Our PPA is a welcoming group of parents and family members who are always busy behind the scenes. The work they do hosting an exciting programme of events throughout the year. Our PPA really does add something extra, bringing the whole school community together.  

We feel very lucky to have our PPA and hope you will join them to enjoy everything they do. 

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Sponsored Walk

Any outdoor activity undertaken in a British summer falls inevitably prey to the elements, and the Pilgrims’ Sponsored Walk proved no exception. Awaking to what even the greatest optimist would describe as rain, I arrived in school to find Mr Duncan glued to a satellite image of clouds moving inexorably closer. Even the quip, “is meteorologist part of your job description?” drew little response, as he assiduously outlined our one window of opportunity.
 
And what a window it was! Gathering on Wolvelsey field armed with waterproofs (most of us) and umbrellas (some), on the final stroke of 9 the skies cleared, and we set off up the hill to begin a 10.6 km circular route through Chilcomb village, skirting the firing range, across the Morstead Road – with thanks for safe crossing – and back to Winchester via a keenly windswept St Catherine’s Hill. Marked out with precision by an earlier team of staff, whom the weather had decidedly not favoured, a chain of eager boys and parents strode out, chatting desultorily, dodging undergrowth, and occasionally stopping to admire the interlocking planes of the South Downs Hills, lit by a few apologetic rays of sunshine. Half way, or thereabouts, we were replenished with water and flapjack, before heading onwards into the woods. Younger boys, years 3 and below , completed a shorter but no less-rewarding circuit, and we were greeted back at school by refreshments in the Pilgrims’ Hall and a welcome sense of achievement. 
 
Many thanks to all the staff who contributed to this collective endeavour, from route planning, risk assessment, catering, and indeed weather-forecasting! Especial thanks to George W for masterminding post-walk snacks, and to all the boys who completed the walk with such enthusiasm and often remarkable speed! Monies raised will be divided between Winchester Youth Counselling, a local charity, and Stay at School, helping children abroad, tellingly reminding us of the needs of those outside the habitual tread of our daily round.   

Quiz – back in Feb

Huge thanks to everyone who attended last Friday’s annual PPA Quiz. We hope you agree that this was one of our finest yet; and not solely on account of the result, which, in a historic victory, saw the self-proclaimed Year 8 Legends trounce the teachers (by one point….). 
 
This really was an evening of great fun and good humour. Beginning with Sam’s celebrated curry and a glass of prosecco, tables grouped together to scratch our heads over the “guess the crisp” question – a source of much pontification and considerable inaccuracy for most of us – and try our hands at select snippets of maths, geography, album covers, and frankly some of the most unfathomable anagrams you could imagine. 
 
Brought to task by our brilliant quizmasters, Robert and Charlie, we then whizzed through rounds ranging from General Knowledge to the Winter Olympics. Raising our competitive spirits, there was visible jubilation as the collective conscience of the Pilgrims’ community came into its own, correctly identifying ’90s dance tracks and arcane linguistic solecisms (television, anyone?). With final scores neck and neck, it was only at the very last round that the evening’s winners emerged. A first for the parents, we think, in around 9 years. Not that we’ve been counting! 
 
Particular thanks to the quizmasters for putting together such a brilliantly-pitched panoply of trivia; to Dave, Matt, and Emma on the bar; to the Year 7 table for their Bond-themed outfits; and to all participants who came along and made this such a memorably enjoyable evening. As the saying goes, it really was all about taking part!