It has been such a pleasure being in all four of the School assemblies over the last two days. Amongst all the encouragement and words of advice from colleagues, I saw awards for digraph writing and timetables work in Pre-Prep, a plethora of certificates ranging from Skiing to LAMDA in Prep, reading prizes in the Juniors, and it was an honour to hand our Head of Corps ties as well and also hear Hannah Slipper (Lower Sixth) give her Heads of School speech in Headmaster’s Assembly this afternoon. There is so much joy and talent, as well as a great sense of community, across all ages.

This evening, I will be seeing a number of Old Suttonians at our special opening, the first competitive (but friendly) Hockey match on our new AstroTurf surface. I am sure that we will all enjoy playing on it in due course and this is another example of our commitment to having excellent facilities.

After the Bank Holiday weekend, we have a busy Tuesday with over 200 grandparents visiting us over the two Schools and our Summer Concert in Groves Hall and the Chapel taking place in the evening. It is so lovely to see things are opening back up! We can also look forward to a Lower Sixth Parents’ Evening in person as well as various sporting and CCF activities.

On Wednesday evening, I will be attending the Boarding Schools’ Association awards event, where we have been nominated twice. The first is for the excellent photography work of one of our Photography students, Alice Chew (Fifth Form). The second is for the work of refurbishing the boarding houses. Who knows whether we will be successful, but it is an honour to even have made the shortlist. We shall let you know the results in due course.

Finally, tomorrow we will host the memorial service for Clayton Olson here in the Chapel at 2pm. I am sure there will be elements of sadness but we also hope it can be a celebration of his life and how much the School meant to him and his family.

With best wishes for the weekend,

James Thomas, Headmaster