Polam Hall School

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PHOSA News

Old Scholar’s AGM and Annual Gathering, Saturday 18th June 2011

Although we had a small gathering this year we had the opportunity to wander around Polam Hall and remember old times. The most fascinating item for most people was the Past Presidents display of recently received scrapbooks detailing Polam Hall's history right back to 1848.

Personally I managed to wander over to Grange where I discovered how steep the Attic stairs were and remembered my final year at Polam Hall as a boarder in 1985 with much fondness.

Soon it was time to witness the welcoming of our new president Karen Hirst where I recorded the planting of her chosen rose.

As the rain clouds were approaching we retired to the dining room for Cream Tea and this year I discovered that by providing a donation to PHOSA I was provided with a glass of Pimms.

By PHOSA Membership Secretary

PHOSA President’s Lunch Saturday 25th September 2010

Eighteen Old Scholars travelled to the Sage in Gateshead to attend the annual President’s lunch.

We all enjoyed a delicious meal, the attentive service of the staff and catching up with all the news which also included looking through several scrapbooks compiled initially by Evelyn Thistlethwaite, who taught Speech and Drama at Polam Hall, aided by her sister Nancy who was not employed at Polam Hall, but who supported and helped her.

After Evelyn died in 1989, Nancy continued to produce a scrapbook each year. When sadly Nancy died recently, her neice found in excess of 30 scrapbooks.They contain information about Polam Hall ranging from the 1848 up to 2008 and have been donated to the Old Scholars to ensure their safekeeping.

It was great to see so many familiar faces and heartening to know that some had travelled quite long distances to support the event.

Old Scholar’s AGM and Annual Gathering, Saturday 19th June 2010

Everyone who attended this event seemed to enjoy the day. After the AGM many of the members went out to witness our new president Gail Slater plant her chosen rose bush.

After a lovely lunch and a reminiscing walk around the school, we met in the Theatre again to celebrate with the PHOSA and Lower School Award winners.

President's Evening 2010 - Telling Tales, Friday 23 April

Are we sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin… The President’s Evening, a ‘Telling Tales’ storytelling fundraiser, was very enjoyable. On entry, we were treated to great live music played by Mr. Walker and Mr. Mountain, while we collected a glass of wine and settled down into a crowded dining room, with the children seated in a semi-circle around the stage area.

The tales got off to a great start with a rousing performance of the story of St George & the Dragon by Year 3, complete with a fantastic Chinese-style dragon operated by four pupils, with a very loud roar! Carrying on the school’s strong tradition of Shakespeare performance, we were treated to a superb recital of Sonnet 18 (‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?’) by Year 4; Year 6W’s colourful and atmospheric staging of Macbeth meeting the witches on the battlefield; and from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a very funny and pacey play rehearsal by Bottom and the mechanicals by Year 6C, plus Helena’s monologue, beautifully acted by Cara Dawson. Pupils’ own favourite stories came to life with readings from Harry Potter by Charlotte Crowther, and from Horrid Henry by Lucy Coates and Frances Pearson.

Local stories were also a theme, with Year 5’s exciting telling of the tale of the Sockburn Worm (with a somewhat gruesome ending!), and top class entertainment by Burt Draycott. His locally inspired witty banter and world championship-winning musical spoons performance were as polished as the shiny silver cutlery he played.

Among us roamed storybook characters – pirates, Snow White, Cinderella, Aladdin, princesses, and fairies, courtesy of the Infants who entered the fancy dress competition. The costumes were fantastic, and after much deliberation our star judges awarded Tess Hardy (Hermione Granger) as the runner up and Amelia Sawyer (Oliver Twist) as the winner.

We also were proud to announce the winners of the Telling Tales writing competition. The President was delighted to read such a rich variety of stories and poems. The strength of narrative voice, power of imagination and wit of the girls who wrote for us was truly astonishing, and we were thoroughly entertained by all of the entries. Choosing the winners was an extremely difficult task - although that only signified how high the standard of entries were, and how many different genres of storytelling and poetry were represented. However, a decision was reached and prizes were awarded to:

Years 3 & 4
1) Emily Wilson, 4M ‘Journey’
2) Matilda Weir, 3S ‘Dreams of Delight’
Years 5 & 6
1) Tessa Pelham, ‘Extract from The 3As.’
2) Erin Robinson, Arabella’s Adventure
Years 7 & 8
1) Indigo Hilton, ‘My Life’
2) Fiona Cunningham, Patient 1024

Jay Gunn came along to introduce us to two of his amazing animals. He told us how ancestors of the iguana he brought with him may have been the inspiration for storytale dragons, while the iguana behind him munched on a huge pile of salad… and the tablecloth! Jay also showed us his yellow python who was getting very cosy around a pupil’s neck while Jay told us that the longest snake ever found was around 33 feet long, and set us the challenge of trying to find a bigger one (rather you than me).

The evening was rounded off with a tale by the teachers who showed us that teamwork (or should I call it pressganging?!) is the key to success – recruiting several members of the audience to help Mrs. Hirst pull up an Enormous Turnip.

Overall, the Old Scholars present, among with the parents and pupils, were treated to a highly amusing and interesting evening. The President would like to thank everyone: trustees, staff, pupils, guests and parents, who gave their time and talent to organise the event and to perform. Although the final figure hasn’t been confirmed yet, we have already raised a significant amount of money towards building an Outdoor Storyworld for the Junior School, where in the future we look forward to enjoying further tales staged, as they used to be on Shakespeare Lawn, outdoors in the beautiful school grounds.

And the fun doesn’t stop here - a reading list detailing the books mentioned during the evening and in the ‘Telling Tales’ quiz will be published here on this webpage at the end of May, so that we can all take inspiration and pick a book to enjoy reading over the summer.
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