And so we have reached the end of term and are ready for Christmas. It’s not snowing but the school is full of festive cheer with form room doors decorated and tinsel everywhere.

The highlight of last week was the production of Our House. It was simply brilliant – the band were fantastic, the dancing never to be forgotten and the singing absolutely spot-on. There were stars who shone bright with their talent but it was also wonderful just to see so many of our students both on stage and behind the scenes being involved in such great entertainment. Congratulations to everyone who took part and a huge thankyou in particular to our staff who directed, coached, conducted and choreographed the students to reach such heights.

As I wrote a couple of months ago, this is the aspect of school which these young people will never forget; it’s about being part of something, part of a team contributing to an amazing whole which will help to form them in to the adults they will become. In this case it is a show but it might be a fixture or visit, project or residential; whatever it is, it is about a broad and balanced education and we know that this is a distinctive characteristic of our school.

It’s time for a well-earned break and I would like to wish all our families a very Happy Christmas and look forward to seeing everyone in the New Year.