Brentwood Preparatory School Incipe 2017-18

Brentwood School Preparatory 13 Valete Jeanette Russell There are few staff at the Higgs Building who can attest to having achieved almost twenty years of continuous service to the education and wellbeing of our youngest pupils, as has our recently retired teaching assistant Jeanette Russell. Jeanette joined the team in 1999 in a temporary role but soon her potential to support not only the pupils but also the staff was considered invaluable, and so Jeanette quickly became a permanent staff member of the Preparatory 3-7 department. ‘Mrs Russell’...as fondly remembered by Preparatory pupils....has a discerning eye for detail. Costumes for school performances were painstakingly researched and designed for authenticity, presentational literature was hand sewn and bound, and display material was measured, mounted and displayed using nothing less than a spirit level! On Book Character Day, ‘Mrs Russell’ came into her own, sourcing a style and outfit befitting a theatrical department...from the haughty Miss Hardbroom to the industrious Mrs Tiggywinkle .....and the children enjoyed every moment of her participation and love of literature! For the youngest children preparation for Christmas is always awaited with excitement. Pupils associate the festivities and Christian values of Yuletide as a sign that ‘Mrs Russell’ would very soon be ferrying in armfuls of baking tins and measuring paraphernalia...and for Year Two that could only mean one thing....the traditional making of the Christmas cakes!! Hopefully, Jeanette has left us instructions..... and her recipe! Jeanette has felt privileged to have supported pupils who, having started in the nursery, have completed their education at Brentwood. There is no better reward for a job well done! We wish Jeanette well as she fills her retirement with her love of the arts, culture and travel. Emma South Emma has been a key member of the school for the past eleven years. She started as a teaching assistant and was much loved by the Year Three and Four children she worked with. She is remembered for her vibrant displays around the school and for having great patience and understanding with the children who needed a little extra encouragement. Emma’s role soon grew to include editing Incipe and being a vital part of school productions and concerts. She attended all school events, often happily giving up her own time to assist the children in the many and varied activities the school offers. Most recently, her love of wildlife and the great outdoors led to her becoming the school’s first Forest School leader. We wish her every success in her new venture. Dawn Vinall Dawn started at Brentwood Prep in September 2003 when former headmaster, Peter MacDougall, appointed her as a Year Four form teacher and Head of Geography. She became a Year Three form teacher about eight years ago. As well as teaching her form for English and maths, over the years she has taught geography to Year Five and history to Years Three and Four. She always nurtured and cared for the children in her class whilst having the highest expectations for them. Dawn’s colleagues described her in three words - helpful, calm and organised. Dawn has decided to retire now as she wants to spend more time with her recently retired husband, Mark, and their children, Elle and Fred, who both live in London and to whom she is very close. Dawn and Mark love brisk seaside walks and cycling in and around their hometown of Southminster. They also very much enjoy the theatre and dining out. She and Mark love travelling, and enjoy short city breaks as well as longer holidays in the sun. They have plans for trips further afield to Australia and the Caribbean. Sources close to her reveal that……. Dawn is partial to the odd glass of bubbly. She is very much a bags and shoes lady and loves a nice pair of earrings. She has also been known to don a short pink net skirt and a tiara on occasions! We will miss Dawn and wish her a long and happy retirement.