Dear parents,
Half term is upon us, and the sun has decided to make an appearance, which I must admit is certainly welcome and it looks like it is here for quite a few days. Dr Rainbow was in school on Monday and spent time in the junior school, looking around and meeting some pupils in classes. I know that he is very excited about joining us full time in September and there will be several opportunities for our parental community to meet him at the beginning of term.
I had the pleasure of leading all three assemblies this week, starting on Monday by reinforcing the importance of the word ‘consent’ and how important it is to ensure that we ask permission from our friends before we borrow things, even if we are sure they will say yes. ‘Consent’ is a word that pre-prep pupils start to learn when sharing, and this continues into the senior school. On Wednesday, I talked with Lower School about looking ahead to September when there is a move around of classes and shared how they will all be ok even if they are not with their best friend. It is good to meet new people and broaden friendships, and the pupils very much enjoyed me demonstrating how my then-7-year-old daughter behaved when she found out that she wasn’t with her best friend; all I can say is that it wasn’t pretty but as I am sure you can imagine it turned out ok in the end. And yesterday, I invited Mrs Szender to join the Upper School to talk about careers, sharing with the pupils that school is about giving them a backpack full of tools to help them have the skills for the future. The pupils were fascinated that for many, their jobs had yet to be invented and a reminder that it is important not to stereotype certain jobs.
Today, we proudly celebrated the National Year of Reading 2026 with our very own Exeter Junior School Literary Festival. The entire school day was dedicated to a rich rotation of inspiring activities, including poetry workshops, picture book creation and art sessions that brought stories to life. We were delighted to welcome The Bookery, who introduced pupils to the current top 20 children’s books many of which were eagerly purchased and are now all available to borrow in our junior school library. A highlight of the day was our ‘open mic’ event, where we enjoyed wonderful performances from our talented Poet Laureates, alongside Miss Cox sharing her journey as a published author. The school was truly alive with conversation, creativity, and a shared love of reading; what a joyful and fitting way to celebrate the magic of literature!
The Devon County Show is well underway, and I am very much looking forward to going tomorrow morning. It is always a wonderful day out and one that I look forward to every year and luckily for us the sun will be shining. Our stand is in Avenue A, stand 94, so do pop in if you are intending to visit – I believe there may be a scone or two on offer!
Have a wonderful half term and I look forward to welcoming your children back on Tuesday 2 June for the last half term of the academic year. Where does the time go?
