Dear parents,
It has been so lovely seeing all your children back at school, refreshed and ready to go. The sun has been shining, and it is amazing what a bit of relaxation and sunshine can do to lift the spirits. The pupils have been playing on the field and the astro has had new lines painted on it so the excitement, as you can imagine, is tangible. We welcomed some new faces to the school this week and it has been great seeing our pupils look after their buddies so well and ensuring that they have a lovely first week experience.
On Tuesday, our new Lower School esports club launched with an exciting inter-school build challenge against St Helen and St Katharine in Oxford and Thornton College in Milton Keynes. The challenge was to design the best treehouse. Each week, two teams of three pupils compete against other schools, while the rest of the club take part in an inter-club version of the same challenge. It has been a fantastic introduction to competitive esports for our Form One and Upper One pupils, and we are looking forward to next week’s challenge. We were also delighted to learn that all our entries to the European Space Agency’s Astro Pi challenge were successful. Code written by our Upper Two pupils will run on the International Space Station, and we look forward to discovering where the ISS was in orbit when their code ran when certificates are awarded in June.
Mr Wood led assemblies to Lower and Upper School this week. As we celebrated St George’s Day yesterday, the pupils were given a potted history of England’s patron saint. How much we believe about the legendary slaying of a dragon to save a princess is debatable, but the qualities that George clearly demonstrated to stand up for his Christian beliefs in the face of Roman persecution, and his willingness to defend those being oppressed, are admirable traits that chime with the school’s promotion of kindness and integrity as key character virtues.
Upper Two had a good start back with a trip to the Eden Project on Wednesday, and despite cooler weather forecasts, pupils arrived to sunshine and stunning views at the Eden Project. Divided into tribes, they explored the Rainforest Biome to discover how plants provide shelter, water, food and medicine, and were amazed by the rich biodiversity. The Mediterranean biome encouraged independent exploration and sharing of discoveries before the group headed home, tired but with a deeper understanding of the importance of plants. A memorable and enriching trip for all.
And so as I end this week’s newsletter I am heading off to London for the marathon, I am hoping to be back on Monday, but who knows I may still be running! (If you are able to donate and haven’t already, please find my sponsorship link here.) Thank you to you and your children for the generous sponsorship, the NSPCC are going to be over the moon as I have hit the target and then some, and your words of encouragement on the gate have truly helped me. Thank you as well to the wonderful pre-prep pupils who had a sponsored bounce to help raise money; there was a lot of fun, bouncing and bubbles, but sadly staff were not allowed to have a go!
Have a lovely weekend.
