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Dear Parents

What a brilliant start to the half-term it has been, as we have celebrated great inventions as part of Junior Discovery week. We have been so proud of our Junior pupils, who have thrown themselves into experiments galore and enjoyed the multiple trips and visits that have taken place. We kicked off the week with a special assembly, introducing the concept of inventions and great inventors, before Junior pupils took the reins in a series of experiments and inventions of their own. Our future engineers in Year 3 have been constructing some incredible towers, exploring principles of physics, whilst Year 4 created parachutes, designed to safely drop an egg from height without it breaking (with varying degrees of success!). Year 5 and 6 have explored artificial intelligence, creating their own robots designed to help humans and have been very imaginative with their concepts; we definitely have some future computer programmers in our midst!

Our younger Junior pupils in Reception, Year 1 and 2 had an inspiring visit on Monday about ‘Inventors and Makers’, where they learned about the difference between inventions and natural items. They have worked very hard since, constructing bridges, skyscrapers, catapults, traps and balloon cars. It’s safe to say Juniors have been very industrious and we have loved watching them realise their ideas through the power of STEM.

Running parallel to all this, we have had wonderful trips including one to the moon, where pupils experienced life in space through a visit from a Planetarium. We have also been to Oxford Science Museum and the London Science Museum and Key Stage 2 pupils have been conducting experiments in the Senior School Science labs. It really has been quite a week and we are incredibly excited to end it with Junior Discovery Day tomorrow. We look forward to seeing many of our families there to indulge in even more Great Inventions. We guarantee you are in for a treat.

Normandy Trip
Over half-term, our Modern Foreign Languages department enjoyed a brilliant trip to Normandy, exploring the cultural delights of the region whilst having the opportunity to practise their French language skills. In a jam-packed few days, involving a trip to a goat farm, caramel factory, a visit to Bayeux and Mont Saint-Michel and more than a few tasty treats, the pupils were incredible ambassadors for the school and found the trip hugely enriching. Thank you to Madame Butler and her team for providing our pupils with a huge boost to their French learning, particularly in the market shopping challenge in Bayeux!

In other news......
Our teams have had incredible success on the Hockey pitch! In two ISA National tournaments, our U11s and U13s came 3rd and 2nd respectively. Congratulations to both teams for some seriously competitive play. On Wednesday, our Year 11 Geographers had a successful first field trip to Oxford, exploring human Geography and looking at differing socio-economic neighbourhoods.

Finally, thank you to Mr Realy and all our Senior pupils who have helped selling poppies in advance of Remembrance Day on Monday and also thank you to our families for supporting such an important cause. We are looking forward to paying our respects in Willow Court on the day in our annual Remembrance Service.


With best wishes

Dr James Raymond
Head