Sports lessons are always exciting to watch, and when they feature a dinosaur competing against a bright green alien, they become a memorable spectacle indeed. Such were the sights on offer here at HSW during our World Book Day yesterday. I have seen so many celebrations of this kind over the years but I have rarely seen such active participation and such good humour. My morning sentry duty was especially enjoyable yesterday, seeing all our colourful characters proudly strolling up the pavement, bold as brass, having been sat in full costume on a commuter train or bus. Our students are so self-confident! Why would they think anything of boarding a bus dressed as Willy Wonka? We love them all.

We recorded the second episode of our Wimbledon Calling podcast earlier this week. Our theme was to explore what the future might look like in 2100. The children’s answers were inspiring – which is just as well: they will be the architects of the future, solving the problems we have failed to find solutions to. As one of our junior pupils told me, the future isn’t over there in the distance, it is here, every second. ‘Yes,’ I said, ‘And you are building it.’

A J Hammond