The Courier

Dear Parents

With just a short two-day week before we break-up next Tuesday, this will be the last full fat version of the Courier for the autumn term.

It has been a term of unique challenges for us all, both as a school and as a nation, and we will be looking back on the year of 2020 in the history books for many years to come. One thing we have learned is just what a central role schools play in the life in the life of the nation. First and foremost, they provide the children with an education that is easy to take for granted, but is in fact the product of years of evolution of thinking and practice, as well as expertise and hard work. Beyond that they give young people’s lives structure and purpose and society as a whole cohesion. For all these reasons and more, the return of the children to school this term has been great news for us all. We are proud to have navigated the last three and a half months successfully and we are enormously grateful to all of you as parents for the support you have shown for the measures we have put in place to help keep us all safe.

With the Christmas season now in full flow, we have enjoyed our Covid-version of some key seasonal events during the week gone by. I was very privileged to be able to watch the Pre-Prep children perform their two Nativity plays to camera earlier in the week, and I have also had a preview of the Carol Service that will be coming out to you all on Monday next week. In school, we have been enjoying the countdown to Christmas courtesy of Mr Adkins’ advent calendar that the children have been watching each day during their form period. We also got out together on the playground for mince pies, hot chocolate and carols on Tuesday with the official turning on of the Christmas lights. I hope you have enjoyed seeing the tree at the front of the school on your collection run as well. With class parties going on today and into next week, the children have certainly had every chance to enjoy the run in to the holiday.

For the weekend, I am still attempting to avoid crowded shopping centres for as long as I can. My own plan is to get everything I can this year online. My son’s football games are back up and running so that will keep me busy on Sunday. I do hope you all have great weekend.

Joe Thackway
Headmaster