Dear Parents,

I thoroughly enjoyed being away as part of an ISI Inspection Team last week. It is always a privilege to get to see someone else’s school but, as has been the case every time I have done such an inspection, I always return feeling that there’s no place like home. It could be that I feel this particularly poignantly at the moment as I am writing this at the end of my penultimate week as Head of More House.

What a week it has been a positive feast of More House at its best. Tuesday saw the special 60th Anniversary Spring Concert at Holy Trinity Church which was followed by a Reception afterwards in School. More In Depth will contain the full review of this wonderful event but I would make a few immediate observations: it was tremendous to see so many Old Girls and Past Staff back in the Massed Choir to help celebrate the 60th Anniversary with us; it was just amazing to hear the Massed Choirs sing Jerusalem for me. Wanting to be Head of a school which had the depth to sing this well has been on my bucket list since the time I started teaching the hymn had a special significance in my own school, its words encapsulate so much of what I believe about teaching and living one’s life, and Blake is reputed to have had in mind a section of the South Downs near where my wife and I live when he wrote the poem. After Tuesday I was able to tick that one off.

On Wednesday I had the opportunity to sit in on the Mock performance of the LVIth Drama Group’s performance of scenes from The Crucible. Even though this was the Mock rather than the real examination, the quality of the performances were very impressive.

Thursday during the day saw the auditions for the House Talent Showcase and all the in-dications are that this is going to be a vintage event when it is held on the last day of term next week. We also had a visit from Mrs Adler and baby with all the usual chaos which such a thing causes. Form Mass this week was the last Form Mass for both me and the UVIth and it was a real pleasure to share this with them. It was a very special moment if rather bitter sweet.

Thursday evening saw this term’s Celebration of Talents from More’s Household. The theme was ‘Freedom’ and the format was very different with the first half taking the form of an exhibition on the theme that the guests could walk around. In this exhibition the girls from the Household had written about different aspects of the term ‘freedom’ and had drawn on the various disciplines of art, science, music, history and literature as their inspiration whilst the second half consisted of a series of presentations from 4 visiting speakers on their work in area of human rights followed by a question and answer session with the audience. Each of the experts had their own story to tell and each was particularly powerful especially when dealing with the issue of human trafficking and how we should take action, no matter how small, to challenge and stop this. What made the evening particularly relevant for members of the Household was that the panel contained an ex-Elizabeth Scholar in the form of Annie Howarth, who is currently completing her degree at York whilst the forward for the programme was written by another Elizabeth Scholar, Madeleine Perham who is currently at Oxford. It was an evening which was both informative and moving and I certainly felt that it was one which needed time and space to process.

And finally: Don’t forget that next week we have a production of the home-grown drama Madnesstookme. This performance will conclude the Performing Arts programme for this term. There are still just a few tickets available from the School Office.

With best wishes for a sunny weekend

Robert Carlysle

The week ahead

5 ~6pm: U13 Hockey v FH

7pm: Drama Performance MadnesstookmeWednesday 2^nd AprilAM: ABRSM Exams

All day: LVIth to UCAS Conference

7pm: Officers’ DinnerThursday 3^rd AprilAM: Easter Penitential Service

Normal lessons

PM: House Talent Showcase

Term ends 3.20 ~ 4pm

3.30pm: Ski Trip to America departs.

The Prayer in the Chapel this week:

May the Sun shine warm upon your face.

May the rains fall softly upon your fields.

Until we meet again may God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

Traditional Gaelic Blessing