The start of term is an exciting time. New friends, new subjects, new timetables. Possibly a new school bag and a whole case of sharp pencils. I think that most people in our community, however experienced, will feel a touch of nervousness at the start of a new year. We have new teachers and new pupils; they will have felt a twinge of anxiety, indeed a few of the “old hands” will also have had their fair share of apprehensive thoughts as well. At the end of every summer holiday I start to wonder if I’ll remember how I go about teaching and what my new class will be like. Parents too are not immune from this and there are often understandable concerns about a new place or a new academic year. Don’t worry we’ll do our very best.
Overall, there have been far more smiles than tears. Standing out at the front of both schools as I have been this week, it has been a pleasure to see smartly uniformed and purposeful young people heading in through the school gates. Any new term is a time of new experiences. A chance for new resolutions. During the coming week or two new routines will become familiar and we may well lose our sense of appreciation of our wonderful, inspiring campuses; uniforms may just be worn with a little less care and those carefully sharpened start of term pencils will be ever so slightly blunted. When that does happen, I hope that we can all reflect on our good intentions for the year and regain that all-important sense of purpose. We will sharpen up. Before we know where we are it will be Christmas (sorry for bringing that up).
Between now and then there is an awful lot to fit in. There will be lessons, plenty of learning as well as other activities. Our aim is to ensure that all members of the community have a rich experience this year. We will be encouraging all pupils, from the youngest to the oldest to take part in as much of school life as is possible. Parents too can join in the fun by coming to our welcome back fish and chip supper on Saturday 15 September, it is a great way to celebrate the end of our first full week of school so please join us.
This year our pupils will enjoy a wider range of facilities than ever before. The Junior School has a replacement green pitch and the Redgrave building should be ready for next half term. But buildings are only a part of the story, the real magic occurs when young people with a wide variety of experiences join together in learning. From what I have seen of those young people in this short week I predict that we are in for a vintage year.
Bonne rentrée.
Nicholas Hammond
Headmaster