Each year King Edward’s School organises a special introductory day for all new pupils joining First, Second and Third Forms. This enables existing and new pupils to start to get to know each other and to allay any worries that the incoming pupils and their parents may have. It has proved to be a great success over the years and this year was no different, judging by their reactions during the various activities that were arranged.

The morning was set aside for activities that were academic based and the afternoon for outdoor pursuits. The new First and Second Formers had a cookery lesson and they produced some really tasty savoury muffins. This was followed by a drama improvisation workshop that enabled everyone to express themselves in a number of novel situations. There was much amusement during the session and this certainly acted as an effective icebreaker for the group.

The Third Formers had to show off their expertise in French to enable them to order their Continental style breakfast. They were then tested on their general knowledge of France and completed the session with a traditional game of Boules. The second activity was based in the Design Technology Department and in small teams they had to design, with limited materials, a device for firing “polos” over a set distance and at a target. Various ingenious designs for catapults were constructed and most achieved their aim!

Over lunch the pupils were joined by Housestaff and Matrons from the Houses they will be joining and this was followed by a tour of the House to view the various facilities. Then they were off to the Sports Hall to change for some physical activities. The First and Second Form went off with Tim Norton (School Chaplain) and several Sixth Formers for an introduction to Bush Craft. They had to build shelters with the available equipment and they learnt how to create a fire, without matches and enjoyed some toasted marshmallows. The Third Form had a choice of playing a tennis tournament or clambering up the School’s climbing wall.

The day was completed when pupils, parents and Housestaff all met for “high tea” in the Selborne Room. By this time new friends had been made and email, telephone and Facebook contacts had been exchanged. The Headmaster, John Attwater, wished them all an enjoyable holiday and looked forward to welcoming them to the school in late August.