St Paul’s Prep School, Club and Activities – 27 March 2026

A round up of the Club and Activities at St Paul’s Prep School this week – 27 March 2026

Computing

It has been an exciting week in the Computing Department, with many boys in Lower Third and Upper Third taking part in the optional Raspberry Pi Coding Challenge. Using Python, the pupils tackled a wide range of increasingly complex problems, showing not only their coding skills but also their resilience and logical thinking.
A huge well done to Winston, Qicheng, and Arjun P, who all achieved full marks for their outstanding solutions.

Another highlight of the week was the completion of the Upper Third Escape Room Projects, which generated plenty of enthusiasm across the year group. The boys worked hard to design and build their own digital escape rooms, using coding, 3D objects, selection, variables, and creative problem‑solving to bring their ideas to life. A number of pupils even had the opportunity to experience their finished projects in virtual reality using the Meta Quest VR headsets, adding a thrilling extra dimension to their work.

Mr Henderson – Teacher of Computing

Chess

The St Paul’s School Chess Team competed in the next round of the English Chess Federation Under‑19 Schools’ Chess Championship this week. Having already secured impressive victories over RGS Guildford and Westminster B, it was our turn to host Westminster Under for the latest match. Some excellent chess was played throughout the afternoon, with the SPPS team delivering a confident and commanding performance to win 5–1. The boys now face Westminster A, their final opponents on the road to the national final, in a match scheduled for the first week back after Easter.

Looking ahead, we are also preparing for the NPSCC EPSCA Semi‑Finals, where we will be entering two teams in the Under‑11 category and two in the Under‑9 category. After Easter, Mr Hodgson and I will give details and confirm the selected players. Our aim is to give as many boys as possible the opportunity to represent the school, while still fielding competitive teams for what is widely regarded as the most prestigious competition in primary school chess.

We look forward to an exciting term of chess ahead and wish all our players the very best in their upcoming matches.

Mr Henderson – Head of Chess

FiSH Club

FiSH board games club continues to go from strength to strength, with approximately 18 boys and 18 guests attending each Monday afternoon after school for fierce games of scrabble, Rummikub and Dominoes, together with delicious tea and cake provided by our wonderful catering team. We are enjoying our new surroundings having migrated from the Monty Room to the heart space at the beginning of this term, where we very much feel part of the prep school community as life continues to buzz quietly around us! We ended the term this week by giving each of the guests a wordsearch activity book and a card wishing them a Happy Easter, made by boys in art lessons in the Lower Firsts.

A new initiative this term is that we have been delighted to be able to invite some members of FiSH, who attend board games club or ‘Singing for the Brain’, (a group for members of FiSH who are living with dementia, and their carers, supported every Thursday lunchtime by Miss Bartlett and Mrs Hickie) to two concerts this term and to the Upper Third play, ‘HERO-Man’. They have thoroughly enjoyed every event and are excited at the prospect of being invited to more events in the future.