'I should like to express my thanks to you for your excellent cooperation this half term as we keep the school going in the middle of this pandemic. Your support of difficult decisions and your willingness to prioritise the safety of others is much appreciated. Our school has, like almost all the others in the region, been hit by the pandemic. We have had terrible bereavements and serious illness with all their sadness and stress. My thoughts are constantly turned to those families who are struggling in one way or another with the present reality.

When I look out of my study window and see the Year 8s eagerly looking for sticks in the bushes to chase each other with, I am struck (after shouting at them to put the sticks back in the bushes) with the way each person experiences these new realities differently. For all my worries, many pupils across the campus are simply loving being with their friends, their teachers, and eagerly doing their best in their learning,

There is a tremendous spirit among our pupils from Reception to Year 13. No whining, no moaning, no silliness (stick stealing excluded). Indeed, there is a palpable air of focus and engagement with everything we are able to do rather than a focus on the things we are not able to do.'

'While we are away keeping safe over half term, various projects on campus will continue. Workmen will be putting finishing touches on our new boarding house, Beechlands. Our maintenance team will be here every day, repainting the many beautiful walls across our campus, and repairing and maintaining the miles of paths which connect us to each other. A major project is underway in the Prep School. The windows which were put into the building after a bombing raid in WWII are being replaced, finally. That work will also be continuing on campus. Mr Bishop and Miss Clark will also be on-site to hold the second 'round' of the musical aptitude assessment for Year 7 music places.'

'Congratulations to our very own SSI, Mr Robert Newton, formerly warrant officer in the Duke of Lancaster's regiment, now at work in our school supporting and developing the CCF, Duke of Edinburgh award scheme, behaviour mentoring and health and safety procedures. I received a letter from an inspecting officer thanking Mr Newton for the excellent state of our shooting range which had recently been inspected. I marvel both at all the things that happen in this school flawlessly without me knowing about them and the fact that the MOD has kept inspecting school shooting ranges in the middle of a pandemic! Keep calm and carry on.'

'We have had already a very strong and large set of applications for medicine and Oxbridge places this year. Our Year 13 have produced double-digit numbers of applications for medicine and for Oxbridge, despite all the obstacles put in their way.'