January certainly has flown by and I have been very impressed with how much we have all managed to fit in!

We began the week with a moving Chapel service marking Holocaust Memorial Day. The Chaplain, Mr Davies, lead the service with contributions from Mr Jones, Mr Zane and a musical performance from Sophie Browning (Fifth Form). Third Form students also heard a thought-provoking and humbling speech from Eva Clarke, a survivor representing the Holocaust Educational Trust, later in the week; they have also been covering this material in their curriculum recently. It is so important that we acknowledge the impact of such historical events and I know it gave us all a great deal to think about.

Our teaching staff had some fascinating training earlier this week about our Personal, Relationships and Mental Health education provision. It sparked some fruitful discussions and reflections and will enable us to continue to review how we focus on this essential area of School life. There have also been a number of discussions about mental health with student groups in recent weeks (please do ask your children about these – the final instalment is for the Third Form next week). I welcome parent views concerning this area if they wish to approach me. You will have noticed last week we started a regular feature in the newsletter where we will share with you our current focus for the Pathways course.

The theme of celebration in assembly continues and today the School heard from Edwin Harding (Upper SIxth) discussing his Technology Wind Tunnel project, followed by the School band playing ‘Hey Jude’ (that you can watch here) to bring some joy into the forthcoming weekend.

I trust the Lower Sixth parents found their Parents’ Evening discussions on Thursday constructive and I know there are a number of Fourth Form parents intending to come to the next episode of ‘HSMs at Home’ for a coffee outside the Refectory tomorrow morning.

Best wishes for the weekend.

James Thomas, Headmaster