10 September 2021

There is always a special excitement attached to the start of a new school year, and after the last 18 months, this year has seemed particularly special to welcome pupils and students from Nursery to Year 13 back into school. Against the backdrop of an incredible week of late summer sunshine, it has been a joy to see the smiles, enthusiasm and excitement of pupils returning to school this week to catch up with friends and teachers and share in the hopes and aspirations of a new year.

 In assembly on Monday morning, the whole school gathered to reflect on the year ahead and we talked about what it means to be a pupil at Cranford. As we start a new academic year, I really like the idea that there is a magic in leaving a set of footprints stretching across the school calendar. This seems especially appropriate as we celebrate the 90th Anniversary of the foundation of our school -a line in the sand with our school values stretching back to 1931 and a blank canvas for us to write our own story together as a community about the journey we are taking collectively as friends and teachers.  This seems especially apt as for the first time, we are able to celebrate the whole school being together on site from Nursery right through to Year 13.

 Academic excellence sits at the heart of school life and yet again this summer, our GCSE students demonstrated their academic prowess and deserve all of their success. I am very proud of the academic success of the school and the value-add the school achieves each year. However, to be a pupil or member of the wider community here at Cranford means so much more than this - academic success alone does not define who we are as a school. At Cranford we are defined by our character, our collective sense of purpose, our resilience, our belief in our school motto ‘per salicem ad alta’ (through the willow to the heights), our belief that if we only dare to dream and work hard we can achieve anything we set our minds to, whether that’s collecting a perfect set of A levels or GCSEs, achieving our dream university offer, scoring a spectacular goal for the Hockey or Football teams, playing in the orchestra or singing in the choir or winning a wow award. More than that, we are defined by our collective generosity of spirit, our most important school value, by choosing to be kind, always,

On a personal note I have missed welcoming families onto site, missed sharing fixtures and concerts together, celebrating the success, achievements and character of your children in person. I am looking forward to welcoming you all back into school this term and it was great to start this with our Reception coffee morning last week. It has already been incredibly exciting to see school back in full operation without bubbles and the level of restrictions we have been required to work within in recent months.

I hope this gives you a small insight into a brilliant first week back at school. As a community of pupils, teachers, support staff and families I am looking forward to making this the best year yet at Cranford!

With best wishes

James Raymond

Headmaster