Junior Reflections Week 24 March 2025

Dear parents,

Virgin Money challenge

Monday saw the start of Virgin Money which took place over three days. I am always in awe of the entrepreneurship that the pupils show and as always, I overspent and have quite a few IOUs, which I know the pupils won’t let me forget… The skills that the pupils learn from this successful initiative are life skills: collaboration, compromise, kindness and integrity – many of our virtues. This is such a great way of getting pupils to collaborate with each other and learn the art of compromising (which as we know is always hard) and looking at how to make a profit; certainly all skills for the future. The Dragon’s Den takes place on Monday which sadly I will not be able to attend but will certainly look forward to hearing all about.

Assemblies

Rev. Close led our Monday assembly this week on the subject of diversity and celebrating our differences. We looked at the wonderful way our minds work differently, taking a look at the famous white and gold dress, or was it blue and black? We spent time exploring the great benefits there are to seeing the world differently to the people around us. Friday was Red Nose Day and Rev. Close was looking at the subject of laughter and joy and how they are good for the soul; we all know that passing a smile can lift our mood and costs us nothing.

The arts

The art monitors have created unique self-portraits, wearing sunglasses—but look closely! The real magic is in the reflections. Sunglasses don’t just block the sun; they reveal a whole new world in their lenses. In these artworks, each reflection tells a deeper story, capturing a special memory, a dream, or even a hidden feeling. It’s like two pictures in one—the artist on the outside and their thoughts on the inside. These creative pieces invite you to look beyond the surface and discover the stories hidden within the reflections. We cannot wait to see these proudly on display. Well done Upper Two art monitors.

I had the privilege of watching Upper One’s performances of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ this afternoon, and just WOW, they were absolutely brilliant! Congratulations to everyone involved, and a special thank you Miss Cox for masterminding these simply outstanding shows, and to Mrs Russell and Mrs Wopshott and the many other staff who helped in the lead up. If you missed the performances, these were recorded and links will be shared next week.

Sport

This week our house matches got up and running, with all the pupils in the junior school taking part and proudly representing their houses. Today, we have a block fixture against West Buckland as well as a mini netball tournament at home with Trinity School. A huge good luck to the U11 girls hockey team, who travel to Clifton College next Wednesday for the West of England finals!

Have a lovely weekend.