Headmaster’s Notes – Busy Bees

It was wonderful to be present at the Tea Time Concert this afternoon and to witness such a large number of pupils performing so confidently in front of their audience.  It is heart-warming to witness our young musicians flourishing in this area of the curriculum through the encouragement of Miss Williams and her outstanding team of peripatetic music teachers.

On a similar note, our dance squad competed in ‘The Great Big Dance Off’ this week, a competition open to schools across England. It offered an exciting opportunity for our pupils to compete against children of all ages and abilities. What a terrific demonstration they provided us in Friday Prayers this morning and I can see why they earned themselves are very respectable fifth place in this national completion.

Last Sunday our Gym Squad journeyed to the Southampton Gymnastics Centre to compete in the School’s Acrobatics Regional Finals. They had a terrific day and our gymnasts brought home a record medal haul of 29 medals; three of whom qualified for the national finals in Stoke-on-Trent in May.

We welcomed a terrific number of visitors through our doors this week. On Tuesday it was an honour to meet grandparents of our youngest pupils as they were given a tour of the school followed by afternoon tea. The energy they displayed during their tour in trying to keep up with their rather energetic grandchildren was impressive! This afternoon we welcomed prospective parents through our doors for our Spring Open Afternoon. Our visitors were rightly praiseworthy of our pupils and the values and standards they displayed as they toured the school with the School Council. I remain very proud of each and every one of our pupils; they are our greatest ambassadors.

Closer to home, well done to our Eco-Committee for assisting in community efforts with the Itchen Valley Parish Council Litter Pick Day this week. A sterling effort by all involved. Following a very successful meeting I had with a local beekeeper this week, it won’t be long before our children are harvesting their own Prince’s Mead honey. When the time is right our freshly planted Manuka shrubs will offer even more benefits to both our children and our bees!