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April 2008

Dear Parents,

I trust that you have all had an enjoyable Easter holiday and are now looking forward to the Summer Term. As I write this newsletter, looking out at our beautifully manicured games pitches and with the sun shining, it is difficult to imagine that snow was lying on the ground less than two weeks ago. Let’s hope that the winter weather is now well behind us. As ever, my thanks go to all the staff who gave up their holiday time to accompany the children on the two overseas trips, ski-ing in Passo Tonale in Italy and the French trip to the Château de la Baudonnière in Normandy. By all accounts both trips were much enjoyed by the staff and children.

I had hoped that I would have received the final report of last term’s inspection by now. I expect that it will arrive within the next two weeks and I will then make it available to you all and write again with our response to its conclusions. Such inspections take place only every six years and, with such a large and experienced team, give an invaluable overview of all aspects of the school. I hope that it will highlight the many strengths of the school but also point out ways in which we can improve. Last term we put on a Maths Information Evening for Lower School parents, which seemed to be greatly appreciated. This term, I thought that it would be helpful to hold an Information Evening, particularly for parents of children in Lower School and Nash House, on the structure of Upper School and how we prepare children for transfer to senior schools. This will take place in the John Leakey Hall on Wednesday, 7 th May at 7.00pm.

There has been much activity on the new Little Stream building during the holidays and I apologise for any inconvenience caused by the temporary traffic lights due to the installation of new drainwork. Our own maintenance team, in addition to routine preparation of the grounds for the new term, have built an outdoor covered teaching and play area at the back of Nash House which will be a welcome addition to their facilities.

We have just two new members of staff this term. With Jenny Lewis’ retirement, Sally Ahlers takes over her position as Registrar and Sandra Saunders has been appointed to take on the post of School Office Assistant. Lizzie Howard will take over from Sue Allen as part-time Girls’ Games Teacher. She has most recently been teaching Geography and PE at University

College School in London. We have an unusually large number of staff retiring at the end of the Summer Term, Martin Burgess from Upper School, Jude Hughes, Jill Dahlhoff, Barbara Vander and Kathy Chesson from Lower School and Sue Power from Nash House. In addition, Davinia Ablett will be leaving us to take up a new appointment in Sevenoaks. I shall be writing to you later in the term with news of appointments for the September term.

Since I last wrote, staff have attended courses as follows: Simon Howkins and Roger Kidney – National Prep Schools’ Rugby Coaching Conference; David Gosnold – Bright Solutions Dyslexia Symptoms and Solutions and Testing and Teaching; Carol-Ann Dart – Effective Use of Assessment to Promote Learning in KS1 and KS2; Karen Puzey – Setting Up a Primary School Library; Ali Barlow – Mindstretchers – Inspirational Maths and Science.

The theme for the new term is ‘Kindness and Consideration’. It is no bad thing, at the start of a new term, to have a timely reminder of how important it is to be kind and considerate to others.

The coming term is comparatively short but very busy. Please look at your calendars to identify the events in which your children may be involved and ensure that they are available if selected for matches – this particularly applies to weekend fixtures. I look forward to seeing you at some of the many events over the coming weeks.

Yours sincerely,

S.L. Rigby.