Senior Reflections Week 4 September 2024
Dear parents,
With a bit of an autumn chill in the air this week and plenty of rain, it feels like the summer is now behind us. But your children’s spirits remain lifted and positive.
As the weather gets colder we would like to remind parents that the school does not open until 8.00am and therefore pupils dropped at school prior to this time will not be able to access indoor spaces. Pupils are very welcome to arrive onsite from 8.00am and make use of their form rooms until the school day begins at 8.35am.
Last weekend was a busy one with trips for the Lower Two, Third Form and the Upper Sixth biologists. All of them showed great resilience when the heavens opened, especially the biologists, which Mrs Metcalf reports were the best group that she has supervised in nearly a decade of Nettlecombe trips. Despite being soaked to the skin, they carried on with their fieldwork and were great ambassadors for the school. Well done to them all, and again, grateful thanks to the staff who so willingly give up their weekends to facilitate these important enrichment activities to extend your children’s learning.
Whole school photography
On Tuesday we had an event which only happens every few years – with our whole school photograph. This is a military style operation, getting the whole school community, from the nursery right through to the sixth form and all the staff (and three canine companions) onto the scaffold and all looking at the camera at the same time. It really is quite an impressive sight – with just about 1200 of us, large and small, saying cheese at the right time. Your children were a credit to the school, being patient, polite and well-mannered as they waited for their turn and received their instructions from the photography team. We are looking forward to seeing the final image when it is ready. This will be the last such photograph of our current school uniform, and one to keep as a memento of your child’s time as an Exonian, whatever stage they are currently at. I will say, again, how smart the pupils are looking at the moment and thank you for helping them to wear their uniform well and with pride. We really do appreciate your support on this.
Click here to see the magic in progress
Interview scheme at Ashford’s
On Tuesday, in their futures time slot, the Upper Sixth had some preparation for our interview scheme, which we hold each year at Ashford’s. This is a superb opportunity for pupils to have a professional interview, in a commercial setting, and we really appreciate the support given by parents and friends of the school in being our volunteer interviewers. We welcome interviewers from a wide range of professions and backgrounds and would welcome more parents to get involved if this might be of interest to you. The interviews are in the morning on Saturday October 12. Please do get in touch with Mr Luigi Chu, Assistant Head (Sixth form) on lc@exeterschool.org.uk if you would like to get involved in this great scheme.
Sixth form centre
On Thursday it was a pleasure to welcome so many of the Upper Fifth with their parents to see the newly refurbished sixth form facilities and hear a little from three members of the Lower Sixth who spoke about their experiences in the sixth form so far. Emma, Esme and Ashok did a brilliant job, reflecting on their journeys into the sixth form, and their experiences, not just of the new space, but also of life in the sixth form. Upper Fifth pupils certainly seemed at home and quickly made the most of the games room and the bacon butties – two perks of being in our sixth form! Our official sixth form open evening is on Thursday 7 November, 5.30-8pm, and we hope that all Upper Fifth families will come to hear more about the curriculum and to speak to colleagues about what it is like to study particular subjects, as well as looking at the sixth form as a whole. That evening is open for all who might be interested in our sixth form and so if you have friends and neighbours with children in the GCSE years, do invite them along. We would love to see them.
Governors’ education day
We welcomed members of the board today for a day exploring your children’s educational experience in our annual education day. Governors shadow a pupil and visit lessons, having a chance to see the Exeter School experience from the inside. They love the chance to speak to your children and to share their experiences as they move from lesson to lesson. We hope that your children enjoy the chance to speak to the governors too, and to show them their work – they are all very friendly, I can guarantee.
Today is the official opening of the sixth form centre and we have governors here for the cutting of the ribbon this afternoon following their experiences in classes today. It will be a pleasure to share the space with the board members who have supported this project, particularly those who retired from the board in the summer; Mr James Gaisford (chairman), Mrs Ruth Vigers (chair of the welfare and safeguarding committee) and Miss Rowan Edbrooke (chair of the academic committee). We thank them again for their support, wise counsel and friendship of the school for many years, we will miss them.
Exonian quiz
Tonight is the Exonian quiz – an annual opportunity to pit your wits against the quizmasters and have a fun evening with friends and colleagues. This has become ever more popular with the pupils too and we have seven sixth form teams competing tonight. The maths department has a strong record and will be defending their win from last year. Sadly, we have a governors’ retirement dinner this evening which means that I cannot be there, but I hope it is a great success; good luck if you are competing! Many thanks to Miss Alice Holohan and the alumni and development office for organising the event so well.
Open morning
A reminder that our whole school open morning is on Saturday 5 October – next week. This is a very important event for the school and we do need your sons and daughters here to act as advocates and guides. Please do ensure that you make them available to assist on that day. They really are the reason that visitors want to come and see us and we rely on them to do a great job in sharing their school experiences with prospective families.
It has been an incredibly busy week of sport with hockey, netball, swimming and rugby on the fixture list with matches against a whole range of schools. This weekend, we face West Buckland and Mount Kelly in matches in hockey and rugby. Best of luck to all involved.
