5 November 2021

It has been lovely to welcome pupils back with renewed energy to the second half of the Autumn Term after a lovely half-term break.

After a busy Open Day before half-term, we are fully into the admissions cycle for September 2022 and this week we have had the wonderful privilege of interviewing our current Year 6 pupils as part of the Senior School entrance process. This is a real highlight for members of the Senior Leadership Team, many of whom have known our Year 6 pupils from when they first joined Cranford House. We have been overjoyed by the eloquence and maturity on display by all pupils in the interviews, and greatly enjoyed talking to them about their interests, current affairs and much more besides. They are wonderful young ambassadors for the school, and I am excited to watch their ongoing journey into Cranford House Senior School.

Next week, we look forward to our Year 11 pupils enjoying their Sixth Form Scholarship and Assessment and Taster Day. Similarly, this is a very exciting time as they begin to consider their next steps and have the opportunity to experience A level study and life at Cranford. It is wonderful to be part of the journey for both cohorts and we hope they enjoy the experience as they taste the next stage of their academic careers.

It has been a busy week in sport. Year 3 and 4 were very fortunate to be accompanied by glorious Autumnal sunshine on Monday in their inter-house hockey matches, whilst Year 5 and 6 inter-house hockey later in the week was a much wetter affair, with the players battling against grim conditions as well as their opposition! Despite this, the weather could not stop some fantastic hockey with plenty of goals. Our Senior girls took to the field in fixtures against Oxford High; the U13 Pumas battled to a 1-0 loss, but the Tigers managed to close out a thrilling 3-2 win. Meanwhile, the Cranford Senior 1st XI travelled to a late starting fixture, hosted at Oxford Hawks HC, to pick apart a strong Oxford High team in a 3-1 win. Our Football teams have been no-less competitive, with matches against Caversham Prep, storming a 10-1 win, and also against Crossfields School with a draw and a 4-0 win – excellent game play by all!

Finally, we end this week with great excitement in Junior School as we look forward to the eagerly anticipated event on Saturday that is Junior School Discovery Day, followed by our STEM focused Junior School Discovery Week next week. Kicking off the activities, we warmly welcome all Junior Parents and pupils to attend on Saturday morning from 9am to 12pm and treat the whole family to some fabulous exhibits and activities centred around ‘Wings and Wheels’. With t-shirt printing, biscuit decorating, large-scale scalectrix, a gyroscope simulator, spitfire engines, steam engines, fast cars, electric cars, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, a hot air balloon and some live flight action, it is most definitely an event you don’t want to miss. Parking is off site at the barns near Moulsford Prep and there will be minibuses available to transport you across to Cranford. We hope to see as many of you as possible there and look forward to engaging our Junior pupils in a week of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics next week!

With best wishes

James Raymond

Headmaster