Senior Reflections Week 35 June 2025
Dear parents,
Speech Day
It is a day of celebration today and I hope that those of you who were at school for one of the speech day events much enjoyed the chance to celebrate the many accomplishments of the pupils, and say thank you to my colleagues who support your children in their progress every day. It is always a huge pleasure to hear the reflections of our speakers and this year was no exception, with Peter Pereira Gray, a third generation Exonian, here to look back on the impact that Exeter School had on his life, and to consider how it might help to support the development and progress of pupils today.
As we have now for the last few years, it was the pupils who gave reflections on the things that are important to them, and what they have particularly enjoyed in this academic year. Organised in our five new houses, our fifteen speakers brought personal ideas, their authentic voices and a real sense of the diversity of interests in the school, and I commend every one of them. It is not easy to stand up in front of your peers, staff and parents in a packed hall, and they did so brilliantly. My grateful thanks go to all those colleagues who worked so hard to make the events today so impressive; from ensuring that you were parked in the right place, to making sure that each prize winner received the correct certificate and that the tech did not let us down. There is a huge amount of detail and precision required and I am particularly grateful to Mrs Kim Leach, my PA, Mrs Liz Williams, our Director of External Relations, and to Miss Bethan Rose, who ensured that the day ran smoothly, assisted by so many other colleagues.
Dr Adrian Rainbow
Yesterday our Chair of Governors, Ms Gillian Hodgetts, announced the appointment of the new Head, Dr Adrian Rainbow, who will be joining the school in the autumn of 2026. The selection of a new Head is the biggest responsibility of the board and it was a pleasure to meet the final candidates when they were in school last week. Dr Rainbow is an experienced school leader and current Head, with much to bring to our school community, and we look forward to getting to know him over the months ahead. I wish him every happiness at Exeter when he takes over after Mr Graham Bone’s period of interregnum, in the coming academic year. The announcement is here if you missed it.
Click here to read more on Dr Rainbow’s appointment
Lower School play
On Monday and Tuesday evenings an impressive cast of Third and Forth Formers put on a brilliant version of Romeo and Juliet AND Macbeth. Wow! With standout performances from Xylina, Cam, Louis and Everleigh in the lead roles, the pupils were extremely impressive. Mr Chris Harknett and Mr Jamie Brough directed one play each and we had a huge team of back stage crew, managed ably by a whole host of colleagues and Miss Caitlin Smith, our theatre technician, who brought the technical side all together. Huge congratulations to all those involved, on stage and also back stage; it was an amazing production and the pupils did a fantastic job with some very complicated scripts in the original Shakespearean language as well as some expertly choreographed on stage fighting and lots of fake blood!
Board meetings this week
On Wednesday, the board had their final meetings of the year and, as always, it was a pleasure to welcome them to school and to share our progress and discuss next steps and strategy with them in the meeting. This was the final meeting of Brigadier Stephen Hodder, who has been on the board for ten years and is stepping down this term. With extensive interest and experience gained in his military career, much of it overseas, Steve has been particularly supportive of the CCF and Ten Tors activities, and in his time has sat on the Foundation Committee, representing the alumni community, and more recently the Welfare and Safeguarding Committee. We thank Steve for all he has done to provide support and wise counsel and we wish him health and happiness in his retirement. As an Exonian, of course we will continue to see him in school and at events from time to time.
Sixth form induction
Wednesday evening saw us welcome our new sixth form and returning Upper Fifth formers to their induction event. This is an informal event which gave the new pupils a chance to meet their classmates, and also an opportunity for parents and pupils to hear about the experience in our sixth form from current pupils, and to ask questions to get a sense of daily life. Thank you for coming if you attended with your Upper Fifth child and please do ask if you have any ongoing questions. I hope that they are looking forward to the next two years of their Exonian journey. The sixth form certainly is the jewel in the crown of our school in so many ways and gives such a fantastic springboard to life beyond school.
Leavers’ ball
Last night the outgoing Upper Sixth donned their glad rags and convened for the annual leavers’ ball, this year held at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, in the city. What an event! It was wonderful to have this event, which is so much anticipated by the pupils, in such an interesting and attractive location, and I hope that they all enjoyed not just the dinner and dancing, but also the chance to wander amongst the exhibits and see the museum in a slightly different light. Many thanks to Mr Luigi Chu, Mrs AJ Culley and Miss Bethan Rose and the sixth form tutor team for all their hard work in making this fabulous event happen. It certainly was a night to remember!
It is the summer art show this afternoon and into the evening and I look forward to seeing some of you there as we enjoy the creative endeavours of our pupils in their artwork.
With a full fixture card of cricket against Blundell’s tomorrow and the athletics southwest schools combined event, our athletes have a busy day ahead of them. In addition, I hope that the Upper Two are having a great time on their residential visit this weekend in north Devon.
With the end of term getting closer, I wish you all a relaxing weekend.
