Old Sprattonians’ Newsletter – Summer Term 2015
Another term has flown by and we are saying goodbye to a lovely Year 8 group who at this moment are in the
midst of their post-CE programme and enjoying every minute of it. All 37 gained the CE results they needed for
their next school and 14 scholarships were won by this talented group. We wish them the very best in their
new schools.
Thank you to all those of you who have responded to my plea for the Old Sprattonians’ Facebook
questionnaire. The Facebook page appears to have been a great success with people getting in touch with
friends they have not seen for years and some very interesting stories have been shared! I hope to continue it
next year. If anyone has any good ideas of what they would like to see on Facebook, or in this newsletter,
please do not hesitate to let me know.
It is always good to hear about the achievements of former Spratton pupils and we have heard recently that
Edward Macdonald-Buchanan has been offered a place at Oxford to read Classics and his sister Isobel has been
awarded a Sixth Form Academic Scholarship to Stowe. Anusha Mehta and Beatrix Lohn have also been
awarded the honour of being School Prefects at Rugby School and Anusha is Captain of Hockey 1st team.
We have been informed of the passing of Mrs Jean Watts who was a music teacher at Spratton. I am sure
many of you remember her fondly.
The school calendar seems to get busier and busier from Reception right through to Year 8 in terms of crosscurricular projects taking place. These projects really cement the knowledge of the different subjects. For
example, Year 6 have been studying Islam in the Religious Studies lesson and in Design Technology they had to
make and label a mosque. The children really enjoy these types of projects because they can get so involved in
them and learn so much by doing and making.
As ever, we always welcome any Old Sprattonians to concerts, drama productions and sporting events. The
calendar can be exported from our new website that has been launched this term. Do please browse through
it and enjoy the photos and all the news that it contains.
A new annual fixture has been squeezed into the busy timetable and that is the Fathers’ Breakfast BBQ. This
summer saw the first one being held. Over 40 Dads attended and Nick Sharpe, our Head chef, was on the BBQ
cooking steaks, bacon and chicken burgers, ensuring that the atmosphere was excellent. Lots of chat was had
and a good opportunity to network was provided by the event.
We held two other ‘one-off’ exciting events this year in the Spratton grounds. The first, an external event, was
held on a weekend in April where we commemorated the 100th anniversary of a local Spratton boy, Lt William
Rhodes-Moorhouse VC RFC. The War Society came and camped in the grounds, gave us rifle and marching
displays and talked us through rations and conditions during WWI. The second was when the School
celebrated VE Day with a wonderful fete of WWII themed stalls, music, competitions such as archery and a
classic tug of war and we raised £1,003 for the Royal British Legion and the Nepal Earthquake Appeal.
The end of term is looming and we sadly say goodbye to Chris Osborne who has worked at Spratton in various
positions for 34 years. We wish her a full and happy retirement. We are looking forward to Mr Lashbrook,
Headmaster of Oakham School, coming to Speech Day and presenting the prizes and, of course, the winning
House cup. There are many whispers as to who might win it this year but, with Frobisher winning the House
Singing for the first time in many years, a few have their money on the yellow House!
I wish you a very happy summer.
With best wishes
Amanda Fleming-Jones, Registrar