18 May 2018

The Summer Term continues to exceed expectations with another week of glorious weather.

This has seen pupils across the Senior School revising in the sunshine as the Summer Examinations approach and GCSEs proceed. The calm, focused approach we are seeing as they prepare for tests continues to impress us. I'm sure you will join me in wishing them all every success in the coming weeks. 

Elsewhere in school, it’s been an exciting week comprised of sports matches and athletics meets, Royal Wedding activities, a fabulous Year 1 assembly (my thanks to all the parents who joined us for this) and a wonderful Senior School trip to watch A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Newbury’s Watermill Theatre, described by an enthusiastic Mrs Ellis as, “Musical, magical and mesmerising, with a cast of multi-talented actors”. 

There was also great excitement as Year 2 took delivery of an incubator full of eggs which have now hatched into chicks. The learning around life cycles associated with their arrival wasn’t only limited to Year 2, as waves of pupils from across Junior and Senior Schools popped in to catch up on the chicks’ progress throughout the week! 

In other news, we are currently finalising planning for the new academic year and we look forward to sharing our new, expanded clubs provision for 2018/19 with you early next week. We are very proud of the range of clubs on offer and believe they truly provide something for everyone!

We have also been busy completing the recruitment of new teachers to join the school in the new academic year:

• We are delighted to announce the appointment of Miss Philipa Newton, who joins the Mathematics Department in the Autumn Term. Miss Newton is a newly qualified teacher, with a degree from the University of Bristol, who is also an medal winning member of the GB Hockey squad and who is looking forward to supporting all aspects of school life.

• We have also appointed our new Director of Sport, Mr Calum Mckay, who will join the school in January 2019. Mr Mckay joins us from HawleyHurst School in Surrey and brings a wealth of experience across Junior and Senior PE, as well as a degree from the University of Wales. I am also pleased to announce that Mrs Sear will be stepping into the role of Assistant Director of Sport.

• We are very pleased that Mrs Nichola Horn will join the Science Department as a teacher of Physics and Chemistry. Mrs Horn has a degree from Cambridge University and is currently a teacher at Wallingford School.

• Finally, we’re delighted that Mrs Elizabeth Hanson, formerly Director of Music at Jersey College for Girls, is joining the Music Department. She has a degree from the University of Oxford and will be supporting the delivery of Music across both the Junior and Senior School. I’m sure you will join me in giving a warm welcome to all our new members of staff.

With best wishes,

Dr James Raymond