How lovely it has been to have had, quite literally, hundreds of visitors during this shorter-than-normal week. Seeing all of the grandparents and relatives here on Tuesday was a delight, the Music Concert that evening really was top drawer, and last night’s in-person Parents’ Evening for the Lower Sixth felt like a much-desired return to normality! Tomorrow we welcome another 70 families for our Open Morning and I very much hope that they will get to have a good taste of life at the School. Prefects’ Lawn is looking particularly lovely and is the ideal backdrop for all the School group and team photos which are being taken today. Seeing the list of all the teams and groups reminds us of all the busy things that continue to happen here.

Those of you who follow my Twitter will have seen that on Wednesday night I attended the annual awards dinner for the Boarding Schools Association (BSA). As I mentioned last week, we were nominated for two prizes – one for the excellent photography work of one of our Fifth Form students, Alice, and the other for the superb ongoing the work of refurbishing the boarding houses. It was a shame that I did not bring back either of the trophies in my bag, but still an impressive acknowledgement for the School to have been a finalist.

Our Fifth Form students are now well into examination mode and I have been impressed with how they have become so focused on their studies. They have their last formal day of lessons next Friday before they embark on study leave and we continue to wish them all the very best for this challenging period.

A particular highlight for your diaries: next Saturday is another opportunity for parents to visit us at the ‘At Home’ event where they will be able to see a number of aspects of School life and meet the staff. I look forward to seeing you there; please do contact the School Office if you want more information.

Best wishes,

Mr James Thomas, Headmaster