It was a pleasure to welcome many of our parents for coffee and croissants on Monday morning, to help us celebrate International Families Day. Thank you for dropping by, and congratulations to Mr and Mrs Martindale for winning the prize draw (a collection of newly designed HSW goodies, including an umbrella, bag, mug, notebook and pen!).

Directly after half term, members of our talented Drama Club will be performing an original production, written by our very own Head of Drama, Miss Piggott. Murder at Heartbreak Hall will be performed at the Lyric Hammersmith Studio Theatre on Monday 6th June. Tickets are free of charge and can be obtained from the booking office:  http://ticketsource.co.uk/Hall-School-Wimbledon

I warmly invite you to attend what I’m sure will be a terrific night of theatre.

Our students are so talented. Whether it is treading the boards at the Lyric, serving the players at Wimbledon as part of the BBG programme, representing the school in sports fixtures, or competing in national mathematics competitions, Hall School students set themselves goals and achieve them through hard work and commitment.

The word ‘outstanding’ is used too often in schools, in my humble opinion. Having an aspiration to be outstanding is a noble aim, of course, but on the other hand, the relentless pursuit of perfection is a burden that weighs heavy. I prefer ‘standing out’. Life need not sort and rank us in all that we do and strive to be. Not all aspects of life need to be competitive. For some, competition encourages growth, while for others it stifles it. I think personal bests (PBs) are what really matter. We tell our students how talented they are on a regular basis, but the only opinion that really counts is their own. What they think of themselves, how they can improve every day and how they can achieve their personal goals – this is what matters and this is what will help students in ‘standing out’ when everyone is striving to be outstanding.

But while we are talking of outstanding, I must congratulate Frau Jaax and her talented team of GCSE German chefs for preparing, cooking and serving the most delicious Apfelstrude yesterday. Ausgezeichnet!