The final day of our current period of enforced school closure dawned brightly and very cheerfully this morning I would say! That was certainly the case where I live, and with my usual cup of early morning espresso and Radio 3 in the background playing something suitably uplifting, I felt another tangible rush of excitement as I considered once again how wonderful it will be to have pupils back on our sites next week.
Pre-Prep & Prep parents will have received my letter and the accompanying appendix, which sets out our plans for next week, and for the weeks remaining for this half term. Mrs Murphy has been meeting with her team at the Pre-Prep and we had an excellent and very positive staff meeting here in the Prep this week, to discuss how we can ensure pupils will enjoy being back on site from both pastoral and academic angles. I think it is fair to say there will be some adjustment once more, as we all settle back into our usual ways of working, well, as usual as they can be given the last 12 months or so! In my experience however, Pre-Prep & Prep school aged children possess plenty of resilience (there is often more in them than they believe they can draw from) and natural enthusiasm, so it does not take much for that to come tumbling out.
To that end then, excellent lessons will continue apace across both sites and our close and careful but unobtrusive watchful eyes and open ears shall remain alert to the social and emotional matters our pupils bring to light during the course of any normal day. Please rest assured, as far as we are concerned here, it will be business as usual once we get over the excitement of seeing everyone in person first thing on Monday morning.
Enjoy your weekends and we look forward to seeing you and saying hello in person once more, over the course of the next couple of weeks!
