Christmas Newsletter

Dear Parents,

This has been an excellent term, with our pupils working very hard. 6750 merits have been awarded this term and Mr Pennells presented the Academic Effort Cups to Deacon, Clifford and Cameron in the final assembly of term. Our scholars’ programme included a talk from Miss Chidlow about ‘perspectives’ and our peer mentoring programme started in earnest. Our Lower Sixth Formers aspiring towards Oxbridge, medical courses and other competitive applications joined our Competitive Courses Group and we wish all the best to Prashangsa and Gloria for the results of their recent interviews at Cambridge and Oxford.

The performances at the House Drama were the best I have seen so far and Lodge produced another excellent performance (written and directed by Freddie) for another superb victory. Similarly, the Kirby performance of ‘Alice’ was really impressive, with Alyssa playing an outstanding role.

We have also seen some excellent music this year. The Michaelmas Concert was impressive and, as well as including the majority of Year 7, displayed a great range of pieces. Cabaret Night, with the Year 8 performance of Baba Yetu, as well as a number of solo and smaller groups, was also really impressive, and it was lovely to finish the term with our Carol Service on Thursday.

We have had some excellent sports performances this term as well, from both a team and individual perspective. Our U15 girls cricket team finished fourth in the country to start the term off on a high note, and our U16 girls and boys indoor hockey teams both lost narrowly in the semi-finals of the Regional competition. Our badminton team beat Sevenoaks School 7-2 which is the best result we have had for at least 23 years and our U16 hockey girls will be competing in the national quarter-finals after Christmas. In terms of individual performances, Mali has been selected for the U18 Wales hockey squad and Poppy had a recent trial with the FA women’s England talent pathway – the future lionesses. Kalea Moore, one of our recent OLs, has been selected for the England A cricket squad to tour India and following closely on her heels, Sophie has been selected for the Hong Kong cricket squad, and is hoping to be selected for a match against Malaysia next term.

This is an outstanding list of achievements and I wish all of our pupils an enjoyable and well deserved holiday. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone in our community!

Barney Durrant MA

Head of College