120th Anniversary Ball

On Saturday 22nd October 2022, Prior’s Field celebrated its milestone birthday; 120 years since our school was founded by Julia Huxley.

We were thrilled that it was a full house with all members of the PF Community represented, including current and former parents, PF alumnae, Governors and Friends of the school. The evening started with a red carpet photo shoot, with the 'black tie with sparkle' dress code being wonderfully demonstrated, on the way to a drinks reception in the Sports Hall. Guests were wowed by our magician who showed us card tricks and a few disappearing acts as they enjoyed handmade canapés and a couple of glasses of fizz.

We moved through to the lavishly decorated Assembly Hall with glittery balloons, soft pink and purple lighting, and beautiful table centrepieces designed and made by DT extraordinaire, Caroline Jacques. Every detail was thought of, from handwritten name places, and PF-themed table names (Aldous, Covered Way, Maid’s Landing…) to a huge 3D foam ‘PF 120’ supplied by the generous Paterson family. Just when you thought that the PF Catering team couldn’t outshine themselves further, Chef Ricky and his Chartwells team delivered three courses of exceptional food including oak smoked salmon with heritage tomato salad and lemon oil powder, butter pan-seared chicken breast with a red wine and mushroom sauce with chateau potatoes and one of the most decadent chocolate delice puddings with fresh berries and salted caramel sauce. Yum!

During the course of the evening, we were pleased to raise money for the Prior’s Field Foundation through raffle ticket sales. Four tickets to the 02 in the Chartwells hospitality box was the star prize and others included a VIP Afternoon Tea, hampers, a photo shoot with prints and lots more. We were so thankful to all our Old Girls and local businesses who donated prizes.

After a short quiz about PF (some interesting answers were submitted for the name of the first dog at school – Bruno was the answer in case you wondered!), we followed the lead singer of Soul Beat back into the Sports Hall where his six-piece band played all our favourites from Fleetwood Mac to Daft Punk.

Between the dancing and the raffle draw, we went outside in the uncharacteristically warm October weather to gaze at a sparkling firework display before going back in for more dancing, which culminated in a giant conga that made its way around the whole room.

None of this could have been possible without our wonderful volunteers, suppliers and our guests. Thank you - it certainly was a night to remember!

All the photos can be found on the photo albums section of this website.