Junior Reflections 15 May 2026
Dear parents,
The weeks seem to be flying by, and on a personal note, I can hardly believe I now have a child who has completed their first week of GCSEs. It has certainly been a bit of a rollercoaster at home, trying to judge when to speak and when to stay quiet! Good luck to all pupils sitting GCSEs and A Levels this term – you’ve absolutely got this.
House assemblies took place on Monday in the form of a quiz, ably led by our house captains and there was a lot of collaboration taking place across the year groups which is always so lovely to see. Following on from one virtue to another, ‘Kindness’ was the order of the day for the theme of the week. Mrs Russell and Mr Pidwell led assemblies to Lower and Upper School about the importance of being kind, respectful and reminding the pupils what to do if anyone is being unkind to them. Next week, we will be welcoming Mrs Szender, Careers Advisor, who has kindly offered to take the Upper School assembly to give an introduction into careers and what to expect in the senior school.
It is Mental Health Awareness week this week and even though we know that looking after our mental health does not just take place in one week, the pupils have been busy joining in lots of activities: Form One have been designing brochures, Lower Two looked at the NHS 10 a day choice and created some super posters and leaflets with their ideas, and Upper Two had a huge amount of fun with balloons and looking at how finding your own balloon with friends is so much easier than doing it on your own; reinforcing the point that sharing worries and talking is so important.
Visitors and taster-day pupils love receiving an Exeter School teddy bear keyring, and many proudly attach them to their school bags. Upper One pupils recently put theirs to excellent use in science! Using “Galileo the Bear” as a control variable, pupils investigated whether parachute size affects the rate of descent. Timing Galileo’s journey to the ground with different parachutes helped them draw clear conclusions from their results. A great (and fun) experiment – and no bears were harmed in the process!
And now a special opportunity to bring to your attention; parents, whether former pupils or not, are very welcome to arrange a visit to the school archives. It has been lovely to welcome a number of Third Form parents into the archives already this term, and we would be delighted to extend that invitation more widely. The archives include a treasure of photographs, old uniforms, artefacts and all sorts of trinkets from the school’s history, including the infamous detention log – a pupil favourite when they visit. Anyone interested in taking a look should contact Ms Alice Holohan, our Director of Development and Alumni Relations [asah@exeterschool.org.uk], who would be very happy to help arrange a suitable time.
I led school council yesterday and it is always a pleasure to listen to the form captains talk about what they think is going well and their ideas for how we can make school an even better place to be. This half term’s topic was about Good Works and how the pupils feel about them (I love them as I get to see so many pupils and all their work that they are doing in so many different subjects) and I was pleased to hear that the pupils also love them but for many, not the queues!!
A gentle reminder that if you would like to purchase a raffle ticket for our beautiful Heart Maps that each class have created, please do send in £5, with all proceeds going towards the treasure box at Exeter Children’s Oncology Department, a cause very close to our hearts. Tickets will also be on sale at sports day as well.
We are delighted to be attending the Devon County Show next week and hope to see many of our families and friends there, I will be there on Saturday so do pop in and say hello; I would love to see you. Our stand is on Avenue A, Stand 94. With up to two children receiving free entry on Saturday, and the long-range forecast looking promising, it should make for a wonderful family day out.
Have a lovely weekend.
