Friday 2nd October 2026

News from Upper Prep

It has been a busy and productive week in Upper Prep. Alongside their usual lessons, the children have been completing online QUEST assessments and I have been most impressed with their diligence and resilience. 

The children in Year 7 and Year 8 also attended an event at KESW about toxic masculinity led by Matt Pinkett. Matt Pinkett is an author who has written a number of books on this subject and I know the children found his talk very interesting and informative.

It was National Poetry Day on Thursday and Barrow Hills celebrated with our annual House Poetry competition. Well done to everyone who took part – and many thanks to Bertie, our drama captain who introduced the whole event so confidently and clearly. You can read all about House Poetry and our guest judge, Mrs Campbell-John, elsewhere in the newsletter.

News from Prep

Dear Parents

I am sure the children will all be exhausted after a gruelling week of activity and a lot of online learning. Thank you for ensuring the children had their headphones and charged Chromebooks. 

Monday evening’s Future Schools event was very well attended and it was encouraging to hear so many parents committing to staying at Barrow Hills for Upper Prep. If anyone wants to learn more about the provision for children in years 7 and 8, Mrs Mason will be presenting a “Life at the Top” evening on Wednesday 14 October at 6pm, which will include special appearances from former Upper Prep pupils who are returning to Barrow Hills to give first hand accounts of the Year 7 and 8 experience! I urge you to come along.

Now that we are truly in the middle of the Autumn Term, our attention is turned to the Harvest celebration. Our harvest appeal will support the Godalming Community Store, which assists by providing basic food as well as personal hygiene, sanitary and domestic cleaning items. Please refer to last Tuesday’s comms for the list of items that we are asking our school community to donate. There will be a box under the Arch for all donations – please could these be brought in by Monday 5th October. Thank you.

Today’s Open Morning was a wonderful opportunity to showcase all we have to be proud of at Barrow Hills. Prospective parents were quick to comment on how confident, polite and engaging the children are, and how Barrow Hills, nestled in such beautiful countryside, manages to make a school feel very much like home. We really are very lucky to spend our days in such an idyllic setting.

Wishing you all a restful weekend.
Miss Tyrrell, Head of Prep

News from Pre-Prep

Yesterday morning, we were pleased to welcome parents of our Reception children to our annual Phonics Workshop. The workshop offered parents an insight into the way in which we develop early reading and writing in the Pre-Prep department. We explored how children learn to recognise and articulate sounds, blend sounds together to read words, and gradually develop their spelling and writing skills. Parents were also introduced to the language and strategies used within school, alongside practical ways in which they can support their children at home through reading, practising sounds and sharing books together. We hope the session helped to build parents’ confidence and, importantly, to foster a consistent and positive approach to phonics between home and school. We are very grateful to all those parents who joined us and took the time to engage so positively with the session.

Our Pre-Prep choir, the Larks, have made an excellent start to the term. The children have been enjoying learning a varied repertoire of songs already and developing their confidence as young performers. It’s been wonderful to have some of the children from Reception join the choir this week too. We look forward to seeing their musical confidence continue to grow and to enjoy some performances from them before long.

Now we’re into October, Reception have been embracing the season this week by making their very own pumpkin soup. The smell around the school was wonderful! The children explored the ingredients and observed how they changed during the cooking process. The children discussed the taste, texture, smell and the changes they could see taking place.