Year 7 members of Bunny Book Club recently had the opportunity to spend the day at Hay Festival. Whilst there they listened to Phil Earle, best selling author of 'Until the Road Ends', speaking about his new novel 'Northern Soul'. Following his book signing, Phil very kindly gave several of our students signed posters, and even donated his famous Hay Festival paper flower to Chloe in Y7!

Here are some of our students' reviews of the day:

Chloe Bowyer

I really loved going to Hay Festival.  It was a bit of a long drive but it was really worth it as Phil Earle, the author that we were seeing, was super funny and it turns out he has an addiction to Frazzles!  We also went to his book signing and we got tons of freebies like signed posters and bookmarks!  We also went round the festival to look at the gift shop and there was this really cool badge that said ‘Hay Festival Reader’ which totally made my day.  It was probably the best school trip ever.

Evie Garfield

What did I think of Hay Festival?  Good question.  It was amazing!  First of all it was free and second of all we got to spend a whole day just talking about BOOKS.  Phil Earle is a really funny and kind hearted person who has a really big obsession with Frazzles.  He even included a song he wrote when was a teenager in his book Northern Soul!  I mean how great is that.  I absolutely loved my day at Hay!

Harley Harrington

Hay Festival was amazing and I enjoyed it.

Alexis Carroll

Hay Festival was worth it and very enjoyable.  The staff were adorable, along with Phil Earle.  He appreciated small book clubs, and was very upbeat and kind.  The lay out was a touch bit confusing but you can find your way round with land marks.  It was very popular, and the shop had small Knick-knacks, which was quite cool.  The items included rubbers, pencils, and badges.  They had places for food, including ice cream.  There were places to sit and relax and eat lunch.

Logan Morgans, Y7

It was an amazing trip.  I had fun talking to Phil Earle and climbing the Hay sign.  I had fun buying a lot of ice cream.

Anusha Jackson

Hay was an amazing experience and Phil Earle was so funny.  He is an amazing author and writes great books.  He is so kind and a fun guy with a great childhood and background story.  He shared his addiction for Frazzles and how he was originally going to be a footballer and had no interest in books.  He was so nice about signing all our pictures and books and we had so much fun spending time with him.  I loved his sense of humour and we love the time he spent to make our day amazing.

Over half-term, 30 students in Year 9 and Year 10 embarked on a trip to the Mayenne region of France. For 5 days, they embraced the French culture and art de vivre.

On Monday morning, students had the opportunity to visit an animal refuge. In the afternoon, it was time for them to push their limits with the zip line, the archery workshop and the night line. Most of them were very brave and have faced up to their fear of heights!

In the evening, Mrs Griffin, Mrs Palmer and Mr Robinson were still full of energy and played hide and seek with the students.

Tuesday was a busy day with a visit to Fougères market, St James cemetery and the beautiful Mont Saint Michel! Students enjoyed trying saucisson at the market as well as baguettes.

Heading to St James cemetery, Mrs Griffin and Miss Chaminade had prepared the reading of a poem, Liberté by Paul Eluard, to commemorate the American soldiers who gave their lives to save Europe from the Nazis. Facing the crosses of the soldiers, each student read a verse in French and English and paid their respect to the soldiers. All the teachers were very impressed by how solemn the students were.

Finally, it was time to head to the Mont St Michel. For the whole afternoon, students enjoyed wandering around the shops and they also appreciated the beautiful view of the abbey on top of the mount. The weather was very nice and made the walk easier. In total, everybody walked an average of 22k steps!

In the evening, staff at the chateau tested students’ French knowledge with a degustation of escargots (snails), crepes and fromage. After dinner, students showed off their knowledge with a French culture quiz and they all did very well!

Wednesday was a rainy day but it did not stop our Frenchies from visiting Fougères castle. Students liked seeing reproductions of the castle in the middle ages and truly embraced history. After that, it was time for a bit of shopping at the hypermarket. Well… some of the boys had to comply with the French rules and bought some not very fashionable trunks for the swimming pool!

In the afternoon, teachers and students had a great time playing water polo. The competition was very hard and the lifeguards were watching carefully but did not need to intervene. They even recruited a little French boy to play with them.

For the last evening, Miss Chaminade entertained all of our students with French dances and traditions. A ceremony where certificates were presented to the students was held to close this fantastic trip.

Finally, on Thursday morning, it was time to go back to England. It was sad but students were all tired (and so were the teachers!) They stopped for a rainy picnic (still very enjoyable) before napping for the rest of the journey back home. The French police officers commended them for their behaviour and their use of French greetings.

A big thank you to Mrs Griffin, Miss Chaminade, Mrs Palmer and Mr Robinson for organising this fantastic trip.

Fifty students to competed in the District Athletics before half term, of which twelve were then selected to represent the District, in the Hereford and Worcester Track and Field County Competition in Stourport.

We had some notable succes:

• Ellie Hooper reached the 100m final
• Ollie Williams finished 2nd in the Triple Jump which means he has qualified to compete for the County in Stoke
• George Owen finished 2nd in the High Jump – he has also qualified to represent the County

All students did incredibly well to compete at such a high level and were fantsatic representatives of our school.

In order to make the transition to high school as stress free as possible, our local primary schools bring their students to workshops at Dyson Perrins. Pupils from Reception to Year 6 participate in sessions which support primary curriculums whilst allowing them to experience a high school environment.

