Dear parents,
The netball tour to Manchester left safely this morning, and I have no doubt that the 20 girls from the Lower Fifth and Middle Fifth who are away over the weekend will have a fantastic time, not just as an opportunity to spend time playing high-quality netball against some unfamiliar opposition, but also to be with their friends doing something that they love. We wish them all well and thank Miss Brittany Johnson, Miss Millie Nye, Miss Emily Horn, and Miss Laura Barnes for their trip leadership and for giving their time so generously over the weekend to facilitate this experience for the girls involved.
Meanwhile, back at home, we have netball fixtures against Plymouth College tomorrow and hockey for the boys against West Buckland School. We wish all our representative athletes all the best in their fixtures and hope that they do as well as last weekend, against Wellington School, which was a very successful one.
Admissions
Following last weekend’s assessment day for 11+ to 14+ candidates, I have enjoyed lots of online meetings this week with our 13+ and 14+ applicants. Our conversations cover everything from the names of family pets to photosynthesis (one of my favourite topics), diving in Costa Rica, and performances in dance and drama on stage. We have seen a great crop of applicants this time around, from places as diverse as Turkey, the United States, and Chagford…. And I have enjoyed meeting them all. Best of luck to any siblings who are awaiting the outcome of the assessments. Junior school assessment day is Saturday 3 February, and we look forward to welcoming some of you and your younger children then.
Upper Fifth parents
It was a pleasure to see so many of you here last night for the parents’ evening and to see such positive and lively conversations between your children and their teachers. I hope that those of you who were here enjoyed listening to Aimée and Angus talk about their sixth form experiences and also considering the improvements and refurbishments to the sixth form facilities that we are carrying out over the next eight months, ready for the new academic year. The current Upper Fifth will be the first to benefit from these improvements, and we hope that they will help us mould the space and make it reflect what they want in a study centre specifically for them.
Looking ahead – summer events
Last week, I reminded you about the dates for speech day in the summer term on Thursday 27 June.
Please also make a note of the Exeter School Family Society summer fayre, which will be on Saturday 15 June. The family society committee is working hard on organising a great event on this day, and we hope that the school community will support them with gusto. There will be opportunities for business owners to have a stall and connect with the school community, so please do get in touch if this might be of interest to you. We are very grateful to Mrs Ruth Hughes, who is the chair of the committee and is investing huge energy and commitment into the cause. We much appreciate it.
Staff news
We are sorry to announce that Mr Stephen Hancock will be leaving us at Easter. Mr Hancock is a passionate and gifted teacher of English who has inspired pupils in the senior school in the last two years with his teaching and learning skills and his great love of literature, and has led our Model United Nations society brilliantly. We are sad to see Mr Hancock leaving us, to return to Cambridgeshire, and we wish him every happiness in his new role and thank him for his commitment to Exeter School.
Careers convention
We are very grateful to members of the community who have offered to be present at the careers convention next Tuesday, where the pupils will have a chance to hear from a range of professionals and higher education organisations. Please encourage your children to sign up and start to think ahead to what they want their professional life to look like and where they might focus their energies in their studies. Grateful thanks go to Mrs Melanie Szender, our careers and higher education pathways advisor, for organising the event.
I wish the sports teams success tomorrow and the MUN conference delegates at Bristol Grammar School on Sunday a great experience debating the big issues of the day.
Have a lovely weekend,
