Week ending 9th June

Dear Parents

I hope you are all well.

So half term has been and gone, and we are now basking in the glory of exam week for some of our
pupils. I spend a time during the week invigilating the Year 8 Common Entrance and this always gives me
some time to remember my own experiences of such days. I remember vividly how annoying I found it
when teachers used to pace up and down the aisles, their noisy footsteps interrupting my train of
thought. One teacher – we called him “Blakey” for reasons that will become apparent – was particularly
loud as he insisted on hammering metal cleats to the bottom of his shoes. At the time I was convinced that
he did this on purpose to annoy us pupils as he moved about the examination hall – but when I chatted to
him about it on my last day at the school it became apparent that this was more to do with the time he had
spent in the military. I also remember at my previous schools chatting with the invigilators who were
employed specifically during the summer terms to watch over the GCSE and A-level exam rooms – they
always had some priceless stories.

I am really looking forward to Cricket Day on Saturday; I shall be locating my whites and turning out for the
staff doing battle against the parent team. It is wonderful to see our community coming together for this
event and watching the children, parents and staff enjoying the game. I have been promised that the sun
will be out and the BBQ will be fully stocked!

Best wishes

Dear Parents,
Welcome back to the final part of our summer term. I hope that you all enjoyed a wonderful half term
break.

The corridors have been full of song, dance and theatre this week as the children have begun their
important rehearsals for their summer shows. Details of the performance times for each show will be sent
out to parents on Friday.

The Early Years children have enjoyed an exciting visit from our Zoo Lab this morning. They were introduced
to a variety of animals and creepy crawlies and some were even brave enough to touch and handle
them! Far braver than me, I must say. I am not so good with the small animals and even worse with creepy
crawlies!

Hopefully the sun will shine next week and we can all enjoy some warmer weather.

Best wishes for a lovely weekend,

Helen Cook