Chessington School

Here’s some more highlights from Alternative Learning Week Day 3!

Cultural Capital - Our Year 7 and 8 students enjoyed a fantastic educational visit to the Twist Museum, exploring immersive optical illusions and mind-bending interactive exhibits. They investigated how light, perspective, and the brain work together through hands-on displays like mirror mazes and infinity rooms. The students were an absolute credit to the school. They were exceptionally well-behaved, enthusiastic, and eager to learn!

Bake Off - A day of baking at school again today but students have the challenge of making a ‘showstopper’ in teams. They have all day to create their designs and present them to the judges.

Day Tripper - This week, Chessington School students enjoyed a fantastic range of educational trips across London, visiting the London Zoo, London Aquarium, and the London Eye. Throughout the week, our students showed incredible curiosity, engaging enthusiastically with everything they saw. These trips provided wonderful learning experiences beyond the classroom—well done to everyone for representing the school so positively!

Law and Order - Our group enjoyed a fun-filled school trip to the Tower of London, capturing photos against the historic backdrop, meeting a resident raven, trying on medieval helmets, and keeping energized with a healthy snack stop on the way!

Mindfulness - Started the day updating our Journals and Yoga (students’ ‘downward dogs’ were impressive!). We then completed art listening to different sounds and framed the completed artwork. We then went outside and completed watercolour painting whilst others in the group played with the bubble wands. Finished the day with mindful meditation.

Action Adventure - Our students were swinging, scrambling and soaring high up above at the Go Ape Battersea high ropes course!

Here’s some more highlights from Alternative Learning Week Day 2!

Law and Order - Students spent the day in the London dungeons travelling through London history. They really enjoyed being selected for the various shows particularly Miss Edwards, who was selected more than once and students thoroughly enjoyed watching her reactions. You’ve never heard year 10 boys scream so loudly.

Mindfulness - Started the day sticking photos of yesterday’s activities into our Journals, followed by mindful breathing. We then took a trip to St Phillips (Thank You St P’s) to visit their animal care centre. Students helped prepare the feed, the reptile environments, fed and handled the animals (including snakes, giant land snail, geckos and lizards). We then made friendship bracelets and in the afternoon calming jars. The day ended with mindful meditation.

The Great Outdoors - After a varied amount of ‘tent sleep’ students had to sharpen up and put their first aid skills to the test when they encountered some (very familiar) victims of a plane crash in the woods. Everyone had to work together to save the teachers and stretcher them to safety, but despite some valiant efforts, poor Ms Williams was not rescued in time before the plane exploded! Oops!!
The final activity of the trip was the Bushcraft Challenge which was well battled between tribes where the Leopard Wood Moths just pipped the Dino Twizzlers to the post!!

Weird and Wonderful - An amazing theatre experience at the Apollo Victoria to see Wicked the Musical

Cultural Capital - A musicals themed quiz to kick off our day, and then our students seeing the amazing spectacle that is The Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre! The costumes, the set, the cast and the music were incredible!

Here’s some more highlights from Alternative Learning Week Day 1 and also some from Day 2!

Bake Off - Day 1 was the London Food Tour, visiting Crosstown Donuts to see and taste the beautiful arty doughnuts, the best crumble toppings at Humble Crumble in Old Spitalfields Market and all the world cuisine stalls of street food, and then a self-tour around Borough Market. Day 2 was a fun day of baking at school, creating rainbow cookies/cupcakes and challenges including jaffa cakes and whoopie sandwiches! 🍩👩‍🍳

Isle of Wight - We went to Tapnell Farm, with loads of go carting, meeting furry friends, and a water park obstacle course! 🌊🐄

Here’s some highlights from Alternative Learning Week Day 1!

Game On - Our 49 fantastic students had an amazing time tackling the challenging rooms at Escape Hunt Kingston today, showing great resilience to complete them all with success! We are also incredibly proud of their exemplary behavior, especially for kindly giving up their bus seats for members of the public 🕵️‍♂️🚌

Mindfulness - We kicked off the day with mindful journals and belly breathing, followed by a walk to Chessington Garden Centre to buy plants (with a quick cake stop!). After decorating our pots in the afternoon, we wrapped up with mindful meditation which was the students’ absolute favorite part of the day! 🪴🧘‍♀️

Cultural Capital - Students brought Religious Studies to life at Neasden’s breathtaking BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, admiring its hand-carved marble, exploring the sacred inner sanctum, witnessing an Arti ceremony, and learning about the five elements of Hindu cosmology. They represented our school brilliantly, asking respectful, curious questions and gaining a wonderfully deep insight into Hindu culture and worship! 🏛️✨

Law and Order - Our Year 10 students traded the classroom for the historic Royal Courts of Justice to participate in a thrilling, hands-on mock trial. Taking on roles as barristers, witnesses, and jurors, they delivered outstanding arguments and sharp cross-examinations, with the defense ultimately securing a hard-fought victory! ⚖️👩‍⚖️

Sports Day 2026: Completed ✅

Miss Rutledge has been working with the virtual schools to obtain ‘Attachment Aware’ status for our school. Over 3 years, we have now gained Gold level status 🌟

Chessington School is celebrating diversity - throughout next week there will be activities, discussions and opportunities to learn about diversity! Together, let’s celebrate inclusion, respect, tolerance and belonging for all 🫶