Dear parents,

A very warm welcome back to the summer term.

Although, as I write this, we have only been back just over a week, there has been much going on. There is also plenty to look forward to this term. The theme of this week’s newsletter is ‘connections’, and we have been making plenty of these over the last few weeks.

Planning is well underway for our second annual Festival of Learning, and thank you to those parents who reached out to share their experiences or expertise about its theme: sustainability. As we finalise our programme of speakers and events for the day, it is clear that this is a subject that requires answers from many curriculum areas and from people across the planet. In short, we need to be encouraging our students to reach out across the globe. The first step, of course, is to reach out locally, and it is amazing how many connections can be made even across a small city; we are looking forward to welcoming a wide range of people to the school on that day. One way we can make connections is to harness the power of digital technology as our newly appointed Deputy School Captain, Lily Macfarlane did a few months ago.

As a school we are gearing up for the summer exams and, as ever, we would encourage a measured and sensible approach to these. One of the joys of exams is that they help us to see the connections between and across subjects. Subjects that have been hitherto siloed into topics become clearer as they are seen synoptically. It is skills such as this ability to forge links between areas of thinking that will help the young people of today solve the problems of tomorrow. Our narrative surrounding exams is for students to see them as an opportunity to take stock of where they are, to learn from the process, without obsessing over the results, and to get a view of the whole year’s learning across all subjects.

Another example of connections being made is with our partner schools across Europe and beyond. The Easter exchange visits to Spain, France and Germany all returned safely and in good spirits, with friendships for life forged. If we are to make the sort of connections that will have a positive impact to the global community then we must come from a place of understanding, and visiting others in their homes is of great benefit here. We look forward to welcoming return visits over the course of this term.

Kind regards,

David  Walker

Head of Senior School

Read more Senior School news here.

See the full Senior School calendar here.

PFA Notices

PFA committee meeting - May 2019

Thanks to all who attended the termly PFA committee meeting on 1 May at the Senior School, the full minutes will be posted shortly. The next meeting will be the AGM in September 2019.

We had a great discussion on activities and events the PFA can support, including a funding project run with the School Council's support. The Junior School have selected a range of outdoor play equipment that we'll need your help to source. The Senior School will also have the opportunity to bid for funding/support this term too.

At the meeting, we confirmed that our purpose is the facilitation of connections between the families at the school via various social events (please see below). If you'd like to suggest or organise a social event, please contact your Class Rep or a PFA committee member.

PFA summer event - Friday evening, 28 June - save the date!

Plans are being finalised for a PFA summer event in the evening of Friday 28 June. While we had planned a summer fair, the best option right now is likely be a movie night which we intend to run at both the Junior School and the Senior School to cater for all film-loving tastes!

We are hoping to couple this with a parent’s social at the Senior School, including a paid-for bar, to make the most out of the summer evening (and keep from embarrassing any teenagers with our presence).

Second-hand uniform sale - Wednesday afternoon, 3 July

The next second-hand uniform sale has been arranged to coincide with the Induction Day - this will be open in the afternoon, with full details to be confirmed shortly, with a main site at the Senior School.

We have a good stock of second-hand uniform, but are also looking for additional donations you may have, particularly for any used sports kits and sports equipment in addition to regular uniforms (e.g. hockey sticks!). Collection points will be at all three sites (Madingley, Junior School & Senior School). All the funds raised at the sale goes back to PFA activities and events.

Get in touch

Any questions or queries, please come and find us on ClassList or contact us by email on: stephenperse.pfa@gmail.com