Press Releases

11-YEAR-OLD DANIEL IS SOLIHULL’S YOUNG SKI CHAMP!

Fearless Daniel Taylor would have quite happily skied to school in the recent bad weather. The 11-year-old, a Form 6 pupil at Eversfield School, can zoom down a dry slope at Telford Ski Centre in just 10.04 seconds, travelling at speeds of up to 30mph.

It’s Daniel’s ambition to become a champion when he grows up – yet with a full calendar of competitions for the year ahead, the young sportsman looks set for early success.  “I’m really looking forward to this year,” says Daniel, “I’ve moved up into the Children 1 category and the competition will be really tough. Some of the children ski for the GB Junior team so competing against them will be challenging.  I do get nervous before competition races, but as soon as I’m going down a fast slope my nerves disappear and I concentrate on getting to the bottom.”

Daniel’s love of skiing is a hobby backed by his parents, Sarah and Phil, who first took their children skiing three years ago.  “When Daniel was seven and his sister Emma was five, we took them dry slope skiing in Telford, and both took to it immediately,” explains Sarah.  “Daniel gained confidence very quickly. He seems to have a natural sense of balance and is always rollerblading, skateboarding or indoor climbing.”

It wasn’t long before Daniel was picked out by the coach for the Elite Team, and he now takes part in races at dry slopes throughout the UK.

Last year Daniel came fourth in the All England Ski Championships in the ‘minis’ or Under 11s class. Most recently in February Half-Term, he came eleventh in the ‘minis’ on the slopes of Bormio, Italy, in the English Alpine Championships. Daniel is now setting his sights in achieving his best times in the British Championships to be held in France over Easter.

His love of skiing means he doesn’t mind a few late nights and early starts – so long as he can fit in plenty of practice.  “We go to Telford every Tuesday night,” explains Sarah, “and to the Chill Factory in Manchester for snow training once a week, which starts at 7am so it means setting off from home at 5.30am!  But Daniel’s enthusiasm makes it worthwhile and he’s learnt that training and practice get results. We also remind him if he hasn’t done his homework he can’t go skiing, which also gets good results!”

TALENTED EVERSFIELD CHILDREN MULTIPLY THEIR MONEY FOR CHARITY 

Young entrepreneurs at Eversfield Preparatory School have turned £5 each into nearly £1,000 to help children in rural India benefit from a better education.

The Form 6 pupils at the leading co-educational day school in Solihull were each

given £5 as a starting point, and asked to increase that money as much as

they could through an activity of their choice.

Inspiration was in huge supply, and the children turned their hands to

household chores, car washing, baking, holding ‘guess the number of sweets’

and ‘name the bear’ competitions, a raffle, jumble sale and even a fireworks display.

The Bethesda Project, located in a small hillside village in Tamil Nadu in

southern India, provides school education for children in the tribal community,

and over its 20 years some former pupils have gone on to become doctors

and accountants.

EVERSFIELD SCHOOL PUPIL AWARDED GOLD MEDAL FOR MATHS

A pupil at Eversfield Preparatory School has become one of only 49 schoolchildren in the country to gain a gold medal in a prestigious mathematics competition.
Catherine Tran, Head Girl, was presented with a gold award by The Mathematical Association for excelling in the nationwide Primary Mathematics Challenge (PMC).

The Primary Mathematics Challenge is aimed at the top 60% of pupils in primary schools. More than 99,000 pupils aged up to 11 years took the first part of the competition, with the 692 highest-scoring pupils invited to take the harder challenge – at which Catherine was recognised as one of the best young mathematicians in the country for her score of 24 out of 25.

Eversfield Preparatory School Headmaster, Rob Yates, comments: "We are all extremely proud of Catherine's achievement. More than 2,600 schools entered pupils in the Primary Mathematics Challenge and Catherine proved to be a wonderful representative for Eversfield. The gold award recognises her aptitude for maths and her dedication, but it also reflects the quality of teaching that is provided at Eversfield and our commitment to giving our pupils the very best start in life."

DOUGIE PUMPS THE PEDALS FOR EVERSFIELD SCHOOL CHARITY

Eversfield pupil Dougie Dolleymore has pedalled a 34-km course around the Isle

of Wight to raise more than £300 for the school’s chosen charity.

8-year-old Dougie completed the exhausting route around the north-east of

the island with his Mum as part of the 24th Isle of Wight Randonnee.

“Mum and I set off from Alverstone near Sandown and went on to Newport.  By

this time we were a third of the way and getting pretty tired,” says Dougie.  “But

we carried on to Cowes, past the River Medina and even took our bikes from

West Cowes to East Cowes on the chain ferry.”

Dougie was presented with a certificate after finishing at Kite Hill, weary and

well-deserving of his £319 sponsorship.

EVERSFIELD GIRLS ARE ON THE BALL!

Girls from Eversfield Preparatory School swept to victory in the South Solihull

Schools’ Netball Tournament – with the final fought to within a fraction of a second.

The non-matchplay tournament, which measures the girls’ ability to complete

five netball skills in the fastest time, saw pupils from Years 5 and 6 at the

co-educational day school take on a number of other Solihull school teams.

Each was against the clock to carry out shoulder and chest passes, catching on

the move, passing to a partner and to shoot 10 goals.

In the dramatic knock-out contest, Eversfield gained a place in the final with a time

of 5min 20secs – the team in third position just a second behind with 5min 21.

EVERSFIELD HOSTS ‘GIFTED AND TALENTED’ EVENT FOR SOLIHULL PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPILS

Gifted and talented children from across Solihull gathered at Eversfield School to

take part in an exciting new learning opportunity.

Art in Action, which took place at the leading co-educational day school, saw

29 youngsters from 14 local primary schools learn drawing skills from

Lichfield-based author and illustrator Steve Smallman.

Gifted and Talented co-ordinator, Dave Sharrock explains: “This is the second

event in a groundbreaking partnership between the state and independent

sectors to provide extra opportunities for our most able pupils.

“The session saw talented children from Year 3 to Year 6 from schools across

Solihull developing their skills together, and they were buzzing with excitement

over what they had learned. We are very grateful to Eversfield School for hosting

the event in their art studio.”