It’s hard to believe that half-term is already almost here. However, before it arrives, there are two key annual events in the school calendar to look forward to: this evening’s Poetry & Prose at 7 p.m. on School House lawn, and then Speech Day tomorrow. I look forward to seeing many of you at one or both of these occasions. We also look forward to three performances of ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’, to be performed in the round in the week after the break. I am delighted that all three shows have already sold out and that the matinee will be attended by numerous prep and primary schools. A few tickets still remain for the WSPA Mad Hatter’s Ball on 2 July; more details are below.
 
In the past fortnight we’ve enjoyed a wonderful Arts Award Dinner to celebrate and acknowledge the huge contribution that music and drama make to the school community. It was a lovely evening, shared by parents, pupils and staff together. The guest speaker was Chris Guard, a successful young musical director in West End theatres. He spoke entertainingly and fascinatingly about how he had discovered and developed his passion for musical theatre while studying mathematics at Durham University. It was thought-provoking for the pupils to hear about this somewhat unplanned change of direction, but even more beneficial was Chris’s account of his response to the many rejections he’d suffered in the theatre, something that goes with the territory. This ability to bounce back and respond positively to failure or setback is a crucial lesson to learn, and it was stimulating to hear an articulate example, especially when things had eventually turned out well. Chris had never lost his self-belief and optimism – two more essential qualities.
 
Those of you who are on Twitter will have seen the wonderful trips that Year 5 and Year 6 have enjoyed this week: Year 5 spent three days deep in a forest on the Cornbury Park Estate in Oxfordshire learning bush craft and survival skills, an experience that involved eating fish eyes and leaping into the pool of doom! Year 6, meanwhile, have spent the whole week in Normandy and visited some fascinating places such as Omaha Beach, the D Day museum at Arromanches and Bayeux. Fortunate children indeed, and I am most grateful to the staff who have organised and accompanied these superb trips.  
 
Finally, I am delighted to announce that the School has won the Wiltshire Environmental Youth Award for our Forest School. As a result we are now in contention for the regional award (Wiltshire, Dorset, Somerset and Bristol).  Our county achievement will be recognised and the regional winner announced in the Main Ring at the Bath & West Show at 12 noon on Friday 3 June. If you are at the Show please do come and watch.
 
I hope you have an enjoyable half-term.

Mark Mortimer
@markd_mortimer