Dear parents,
The Wizard of Oz
What an amazing week it has been! I do have to start with the wonderful Upper Two performances of The Wizard of Oz that I witnessed on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. All three were simply brilliant and I was so proud of each and every pupil; what talented pupils we have. I know that for some, being on stage is their natural habitat and for others they are out of their comfort zone, but everyone did an amazing job in what was a great team effort. A huge thank you to all of the wonderful school team, this wouldn’t be able to happen without the support of all the staff and in particular, Ms Cox, Mrs Wopshott and Mr Titchin; thank you, team. You can find the links to watch all three performances of the play later in the newsletter.
Upper One trip
Upper One had a fantastic time exploring some of the Exe Estuary as part of this term’s geography topic. The children thoroughly enjoyed searching for crabs and shells before discovering the fascinating creatures that live beneath the surface. They were especially successful at digging for lugworms—Mr Wood even showed himself to be quite the expert! The session ended with some exciting shrimping in the shallows, where they spotted a variety of sea creatures. Fortunately, there weren’t too many soggy feet by the end of the day!
Informal concert
I also enjoyed a wonderful afternoon of music on Wednesday for the last informal concert of the year. There was a whole host of musical items on display and the junior school pupils were all out in force; a lot of talent on display.
Assemblies
The theme of this week’s assemblies has been ‘Perseverance’ and on Monday, in chapel, Mr Wood introduced the pupils to one of his personal inspirations, Ernest Shackleton. Many of the qualities shown by Shackleton and his crew during the ill-fated 1914-16 expedition to Antarctica exemplify what it means to persevere against the odds, and never give up. Hopefully this epic survival story showed the children what can be achieved with a positive mindset and a bit of courage.
Sports day
As I sign off for the week, I finished my day with a sore throat from cheering too much at sports day; the sun rose for the occasion and the house spirit was in fine form. All of our virtues were on show, and the sportsmanship amongst the pupils was amazing. Of course, everyone likes to win, but this day is about so much more: collaboration, kindness and integrity…what a way to end the week.
Enjoy the sunshine this weekend and I look forward to seeing you all next week as we hurtle towards the end of term.
