21 April 2023

21 April 2023

Dear Parents

We have had a wonderful first week of the Summer Term and it was great to welcome all our pupils, including some new pupils into school on Monday. The Summer Term is always an exciting and busy term, with the onset of better weather and with so much going on in the school calendar. Our Year 11 and Year 13 pupils are preparing themselves for the public examinations that start in a matter of weeks, and we are really impressed by the commitment they have shown to their studies and the mature approach in which they are conducting themselves ahead of this. Congratulations to our Spanish and German GCSE pupils who completed their speaking exams this week.

Easter Holiday Cricket Tour
Our keen Cricketers spent an exciting few days over Easter, exploring the South West on the Cricket Tour. First stop was Wellington, where pupils honed their talents in an indoor net session, getting plenty of practise! Later in the afternoon, the focus was on building skills in fielding, ready for the first of two matches on the afternoon of day 2, against Westwood Ho Cricket Club before a match at Exeter University on day 3. The pupils made the most of some newly acquired skills, playing exceptional cricket. However, it wasn’t all about cricket. They also braved the waves, surfing at Croyde Bay and had a challenging bouldering and rock-climbing session too, returning to school happy, if not a little worn out! We are looking forward to some competitive matches over the Summer Term!

Founders’ Day
Today in Form Time, we spent a little while reflecting on the history of our school in celebration of Founders’ Day and our part in that history and the values that bind our community together. New families that have joined us this academic year may not be aware that the school was founded 92 years ago this term by Miss Laurence, to educate a single pupil, Billy Higgs, on the site of the current Moulsford Prep (Miss Laurence’s family home). Miss Laurence acquired the current site in 1953 (it had been a farm and was briefly home to a detachment of the Royal Engineers during the Second World war). The school was a dual site until 1961 when it was decided that it was too dangerous for pupils to keep crossing the road and Miss Laurence sold her family home and moved the whole school across to the current site!

As we do every year to commemorate Founders’ Day, the Head of School teams from Juniors and Seniors walked to Moulsford Church to place a bouquet next to the Laurence family memorial. Thank you to all our families who contributed a single stem for this purpose.

Sixth Form and University Update
It is astonishing to think that our first Sixth Form cohort who went to university last Autumn have now nearly completed their first year of their degree courses. We have been fortunate enough to have been visited by nearly all our Year 13 2022 leavers at some point over the last year and they are all really enjoying the courses they have selected and those who have taken a gap year and reporting back from far flung places having a wonderful time!

Meanwhile, our Year 12 students are embarking on a journey of discovery, planning life post Sixth Form. On Wednesday, they attended a UCAS Discovery Day at Winchester University. This gave them the opportunity to meet over 100 university representatives and apprenticeship providers face to face to discuss their options after completion of their A-Levels. The Sixth Form team also launched the Higher Education process in preparation for the UCAS applications that open in May 2023. Congratulations must go to our Year 13 students, who having gone through the UCAS application process, are in receipt of offers from Bath, Exeter, Manchester, Oxford, Sheffield, St Andrews, Nottingham, Royal Holloway, UCL, Bristol, Warwick – to name a few! These are such exciting times for our Sixth Form students and we all can’t wait to see what happens next!

SAVE THE DATE! - 3 July, 2:00-3:15pm; Please join us for an end of year Gala Concert presented by the Cranford House Music Department!
On Monday 3rd July we will be taking the whole school (all Junior and Senior pupils from Reception to Sixth Form) to the Hexagon in Reading to enjoy a celebration of the rich musical talents of our pupils. Our Gala Concert will be an opportunity to showcase the range and depth of musical excellence across the school with pupils from Reception to Sixth Form performing together in a fitting finale to an exceptional year at school. We would like to take this opportunity to warmly invite parents to join us and share in a very special event. The Gala concert will take place from 2:00-3:15pm and we will write to you shortly with more detail. We very much hope that you will join us for what promises to be a memorable occasion.

For Pre-School families, Mrs Bennet will be hosting a special end of term Nursery teddy bears tea-dance together with Mrs Maxwell and Mrs Hayne - further details will also follow next week and parents will be most welcome to join!

Have a good weekend!

Kind regards

Dr James Raymond
Headmaster