupils’ outstanding art and design work – a true visual treat. Enjoy the exhibition with a glass of fizz and some live music.
Enjoy your weekend,
Mr Towers, Head
News from Upper Prep 
Welcome back! It has been lovely to hear about all the exciting things the children in Year 7 and Year 8 did over the half term break.
The Year 8 subject teachers met with parents and children at our Consultation Evening on Tuesday. Teachers shared feedback from the recent mock examinations and it was very positive to see the children take their targets on board. The Year 8 children who are joining King Edward’s Witley in September then had the opportunity to meet with Mrs Wright and some of the staff, which I know they all found very helpful and interesting.
The children in Year 8 presented an excellent assembly on Thursday about their Lenten Appeal charities. I was so proud of them and the effort they had put into creating their slideshows and the confident way they delivered the information. The rest of the school then voted on the charity we will be supporting this year. I wonder who it will be?
Our Drama Captains, George and Delilah, also told us all about Book Week. Don’t forget there are lots of exciting activities happening next week, including an author visit for the children in Year 7 and Year 8 on Thursday and the chance to dress up as a character from a book. As the children are going to King Edward’s on Thursday morning to meet the author Kathryn Evans, I suggest that they bring their costume in a bag ready to change into when they get back to Barrow Hills.
Finally a huge thank you to Mr Pugin and Mr Muir-Wood who visited the school on Friday to speak to the children in Upper Prep about their careers. I know the children were genuinely fascinated by all they had to say and we are so grateful to them for giving up their time.
Have a lovely weekend!
Mrs Mason, Head of Upper Prep
News from Prep
It has been lovely to welcome the children back after a well-earned half-term break. We have been fortunate to have had (mostly) bright, sunny weather for everyone to enjoy the grounds, and it definitely feels as though spring is in the air!
It has been another week of fantastic sporting achievement. Along with our weekly matches, there have been three netball tournaments for the Year 5 and 6 girls, as well as Tuesday’s swimming gala. A well-rounded school experience, which promotes the importance of exercise and team sports in a child’s development, is something we are very proud of. Thank you to our sports staff for keeping the children so busy!
A huge well done to our IAPS chess players, who demonstrated great skill, strategy, and composure in their competition this week. Chess requires patience, critical thinking, and perseverance, and we are very proud of the children for representing the school so well.
Wednesday’s Book Fair was well attended, and a fun way to kickstart the events of next week. We will be focussing on the value of reading with a variety of events to remind both the children and staff what we gain when we put aside some much-needed time for books. The highlight of next week is, of course, Thursday’s dressing-up day, and I am excited to see which literary characters will be brought to life!
It was a pleasure to meet with our current Year 2 parents this week as we welcomed them to our ‘Prepping for Prep’ event; the start of their journey into the Prep department. Transitioning into a new phase of school life is an exciting milestone, and it was wonderful to share in their enthusiasm and answer any questions. A warm welcome to all those beginning this next chapter – we look forward to seeing the children continue to flourish.
I hope you all enjoy what promises to be a sunny weekend.
Miss Tyrrell, Head of Prep
News from Pre-Prep 
As the children returned this week well rested after half term, it was straight back into the swing of things with House music rehearsal first thing on Monday morning. On Tuesday, Year 1 headed out to Guildford Castle and Museum to enhance their current topic work. There were big smiles on their return and there was clearly lots to tell judging by all their writing about their visit. Some of the children brought their recount to show me and I was blown away by their writing! Mia described the “pictures made from a sewing machine and then we saw very special types of shoes”. Well done Year 1.
Congratulations to our children who received certificates for Work of the Week in assembly this morning. Matilda’s use of research skills for facts about African animals, Kit’s detailed diagram of forces and Anabella’s super sentence ideas about a lost penguin, all earned them this award. Well done. We were able to hand out Hugo’s (Rec) Bronze Award for his House point collection which is particularly impressive in his first term with us. We presented Silver Awards to Luca, Sophie and Parker (Rec), Minty, Sammy, Alexander, Mia and Arthur (Year 1) and James, George B and Sophie (Year 2).
Next week Year 1 and Year 2 have a netball and tag rugby fixture on Monday afternoon against Pennthorpe which begins at 1:30pm. This will be followed by match tea and parents are warmly invited to come along and support. Thursday 6th March is Year 2’s class assembly and the following week, Thursday 13th March is Year 1’s class assembly, to which parents are also invited to attend. Next Thursday is also World Book Day and we look forward to seeing a vast range of costumes to celebrate everyone’s favourite book characters.
Mrs Barnett, Head of Pre-Prep