Last week Year 6 became paleontologists. They looked through layers of rock to find out about the past and studied fossils to deduce what creatures lived at different times. They then learnt about adaptation by playing the butterfly game. The roll of the dice dictated the changes to the environment and the pupils had to infer the chances of butterfly survival. Very interesting and engaging!

It is STEM week this week in the primary section and the pupils are thoroughly enjoying all the presentations, activities and competitions. Our Year 12 Geographers had a wonderful and productive time in Brighton last weekend completing their fieldwork. Also big congratulations to the primary section netball team who have had some recent huge success.

Yesterday was photo day in school. This was very poignant for our pupils at various transition points. Year 6 and Year 11 will be able to look back at these as a great memory of the end of their primary and secondary education. For Year 7 it will be a reminder of where their secondary education all began. It is great that very nearly all of our Year 6 pupils are continuing with us in Year 7 next academic year. The all-through model really does ensure the seamless continuation of education from primary to secondary.

Recently it was National Offer Day when Year 6 pupils found out their secondary school for September. I am proud of the growing popularity of our school. This year we are oversubscribed by nearly 500%, that is the equivalent of five applications for every school place. A warm welcome to all our new Year 7 families joining us in September who will now start to receive their induction information.

Education is often about preparing for the next chapter. Our mission is to ensure all opportunities are open to pupils for the next stage of their lives. It is now the final stretch for our Year 6 and Year 11 pupils who are preparing for their SATs and GCSE examinations. Our A-level teachers are currently completing lots of preparatory work in order to guide sixth form pupils through university applications.

We love our theme days in the Dining Room and tomorrow we will have our Italian themed menu. I hope the children enjoy it. Don’t forget to visit our Book Fair this week, every day at 3pm in the playground.

Have a great week.