Senior Reflections Week 36 July 2024
Dear parents,
Last week was a very busy one, and this week has been too….
National chess success
Early in the week we learnt of the success of our chess team at the national finals over last weekend. Mr Dominic Tuohey runs the chess team and writes: “This has been a tremendous group of players over the last few years and I wanted to highlight those involved. It will be difficult to have a team as good as this in future years. Pengxiao, Charlie and Toby have been particularly strong and have allowed other players to develop around them.
Finally, it has been impressive that many of them have become this good independently without formal coaching, largely due to the growth of online chess during covid”.
Team for the Final
Pengxiao, Charlie, Vincent, TJ, Todd, Josh
Players who have played in the regional rounds this year
Toby, George, Henry, Oscar, Rose
We are extremely proud of this group’s great success and we hope that the younger players in the team remain connected with the game, and we look forward to watching their development. I am very grateful to Mr Tuohey and Mr Alan Carter for accompanying the trip last weekend and supporting the team’s success.
Finland canoeing trip
On Wednesday the canoeing trip departed with pupils from Middle and Upper Fifth headed to Scandinavia. This is a new expedition opportunity and I am grateful to Mr Richard Tear and Mrs Amanda Roff for taking this group. They will be heading beyond the Arctic Circle, where they will be exploring in their canoes, and camping at the waterside. It sounds fabulous. We wish them all a safe and enjoyable trip and look forward to hearing all about it when they come home on 10 July.
Lower Fifth Normandy visit
Last weekend a group of Lower Fifth pupils, led by Mrs Helen Sail, Mr Ben Hall, Ms Natalie Cushion and Miss Grace Sail travelled to Normandy for four days of French culture and activities. They had a ball and enjoyed visits to Mont St Michel and the local towns as well as completing adventurous activities at the chateau at which they were staying. Many thanks to the staff team for giving their time over the weekend to facilitate this exciting adventure.
Lower Sixth art trip to London
Last weekend also saw the Lower Sixth artists visiting galleries for some inspiration in London. They had a wonderful time and came back full of ideas for their own work, inspired by the great art they had enjoyed. Many thanks to Mrs Jen Brewer, Miss Chloe Brownsey and Mrs Jess Rafferty-White for leading the trip.
Jazz supper, chamber concert and the music tour
On Monday evening the main hall was converted into a jazz bar with a stunning concert from our musicians. Led by the wonderful Mr Dave Bowen, who compèred the event with great humour, the pupils were phenomenal. There was so much that was fantastic, from Swunk, to Young Voices, and a stunning vocal performance from Henry Bill – better than Ronnie Scott’s I would say! A warm thanks to Charles Stanley Wealth Managers for their sponsorship of the event. The musicians also performed at Budleigh Salterton in a chamber concert on Tuesday and are off on tour to Italy on Tuesday 9 July. We wish the whole music team a safe and enjoyable trip and thank Mr Tamblyn, Mr Davies and the music team for their brilliant work with our musicians at this very busy time.
Duke of Edinburgh’s Award expeditions
The Upper Sixth gold DofE participants had a successful expedition to the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park (formerly the Brecon Beacons) over four days, returning yesterday. This arduous journey through beautiful wild country, is both a physical and navigational challenge, and we applaud their commitment and tenacity. Next weekend the Lower Fifth participants are completing their expedition work with an assessed expedition more locally, over the coming weekend. We wish them safe travels and hope that their navigation holds up and that the weather is kind to them. Grateful thanks to the staff team who lead the DofE; Mrs Kat Ridler-Murray and Mr Schramm on the gold expedition and Mrs Emma Cartwright, Mr John Gooddy, Mr Tim Halpin, Mrs Katie Coe and Mr Mark Schramm on the bronze. Their skills and support make all the difference.
House dance
Wednesday was a day of house spirit and the pupils started their day with the house dance competition. This was competed in the ten current houses and, as ever, it was a riot of crazy costumes, marvellous music and fun – with the older pupils showing great leadership in choreographing the dance routines for the younger members of each house, and leading the rehearsals in the preceding days. Many congratulations to all those involved and grateful thanks go to our outgoing heads of house for their motivation and support, and also for Mr Pete Tamblyn who masterminded the event on the day.
