Each week without fail I write that it has been a busy week in school – and this week is no exception!

It was a pleasure to watch our Year 13 Student Leaders participate in the Lord Mayor’s Show in the City of London on Saturday. As most families are aware, the school is very fortunate to benefit from a strong relationship with the Merchant Taylors’ Company which goes all the way back to the foundation of the original school in Wallingford by Walter Bigg in 1659. For this year the Lord Mayor of London is a member of the Company and our Student Leaders were invited to walk in the parade wearing specially designed outfits from Saville Row tailors Dege and Skinner. The Show was colourful, noisy and vibrant and our students were brilliant, smiling and waving at the crowds all the way round. Very well done to all and thankyou in particular to Dege and Skinner for their support.

It has been very good to have a single lunchtime for everyone properly back in school this year. In particular, this has provided greater opportunities for clubs and activities and I have really enjoyed seeing Chess Club, Basketball Club, Warhammer Club and Gardening Club amongst others flourishing over recent weeks. Equally, the single lunchtime has also provided space for House activities such as the excellent recent House Mastermind to take place and this has been great.

I never fail to be impressed by our students. I was walking around the school this week at lunchtime when three students from one of the younger year groups came up to me. They told me that they were worried about a friend of theirs and explained why. I won’t go into the details for obvious reasons but the care, responsibility and kindness they demonstrated was something that has stuck with me all week. That’s a pretty good barometer of our school community and something we note and quietly cherish.