A circus big top was pitched in the middle of a Northwood school, to help celebrate its one hundred year anniversary.

Northwood Prep invited The Festival Circus to set up its 300 seat stadium on the sports fields to round off the year's centenary celebrations.

The boys, parents, staff and friends of the school were all treated to a traditional circus performance, which included acrobats, trapeze artists, gymnasts, jugglers, and illusionists.

Trevor Lee, headteacher, said: “This is a wonderful way to end our year’s celebrations and a perfect opportunity for everyone to come together at one final event.

“The boys have learned so much from the experience and it’s a real pleasure to how much they and their families have enjoyed the occasion.”

Before the evening performances, the circus performers held a series of workshops to give the boys an opportunity to learn circus skills such as juggling, balancing, plate-spinning and the trapeze.

The workshops were arranged so that every boy, from three to 13-years-old could take part and get a taste of circus life.

Many of the boys were also dressed up as clowns and were taught how to apply circus make-up, seeing life behind the scenes of a travelling company.

Dr Lee added: “With the whole school in circus costume for the day, it’s certainly been our most colourful event of the year and one which everyone will remember for many years to come.”

A giant barbeque for all the parents, boys, staff and friends was organised to celebrate the centenary year.

The Sandy Lodge Road school is built on the site of The Manor of the More, an ancient manor house dating back to the eighth century, which housed both Cardinal Wolsey and King Henry the Eighth.

Last Monday Professor Martin Biddle, along with the Time Team geophysical team from Bradford University visited the school to “scan” the site.

From these scans, they can produce a picture of what the Manor used to look like, which will enable a scale model to be made showing exactly what the building would have looked like at the height of its fame.

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