10 May 2024

Dear Parents

I hope you have enjoyed the brighter weather that we have all taken advantage of in school this week. It has been lovely seeing some of the teachers being able to move lessons outside and all our pupils have enjoyed warmer break and lunch times. We hope that the dry weather continues next week for the many Junior residentials that are due to go out, as Year 3 head off to Liddington, Year 5 go off to Shropshire and Year 6 travel the channel to France! We hope they all have a wonderful time.

Duke of Edinburgh

This past weekend was the assessment weekend for Bronze and Silver Duke of Edinburgh participants. Despite facing sometimes challenging conditions, the students showed admirable resilience and fortitude. It was impressive to see how much their map reading and problem-solving skills had improved since their practice run, with only a few scenic detours, all handled with good spirits. Both campsites were in breathtaking locations, and on the first night, they even shared a field with a herd of alpacas! On the second night, the silver participants celebrated a birthday with a campfire, s'mores, and doughnuts. It was a privilege to witness over 100 students out in nature, away from technology, and simply enjoying each other's company and the beautiful natural environment. Throughout the experience, all students demonstrated teamwork, generosity of spirit, motivation, and humour. A big congratulations to all who participated in this very significant achievement! Please do review these photos from the weekend.

Key Stage 2 visit to The Royal Festival Hall

On Wednesday, Junior pupils in Years 3 to 6 had an exciting trip to London to the Royal Festival Hall, to see one of the finest orchestras on the international stage, The London Philharmonic! They were treated to a performance of Copland’s ‘Appalachian Spring’, which was truly fitting with the weather. Pupils showed off their enthusiastic singing accompanied by the Orchestra whilst performing 'One Day', a specially arranged song for the concert.

Year 3 and Year 4 Tea Concert

Our Key Stage 2 Tea Concerts came to an end this week, when we were treated to two fabulous concerts with Year Three on Tuesday afternoon and Year 4 on Thursday afternoon. The Year 3 Concert kicked off with an enthusiastic performance of 'Calypso' with pupils playing Xylophones, Maracas and Djembes, while Year 4 pupils demonstrated their Acoustic Guitar skills. Solo performances across both concerts showed off the pupils’ delightful musicality across such a wide range of instruments from the electric guitar to the viola. Many thanks to pupils Peripatetic Music teachers for all their hard work preparing pupils for the concerts.

Today marks the second day of GCSE examinations. Our Year 11 pupils were calm and poised as they entered the examination hall and we were very impressed by their conduct. We wish them all well over the next six weeks.

Enjoy the sunshine this weekend!

With best wishes,

Dr James Raymond

Headmaster