Our Winter newsletter is finally here to brighten the long, cold nights.

We start with a little warmth: news of the Livery Academy Awards Heat, where our intrepid team entered the dragon's den (and met that show's host!) - find out if they made it out alive.

If you can't stand the Heat, chill in Blackstone Library, where students have been reading, studying, and otherwise getting involved in all the seasonal activities - our Librarians skim through all that's been going on over the last two terms.

During this dark time of year, one tech-savvy student describes his experience bringing light (and audio!) to pretty much all of Wallingford, while Year 13 artists paint brilliantly detailed faces of people receiving their credit card bills after Christmas.

Strange things happen at the theatre - check out Poppy's review - plus there's a well-deserved festive time-out for our Young Carers. Meanwhile, our woman in Berlin is Mrs McGarrick, building bridges and remembering torn down walls in that famous city.

If you get a kick out of sport, no need to wait until Boxing Day - we have sports results and plenty of team photos. Speaking of photos, take a look at our winning entries in the Merchant Taylor's Company Photography Competition.

There is much merriment from the Merry Wanderers, our Year 7s getting to the bottom of A Midsummer Night's Dream (...in winter. Are there plans for A Winter's Tale next summer?!).

Year 10 Textile students brave the rainforests of Oxford to hunt down unusual flora, and the whole school hunts across the whole school for unusual fauna! - the tiniest, cutest, Christmassyist ducks. You can read more about that alongside round-ups of all the other House Events. Finally, there are some festively feisty messages from the House Leaders, and the latest House Point tallies.

Merry Christmas!