The weekend kicked off with a competitive (but fun!) Family Tennis Tournament, Rounders match, Archery and a fantastic Bike Pump track on the playing fields which were all very popular and fun activities for the whole family. Alongside the sports activities, a whole raft of hands-on activities and workshops took place across the School. The DT Room was a hive of activity with people creating their very own pewter keyring; everyone enjoyed decorating and eating an array of show-stopping cakes in the Cookery Room; the ICT workshop offered the opportunity to programme Lego robots and explore Minecraft; the Modern Languages Showcase was a brilliant display of the girls’ linguistic abilities and the Squash Exhibition matches were hard-fought and exciting to watch. Added to that were the displays showing off the many facets of School life from the Global Schools’ Exchange Programme to art and the archives.

Of course, the Music, Drama and Dance performances brought some of the highlights of the weekend for girls and parents alike. On Saturday morning, the much-anticipated finals of the ‘Bring the House Downe’ musical ensemble competition took place – every performance was a winner but in the end, the Judges gave their vote to the Robinsons Singers, and Legally Blonde won the Audience’s Vote. The Drama Department surpassed itself with their awesome production of ‘Singin in the Rain’ performed by girls from the Lower Fifth and Lower Sixth, the Founder’s Concert was a vibrant musical feast and the weekend culminated with the Dance Show, ‘A Night at the Movies’, a spectacular performance from girls across the year groups.

Girls from each of the mixed age Houses organised a stall at the Founder’s Fair held in the Cloisters – from the Aisholt Chocolatiers and the AGN Dog Show to the AGS mug decorating, Holcombe’s Unicorn stall and Tedworth’s Tie-Dye extravaganza, all the stalls looked fabulous and raised lots of money for their House charities. Congratulations to Aisholt House who won the prize for ‘Best Stall’ and to Holcombe for the ‘Best Poster’.

Mrs Michelle Scott, Assistant Head (Foundation) said, “It never ceases to amaze me how Founder’s Weekend brings everyone together to celebrate and share all that is so special about Downe House. Everyone has worked so hard to showcase their Department and to entertain and involve the rest of the community in what they do so well. I would like to thank everyone who helped to make the weekend such a success and particularly those behind the scenes for all their incredible efforts in making sure that everything ran smoothly.”