Senior Reflections Week 24 2024

Dear parents,

It has been a fantastically busy penultimate week of term and I am much enjoying reading the reports of the Upper Fifth pupils. As they face their first ever public exams, it is a pleasure to read about their tenacity, commitment and determination in the classroom, as well as in their many and varied co-curricular activities. They are an impressive year group and we know that they are ready for the revision period, and for the exams beyond. If you are an Upper Fifth parent, I hope that you enjoy reading your child’s report when you get it next week, as much as I have done.

Founders’ Day

This week we have been celebrating the foundation of our school through our annual Founders’ Day service. The event, in the cathedral on Wednesday was a wonderful affair, formal and impressive, complete with a guard of honour from all three sections of the CCF, we welcomed the Lord Mayor and a large cohort of governors to celebrate with us. The service itself, wonderfully led by the chaplain, was very much focused on the pupils’ contributions and I thank all the musicians, and readers for their talented and heartfelt performance. It was a wonderful event. Sadly, with work going on in the cathedral at the moment, we could not also accommodate the junior school, but we loved their choir, and also their readers, and they will be having their own service in the chapel on Monday. You can hear more about the school’s history in my blog post, here.

Exonian Lecture

Our community was privileged and proud to welcome to the school, on Tuesday, former pupil Professor Ed Hawkins MBE, to speak about climate stripes and his work as a global leader in climate science. The lecture, live-streamed as well as enjoyed by a great audience in the hall, was a fascinating and compelling one, covering the changes in climate due to man’s activities, and plenty of optimism and hope for the future, and for what we can all do to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of the changing climate. Nicholas Piachaud-Moustakis and Georgia Pugh gave a great vote of thanks and the audience was a very appreciative one. During the day we had enjoyed Prof. Hawkins’ presence with the A Level geographers, and I hope that if your son or daughter was able to be in those sessions, they found them useful and interesting. We are lucky to have such great former pupils in a wide range of professional fields and to be able to enjoy their skills and expertise in this way. Many thanks to the alumni and development office for organising the event. If you would like to watch the lecture, you can find the YouTube video here.

Sport this week

This week has seen the national sevens rugby tournament at Rosslyn Park. This is a huge event, with over two hundred teams from all over the country and overseas, competing at colts and U18 level. We sent two teams this year, one for each of the two age groups, and we are very proud of their participation. I hope that the boys enjoyed this memorable experience, and well done to them all, for some impressive scorelines – the U18 team scored over 120 points in their three matches!

On Thursday evening we enjoyed the annual sports dinner at Sandy Park. The team captains were impressive in making speeches and showing such gratitude and affection towards their coaches and those who have supported them in their sporting lives at school. We are very grateful to them all, and it was lovely, in particular, to see Mr Andy Mason there. Mr Mason, who left us at Christmas to care for his father following a stroke, was delighted to reconnect with the pupils and former colleagues and also to award the inaugural Mason Cup – a new award to be jointly awarded to a girl and a boy who have competed in three terms of sport throughout their senior school career. Very well done to Harry Mount and Georgia Reid, the first two recipients of this cup. They deserve this high accolade.

House drama

This evening is the inaugural house drama performance, with a second show tomorrow evening. We look forward to seeing what the Middle Fifth, supported by the drama scholars and senior pupils, have devised for our entertainment.

As we look forward to the Easter holidays, in just a few more school days, many thanks for your ongoing support, it is much appreciated.

Have a lovely weekend.