It may have been bitterly cold outside this week, but our corridors and classrooms have been warmed by the restorative sound of voices singing, as we prepared for our forthcoming Christmas Carol Service. I think there is no better sound than children singing together, and I would like to pass on my special thanks to Mrs Page and Mr Pendrous for their hard work and dedication to preparing for the event. Miss Partington has also worked hard behind the scenes, preparing speakers and helping to ensure it will be a magical event. I have asked the Reverend Bruce Rickards to lead our service – thank you, Bruce. I look forward to seeing everyone there.

Very mindful that I have not had the opportunity to meet many parents and carers yet, I am holding a series of talks next week, when I shall be delighted to share my thoughts and plans for the school and take your questions. A communication went out earlier this week with the dates and times for these talks, but if you have any questions at all, do contact the school office.

It has been another busy week of excursions and memorable activities for our students. Our Year 1-2 class visited Wimbledon Common, in search of amazing microhabitats; our Year 7s continued preparing for their Jack and the Beanstalk pantomime (see delightful photos below!); our Junior School classes have been cooking the most delicious mince pies (I have eaten too many); and whilst all this has been going on, our brave and hard-working Year 11s have been sitting their GCSE mocks.

Ours is a busy family, all working, learning and playing together, supporting one another when we are pressured and chivvying and cajoling when we are down. In twenty-three years of working in schools, I can honestly say I have never encountered a school culture so happy and so nurturing.

The Open Morning held last Saturday was an extremely successful affair. Thank you to everyone for all your hard work and dedication. We have been inundated with enquiries since Saturday, but, fear not: we have no ambitions to become a giant school that sorts and ranks its prospective pupils via their cognitive ability, computational capacity or some other conveniently measurable form of ‘intelligence’. We are proudly and deliberately non-selective precisely because we believe there are myriad ways children can excel and multiple different intelligences – many of which are stymied by the sorting and ranking rituals of old. While other schools may ask ‘How smart are you?’ as part of their admissions process, we think ‘How are you smart?’ is a better and kinder question.

I wish you a restful weekend before we do it all again next week. I hope very much to see you at the Carol Service on Monday.

A J Hammond