Friday Headlines

02 April 2021

Seeing the pupils return to school after remote teaching was heart-soaring; it is their laughter and chatter as they pass my office which I missed most when they were learning at home and to see and hear them again is a joy. Of course, our Pre-Prep remained fully open for Nursery and Kindergarten over the whole of this term, and Reception and Prep was open for key worker children, so there has been plenty of fun, noise and learning going on in those two departments all throughout lockdown.

I have had some fantastic conversations with the younger element of our community in the last few weeks. My favourite was with one of our Nursery children who told me, with a sad face, that they were not playing outside because it was raining, but then immediately brightened up about the situation because the rain, she told me, was needed to grow flowers. She then tucked into her fruit and that was the end of the matter. I also had a go at hula hooping with the energetic Year 1 at playtime. Needless to say, they were a great deal more proficient with the toy than I was and were slightly bemused at my ineptitude! 

I do not need to tell you how busy the school has been over the last term; a quick glance at previous Friday Headlines, and following us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook reflects that perfectly. Please do take a look at our posts; they are a quick and easy way to see what is going on in the school on a daily basis and I guarantee they will make you smile. 

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The community spirit in our school is a strong as ever. Everyone has embraced the new guidance on wearing masks and the senior pupils accepted the request to participate in asymptomatic testing without even a flicker of hesitation. The love, care and support shown by all and to all is of fundamental importance to our health and happiness. As I walk around the school, speak to the children, hear and see what the staff are doing with the children, I know that however the last twelve months have affected us there is the support in school to ensure that we will all continue to flourish.

In our assemblies this term, across all the departments, we have continued to focus on the need to be kind to oneself and to others. In my first assembly after half term, I spoke of a book that has come to mean a great deal to me; The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse is about hope, friendship and taking care of each other. The senior girls know that I like to end my presentations and assemblies with a quote and I leave you today with one from the book that I think sums up the community of EHS. “What do we do when our hearts hurt?” asked the boy. “We wrap them with friendship, shared tears and time, till they wake hopeful and happy again”. 

I hope that you all have a lovely holiday and I look forward to welcoming everyone back for the summer term.