From Primary to Priory at Open Evening

Our doors opened last Tuesday evening to over 450 families as they began their search for a secondary school for their children.  

Our Principa,l Mr Eastham, was the first to greet our visitors at the door, and Prefects stood by ready to guide them around the school with a personal tour. Pupils from all year groups were posed in departments ready to share their experiences of Priory. Year 7 pupils chatted with former primary school peers who were keen to hear all about their first month at their new school - showing such confidence that many parents were fathomed they had only been with us a few weeks!

Interactive activities were set up across the school for children to enjoy whilst parents questioned teachers and pupils. Showcase explosions and a cow’s heart and lung disection in Science, puzzles in Maths (whilst trying not to gobble too many mini gems!), French statues coming to life in Languages, trampolining, darts and badminton in PE, fantasy fiction in English and so much more.  The ICT & Computer Science department took the opportunity to show off their gadgets - robots and 3D printers amongst them whilst, in Drama, hair and make up, costumes and lighting demonstrations took centre stage.

Meanwhile, the Humanities department was a hub of activity where Mr Momoniat's OS map folding and dress for the weather challenges were matched by History where visitors were challenged to pair the date with the historic photo in the fastest time before picking up a bag of freshly popped popcorn from the Duke of Edinburgh pupils. 

Visitors were ‘drawn’ to the Technology department with pupils’ artwork and the smell of cookery from the Food room, before our young guests made keyrings which they coloured and then assembled laser-cut Perspex letters spelling out their name - the perfect keepsake of the evening.

All this activity was bound to work up a thirst so a hot cuppa was in offer, with a friendly smile, at the Priory Pod - our outdoor hub serving drinks and food for those on the go.  Meanwhile, in the Bistro, our Catering team offered scrumpcious samples and demonstrated our new kiosk ordering system.  

This was the second year we invited our Leavers back to help out - and Class of 2025 did an amazing job!  Our Year 11 Leavers are perfectly placed to offer a personal testimonial about their time at Priory and their enthusiasm and positivity made them some of our best ambassadors. 

The event was a great success but we couldn’t do it without the support of our pupil volunteers.  We’ve received many compliments from prospective families who named and thanked individuals for their maturity, manners and guidance during their visit.  You were an absolute credit, pleasant, engaging and confident. Parents - you should be proud!

Mr Eastham thanked everyone for their efforts on the night, but also recognised the hard work beforehand that goes into making these events such a success. We hope the event inspired our visitors and we look forward to meeting them again should they choose Priory as their first choice school. 

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