Following the pupils’ performances, we were treated to the eleventh house – a brave staff team who entertained us all whilst the judges were deliberating. They were wonderful and showed great humour, and also pretty good rhythm as they raised the roof for the pupils! What great sports they all are. Many thanks to Mrs AJ Culley who was the brains behind the operation.
Sports day
The afternoon on Wednesday saw us all at the Exeter Arena for our off site sports day; the first in my time here, and what a spectacle it was. Pupils of all ages were involved on the track and field with some great performances and wonderful participation seen by all. Saying hello to the five new houses, the competition was held between Acland, Crossing, Dowrich, Goff and Walker for the first time – and pupils showed great spirit and enthusiasm in running for their new houses. The afternoon finished with a farewell to the old houses with two house races one of which had everyone in the stands on their feet as the last leg was run by staff. Once again, Mrs Culley stole the show and the geography department rivalry was fantastic to watch as Mr Hyde and Mr Munday sprinted to the finish. Grateful thanks go to Mr Gibson and all the sports staff, ably assisted by so many colleagues, who made the afternoon such a success. It feels like this is set to be a permanent fixture in the calendar.
Admissions events
It was a pleasure to welcome lots of prospective families to our open house event on Thursday morning and I thank your children for being brilliant ambassadors for the school, showing our guests around and sharing their enthusiasm and experiences with the visitors. This time it was Lower Sixth and Fourth Form who were our tour guides and they did a great job. In the afternoon on that day we welcomed our new pupils and parents, ahead of them joining us in September, and it was lovely to begin the Exeter School journey with so many eager new joiners from as far afield as Nashville Tennessee (and some from down the road too!). We wish them well as their children become Exonians in the new year. Thank you to our Admissions team for such a busy day of events.
Mobile phones in the senior school
Some of you have contacted us recently about the school’s approach and policy for mobile phone use by the pupils. This has been discussed in a recent senior leadership team meeting and we have agreed a number of action points. Firstly we are aware that we need greater clarity on the messaging for parents and also, in light of the new government guidance, we feel it would be helpful to consider the practices in school more widely. We are committed to reviewing practice and providing clarity on policy in the new academic year. This will take some time as we intend to have some task and finish groups to help us to hear the voices of a number of stakeholders and so we anticipate that this will be complete and ready to share with parents around half term in the autumn. At present the pupils have a very clear awareness of the expectations and the sanctions that are in place if they are caught using their mobile phone in the senior school, and we will continue to ensure that this message is widely understood by the pupils, implemented by staff, and that we are clear with how this is communicated to parents.
Activities day and trips this weekend
The Fourth Form are off to Dorset for their residential experience today and will be home on Sunday, whilst the Third Form are spending the day at Splashdown, the Middle Fifth are off surfing in North Devon, Lower Fifth are off to Dawlish Warren and the PE department led by Mr Gibson are heading North to Manchester with a cricket tour for Lower and Middle Fifth boys and girls, returning on Monday. These opportunities for spending time together, learning new skills and having fun are an important aspect of our character education and we hope that your children enjoy them. The staff team put a huge amount of effort into the organisation and leadership of these events and activities and I am very grateful to all those staff who are leading and accompanying these visits. Trip leaders are Miss Bethan Rose for the Fourth Form, Mr Gareth McGrath for Dawlish Warren, Mr Paul Bell, for the Middle Fifth surfing, and Mrs Jo Murrin for the Third Form. The navy and army summer CCF camps are heading off on Sunday and we wish them a great time. Many thanks to Mr Dan Trim and Mr Alex Collard for leading these two trips.
Last week of term
Next week we have speech day for the junior school on Monday and for the lower school on Tuesday. We look forward to seeing many of you there as we celebrate your children’s achievements. Wednesday is the last day of term, with the day ending at the normal time.
We wish you all a lovely weekend and final few days of term.
