10 November 2023

10 November 2023

Dear Parents

Thank you to all of you who braved the weather last Saturday morning to join us for our Junior Discovery morning. It was a spectacular event and we have loved hearing what elements our pupils liked best and we have also been in receipt of lots of lovely emails from external visiting families. We thought you might like to see some of the photos from this flickr album of the day. Meanwhile, we are busy already planning the next Junior Discovery extravaganza for 2024 – watch this space!

Model UN
Delegates from Years 10 – 12 demonstrated confidence and diplomacy skills as they represented a number of different countries at the Oxford Global Model United Nations. The MUN is held at the University of Oxford and attracted over 1000 delegates from all over the world. Year 11 students represented the USA at COP28 in a hotly contested debate on global warming, and pupils from all years represented Burkina Faso, Uganda and Eritrea in discussions on surveillance of weapons in The Disarmament and International Security Committee (DISEC). Year 12 students represented Bangladesh and Mongolia in global gender equality debate in the Commission for Women. It was a brilliant experience and all pupils were inspired by a keynote speech from Natalie Samarasinghe, the former CEO of the United Nations Association UK, who argued for the importance of ethical rationale in making decisions in the delegates’ future careers.

Junior Parents’ Evening
Thank you to all our Junior Parents who joined us on Wednesday evening. We had so much lovely feedback from parents about the school and it was lovely being able to share with parents the progress your children have made.

Remembrance
It is a privilege to be able to each year lead the whole school in such an important event, being able to remember and honour those who have dedicated their lives to serving our country. Today, we once again gathered around the Willow Tree to reflect and observe at two-minute silence to think about what remembrance means. We were also extremely fortunate to have Mr O’Carroll lead us in a speech about what Remembrance means to him, as an ex-military personnel. He encouraged our pupils to think about their acts of serve in day-to-day life, to be kind, show respect and take inspiration from our school values. It was a very special and moving occasion, supported by our brass musicians who expertly performed ‘The Last Post’.

Finally, after eight hugely successful years at Cranford, Mrs Alison Stewart (Deputy Head), has made the decision to leave the school this term for personal reasons and to spend more time with her family before embarking on the next phase of her career. I am sure you all join me in thanking Alison for her huge contribution to the community at Cranford during her time at the School. The role of Designated Safeguarding Lead will be filled internally for the remainder of this year by Mrs Kath Heard.

Have a lovely weekend.

Kind regards

Dr James Raymond
Head