30 April 2021

What an incredibly positive start we have had to the Summer Term! We were welcomed back to school on Monday by a sea of happy faces as pupils enjoyed catching up with their friends and teachers after the Easter break. This morning, we enjoyed a special performance of the school hymn outside the front of Moulsford House from our wonderful Year 11 cohort, who are about to embark on study leave ahead of their summer examinations. We wish them all the very best for this exam period and look forward to seeing them back in school later in the term!

The summer term is always very exciting and busy and the energy in school has been infectious, particularly so in the Music Department. It has been joyful to have the peripatetic music teachers back on site and even more wonderful that the Year 7 Concert Band and Year 10 Jazz ensemble are back up and running. Meanwhile, our youngest musicians in Reception have really enjoyed listening to Carnival of the Animals, whilst Year 2 have learnt about strings instruments and had a go at playing cello and violin! We are looking forward to our Junior School Tea Concerts later in the term and hope that as restrictions ease further, there will be more opportunities for some fabulous musical performances across school!

Elsewhere in the Performing Arts Department, Year 7 pupils have started exploring physicality as they prepare to work with character masks in Drama whilst Year 8 are being melodramatic! We should point out this is being encouraged, as they focus on stock characters and plots with a view to challenging stereotypes.

Earlier in the week, Year 3 brought an exotic flavour to school life with Aladdin Day. The Year 3 classrooms were transformed into an exquisite Middle Eastern celebration, featuring some beautifully elaborate costumes, middle eastern dancing, lantern making and some cooking of tabbouleh and flatbread!

Our PE department are equally enjoying the start of the Summer Term, pioneering an exciting and varied programme of summer sports and we are very pleased to be able to begin offering fixtures again for pupils. We are also looking forward to sports day later in the term.

I hope your son or daughter enjoys telling you all about their first week back and hope you have a lovely bank holiday weekend.

James Raymond
Headmaster