Christmas at More House School
There have been such an array of creative activities and opportunities for our school community in the run-up to Christmas this year.
One the last day of term, staff, pupils and their families came together for our Christmas Services...
Christmas Service 2024
This year's Senior Carol Service was a memorable event, thanks to the students' dedication and preparation. The Brass Band opened the service with a grand fanfare of ‘O Come, All Ye Faithful,’ while the readers confidently narrated the Christmas story. Freddie and Lucas’ rendition of ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’ brought a moment of quiet reflection. The Chapel Choir led the carols, with a beautiful performance of ‘Lighting the Way.’ The Junior Carol Service, joined by Year 7, welcomed parents, carers, grandparents and friends to join us in the Sports Hall. Year 7 created expressive tableaus and assisted Junior readers in telling the Christmas story. The Handbells performance added festive charm, and the Junior Singers’ rendition of ‘Away in a Manger’ reminded everyone of the true meaning of Christmas. It was a heartwarming day, enjoyed by all.
The Christmas Fayre was a triumph, bringing together so many of our school community...
Christmas Fayre
The 2024 Christmas Fayre at More House took place on November 22nd, bringing together pupils, staff, families, volunteers, and the Friends of More House for a festive celebration. The Children’s Christmas Fayre featured gift stalls, festive games, and treats, with special thanks to Heather for managing Elfridges, the Secret Santa Shop. The Christmas Market attracted many external vendors selling holiday goodies, and some pupils played festive piano backing music. Food and drink stalls, including Sassy Doughnuts, Sienna Pizza, and the More House School coffee van, were popular, alongside the FoMH bar which was so busy, they ran out of mulled wine! Pupils raising funds for the 2025 World Challenge in Tanzania also set up stalls at the Fayre. The Junior Choir performed a set of carols, putting smiles on everyone’s faces. The event concluded with a stunning laser show set to Christmas music, enjoyed from the school field. The Fayre was made possible thanks to the efforts of the More House Estates team, the Friends of More House, and the many many volunteers -thank you to everyone involved!
The wonderful singers and musicians of More House have outdone themselves, performing in an array of concerts, services and showcases this festive season...
Christmas by Candlelight concert at St Andres Church, Farnham
Our festive Christmas by Candlelight concert was hosted in the inspiring surroundings of St Andrew’s Parish Church, Farnham, on Tuesday, 3rd of December. It is no mean feat, transporting musicians and drama students, plus myriad equipment, instruments, urns of mulled-wine, mince-pies, and much more, to central Farnham for rehersals and the evening performance!
The programme afforded an eclectic mix of instrumental ensembles, dramatic readings, and congregational carols, with our school musicians being complemented by the sound of St Andrew’s magnificent organ. Students performed to a packed church with many standing, and the music permeating through the ancient walls to the outside even tempted members of the public to join us. Sixth Form pupil, Tom, composed a choral piece entitled Emitte which was recorded by the Chapel Choir and played during the concert. Congratulations, Tom, on this wonderful piece of music.
On the evening, a retiring collection raised a fantastic £345 for the St Andrew’s Tower and Bells repair fund.
Peripatetic Music Showcase!
In the penultimate week of term, pupils from all year groups took to the stage during a concert to showcase what they have been learning in their peripatetic music lessons. Families joined us in the Concert Hall to hear a truly inspiring variety show; from clarinets and trumpets, to piano, drums and singing. Congratulations to all the boys for their hard work and progress this term, and thank you for performing for us!
Love is all around…
Some of the Junior boys have been working on a Gospel song which they performed with confidence... and dance moves!
Subject teachers and the Learning Development Centre have jumped into the festive sprit, involving pupils across the age groups in Christmas crafts, activities and cooking…
Christmas Craft-tastic!
The Christmas Elves have been busy in Occupational Therapy creating some fabulous Christmas crafts that have challenged the boys in their planning and fine motor skills. It's surprising where you can disguise handwriting practice; the boys have planned and made some wonderful paper chains decorating them with handwriting patterns and Christmas-themed words. Other groups have used the laptops to organise their typing work in the shape of a Christmas Tree or used maths equipment to draw circles for 'baubles' to decorate cardboard Christmas trees, measuring and cutting out 3D Christmas trees. Others have been busy wrapping-up presents, involving lots of planning, scissor and folding skills as well as bilateral co-ordination! It has been lovely to see the boys get creative whilst supporting them to break complex tasks down in small chunks and encourage them to set the 'Goal, then Plan, Do and Check' their approach.
L.E.D. Christmas Trees
Year 9 pupils made L.E.D. Christmas trees in Science, using some home-made conductive Play-Doh created by our skillful Science technicians. The boys used this to make series and parallel circuits. The trees were a little tricky to make... but they persevered! This activity was great for understanding the advantages and disadvantages of different types of circuit, knowing about positive and negatives... and asking questions about why some L.E.D.s would light and some wouldn't.
Gingerbread men
The Junior Years spent one Flexi Friday morning in the Refectory with Simon, Artur and the catering team. The boys had a fantastic time decorating gingerbread men! They used different coloured icing, sprinkles and a variety of edible decorations.
Stained Glass Biscuits
Back by popular demand, Stained Glass Window Biscuits were made by both Year 7 and Year 8 pupils. The supermarket was stripped of its boiled sweets and the great bashing commenced (unfortunately crushing sweets in a food processor ruins the bowl and blunts the blades)! The resulting biscuits were delicious and looked wonderful; the boys did an excellent job!
No Christmas is complete without turkey and all the trimmings, and the More House Catering team certainly didn’t disappoint!
Christmas jumpers and a turkey feast!
On 11th December, the More House community donned crazy colours, festive patterns and an array of wacky head-wear to mark Christmas Jumper Day 2024. We were also treated to a feast of turkey and all the trimmings, festive sweet treats and even Christmas crackers! Thank you to the MHS Catering Team for this wonderful lunch.
Thank you to all who got involved in our jumper day and donated to the school’s Christmas charity, The Salvation Army. The School Council selected The Salvation Army as our Christmas charity, on the basis of their mission and the support of communities at Christmas.
The festivities most certainly didn’t stop at the end of the school day, our boarders ventured out for what is sure to become a Christmas tradition - panto!
It's behind you...!
In the last week of term, many of the boarders visited the Hindhead Royal British Legion to watch their pantomime production of Alice in Wonderland! The show was full of energy, sparkles, musical numbers, dance moves, jokes, water pistols, flying teapots, whipped cream fights and, of course... 5 TOILET ROOOOOOOLLS!
Thank you to our very own Ms Ward who was in the show as a notoriously wicked wrong rabbit, Maureen, for inviting the school to watch the production. The cast and crew even wove in a few special nods to More House which went down very well. It was great fun; all the boys and staff joined in and laughed their socks off!
Our resident Bee Team were also keen to make sure the tiniest members of the school community didn’t miss out…
A Christmas gift for the More House Bees!
On one sunny Flexi Friday this half-term, the Bee Team began preparations for winter by adding a mouse guard to the hive. Pupil, Seb, stepped forward and took the lead on attaching the mouse guard which involved using drawing pins to attach a metal plate (the guard) to the front of the hive. This covers the gap a mouse could enter, but small holes leave enough space for the bees to get in and out. Let’s hope this keeps those pesky mice out this winter! Since then, we have given the hive an oxalic acid varroa treatment, and fed the bees some fondant as a Christmas treat.
We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!
