It is a very busy and packed five weeks this Half Term and there is so much going on. Please do make sure you keep an eye on the calendars on the portal and the information in the Newsletters.

I hope that everyone managed to get a good break over Half Term. It has been great hearing from the staff and students about the Cricket Tour to South Africa and STEM Trip to Iceland.

We welcomed teams from nine Prep Schools today for our Under 10 Rugby Festival and I have just enjoyed giving out the medals and awards with Mr Howell. It is always so nice to be able to share our love of sport and exercise here with other Schools and there were lots of happy faces and muddy knees too. Next week our U16 Girls’ Hockey have their national Final and the U18 Boys’ Rugby have their Semi- Final; good luck to them all.

I know a number of parents are planning on coming to our Kingdon Society Lecture on Wednesday given by Dr Paul Morland and I look forward to seeing the Third Form parents and students for their GCSE options evening on Thursday. On Friday, members of the Chamber Choir are travelling over to Ypres with the honour of participating in the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate; it is wonderful that we are able to do this event once more. There is another packed Open Day planned on Saturday morning and I am sure that we will all show the School at its best.

In Headmaster’s Assembly today I acknowledged the one year mark since the start of the war in Ukraine and thanked the community for being so welcome in supporting Ukranian families here. I also spoke about the start of Lent and how we can all a great deal from focus, commitment and facing adversity and challenge as individuals and as a whole. As I have said many times before, when we work together we create a superb and supportive community here.

Best wishes for the weekend and week ahead.