ITN News presenter Alastair Stewart proved the perfect quiz master for another head’s quiz night at Eggar’s School in Alton to help provide new netball posts.

Returning for the third consecutive year to pose headteacher Patrick Sullivan’s fiendish questions to teams made up of staff, parents and friends, Mr Stewart presented rounds on topics ranging from Hull and Hampshire to the geography of drinks.

Supporting the event, the school’s parent teacher association did sterling work, running the bar and preparing and serving a chilli supper.

It was a whole school effort with some year 10 prefects helping to mark the papers and other students providing the sound and lighting during the evening.

The event organisers offered congratulations to the quiz winners, the Team With No Name.

Regular quizzer Tony Payne said: “I really enjoyed the head’s quiz. Alastair Stewart was very professional as usual. The chilli was also excellent. I look forward to the same again next year.”

Eggar’s has been graded by Ofsted as outstanding in all categories, and like all state schools and academies, it receives a general grant from the Education Funding Agency to enable it to educate its pupils. However, the school is particularly proud of the many ‘extras’ provided for pupils to enrich their education.

Mr Sullivan said: “Our staff offer a great range of extra-curricular activities ranging from the wonderfully diverse ‘Eggar’s Experience’, which delivers a wide range of opportunities to our students to enable them to develop their personal potential and independence for the future.

“We also offer a rich variety of educational visits, afternoon clubs, sporting fixtures, training sessions and many art, music and drama services. We aim to provide students with the knowledge, understanding, confidence and ambition to become successful, reflective and compassionate citizens of the world.”

As such there is a constant need for fundraising activities: “Our successful physical education department has a desperate need for more netball kit and equipment for inter-school’s fixtures and tournaments.”

In a bid for the students to take ownership and to improve their own facilities, the teams from all year groups in the school decided to organise fundraising activities to cover the cost of new kit and, said Mr Sullivan, “we applaud them for taking this initiative”.

The girls successfully raised £300from their Christmas candy cane delivery service and the ever-popular cake sale, which has been used to buy netball dresses for the school teams.

But the need for new netball posts continues.

In putting out an SOS for support, a school spokesman said: “While we understand that the netball kits are for the girls’ teams, netball as a sport is offered to all year groups and to both genders. We have three outdoor netball courts marked out on the playgrounds, each court requiring two new netball posts (one for each end). Woolmer Sports, a regularly-used supplier to the school, has pairs of posts available for £199.95.

“Our request would be for replacements for two courts, as we often host ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams at the same time.

“We also offer our facilities as part of our primary liaison links with the Alton Primary Schools PE cluster group. Hence the request for £400 which would provide two full sets of posts, for two courts. The benefit will be immediate and appreciated by our netball teams, our visiting netball teams, and the primary schools.

“However, our ultimate aim is to replace all three sets at the same time, with a total cost of £600.”