In Music pupils look at the layout of the keyboard, learn what the different notes are called and how to find them.  They then learn to play a piece of music (Happy Birthday) and students have the opportunity to perform what they have learnt if they choose to. Computing workshops give students the opportunity to create animations whilst in Art they create clay hanging decorations in our pottery room and black and white optical illusion art; patterns which 'move' because of how they are arranged. Our PE department run multi sports sessions and sports festivals with the help of our KS3 Student Sports Leaders. We also run workshops in Science, Drama, MFL and Technology.

We receive lots of really positive feedback from staff and students whenever they attend and the students are always thoroughly engaged and achieve well.

Recently we have welcomed students from Suckley School, Madresfield CE Primary, Northleigh C of E Primary, St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Leigh and Bransford Primary School, Kempsey Primary School, Hanley Swan Primary School, Wyche C of E Primary, Great Malvern Primary, Broadheath C of E Primary School, Castlemorton CE Primary School.

Here is the latest issue of our student newsletter, The Perrins Post

The Perrins Post - Spring 2024

On Thursday 7th March, Y10 visited the Worcester Skills Show. There were opportunities for students to engage with FE providers as well as employers, which included services and industries from a variety of sectors such as engineering, cyber-security, construction, financial services, the armed forces and land-based industries, to discuss the different careers paths available and what qualifications are best suited. Employers also highlighted their apprenticeship and trainee programmes, so that our students are well informed about the range of options and routes available to them. 

To embed their learning in GCSE History, Mr Davies, Head of History, took students from Years 10 and 11 on a four day trip to Berlin.

Students visited the Bundestag (German parliament), the Hohenschönhausen Memorial (former Stasi prison) in East Berlin, Checkpoint Charlie, the Berlin Wall, the Brandeburg Gate, the site of Hitler's underground bunker and Sachsenhausen concentration camp.

Ollie Marshall, Year 10, said he was shocked at the lack of a landmark or signage pointing out Hitler's bunker. He also said about the Stasi prison: "The fact that prisoners were kept in total isolation with no hope of release, just for speaking out against the state, right up to 1989, was mind blowing".

Thanks to Mr Davies, Mr Wilde, Mrs Brakes and Miss Clifford for travelling with the students and making the trip possible.

On Friday 1st March 2024, we welcomed Harriet Baldwin to our school. During her visit, Harriet met with some members of our students leadership team to discuss their student led ‘Campaigns for Change’.  The students represented our school fantastically. They all discussed some big ideas; passionately and confidently expressing their thoughts on changes that are needed both within school and the wider community. 

Year 7 discussed the importance of healthy inclusive eating, Year 8 discussed the need for young people to be supported to develop their social skills following the pandemic, Year 9 discussed the vital role of creative opportunities both inside and outside of school, Year 10 discussed funding for school meals, uniform and the cost of living crisis. 

The visit was very productive, with many ideas shared about how students can progress their campaigns to realise real change both within school and the wider community. 

Harriet offered her thoughts on how the students could develop their campaigns further inside school and made some exciting offers of involving our students in community projects that may help to extend the reach of their individual campaigns. 

Well done to all involved!

This half term has been particularly busy in the Music Department. In addition to running extracurricular clubs such as Beginner and Junior Bands, ukulele club and singing club, Mrs Davis has taken several groups of students to venues around the West Midlands. 

On Friday 26th January students from all year groups were part of the largest children's choir in the world, Young Voices. Our students joined 5,000 others in the Resorts World Arena, Birmingham to perform to an audience of 10,000. They sang with MC Grammar and jazz performer Natalie Williams, and danced with street dance group Urban Strides. Austin Godwin, Year 8, said "it was brilliant, just like being at a real concert except we were part of the band. I can't wait to go next year!" 

On Wednesday 7th February students from Year 7 attended a schools concert performed by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra at the Birmingham Symphony Hall. They learned about the different sections of the orchestra and were treated to performances including Dvorak's Wind Seranade and Bolero by Ravel. In particular they enjoyed hearing The Wizarding World by John Williams (from the Harry Potter films) and dancing to Soul Bossa Nova by Quincy Jones which was used as the theme music to Austin Powers. 

Next term sees the Choir joining other local secondary schools to perform Will Todd's Mass in Blue at Worcester Cathedral.

On Thursday 25th January Dyson Perrins welcomed Martin Gorick, the Bishop of Dudley. Bishop Martin blessed the Reflection Area and newly refurbished Chapel, before leading prayers with students and staff. He and other members of the Worcestershire Diocese met Senior Students Xander Baker-Humpage, Cindy McNally and Chloe Norris together with representatives from the student leadership team and the Chapel Club. 

Paul Charman, Chair of Governors, thanked the Bishop for attending and School Chaplin, Vanessa Everitt, said "it was an honour to meet the Bishop and for him to lead collective worship with Year 7. We hope our Chapel and Reflection Area continue to provide our school community with opportunities to think about the wider world and to practice their faith." 

 We took Year 8 to the Three Counties Careers Fair on Thursday 18th January. There were opportunities for students to engage with FE providers as well as employers, which included services and industries from a variety of sectors such as engineering, cyber-security, construction, financial services, the armed forces and land-based industries, to discuss the different careers paths available and what qualifications are best suited. Employers also highlighted their apprenticeship and trainee programmes, so that our students are well informed about the range of options and routes available to them. Some of our more enterprising students even managed to ‘crack the code’ at the Qinetiq stand, winning themselves a Rubik's Cube! Our students were impeccably behaved and they fully embraced the opportunity to discuss their futures, even at this young age.