CHILDREN, parents, teachers and staff at Brookham Pre-Prep and Nursery celebrated the school’s 25th anniversary with a surprise display and visit from the “Red Devils” Parachute Regiment’s Freefall team.

The surprise treat was arranged by Sophie Baber, headmistress at the school, who managed to keep it a secret from everyone, including teachers and staff.

The Red Devils – the official parachute display team of both the Parachute Regiment (Paras) and the British Army – also presented Brookham’s deputy head Julie Thomas with the school’s flag since she will be retiring from at the end of the summer term after ten years.

The team’s role is to promote and support recruitment for both the Army and the Paras and is achieved by carrying out more than 60 spectacular parachute displays at public events each year.

Team leader Captain Nathan Conolly told The Herald: “In order to become one of the Red Devils, the men have to perform a minimum of 200 jumps during training, which starts in March every year.

“I have completed around 4,000 jumps so far.

“Formation jumps are dependent on weather conditions and the height we can jump from.

“At Brookham we only had about 1,700ft due to low cloud cover, but normally we can put on the best displays at 5,000ft to 10,000ft.

“The highest we can jump from is 13,000ft.

“We tend to have nine men taking part in a display, who are split into three teams, to achieve the best visual effect.

“We also offer tandem jumps, which can be booked by members of the public who want to raise money for a charity or who just want to experience the adrenaline rush of tandem skydiving and a freefall from 13,000ft for up to 45 seconds. All details and how to book are on our website.”

Brookham’s celebrations continued over the weekend with an anniversary party, concluding on Monday morning with the cutting of the forest school themed cake - made by Mirabelle Cupcakery in Wey Hill.

Brookham Prep-Prep opened in the grounds of Highfield School in April 1992. The school has grown from just 18 pupils and one form entry in 1992, to 190 pupils and three form entry, as well as a nursery today, with more than 1,200 children aged three to eight years old having being taught at the school over the last 25 years.