It was particularly nice to welcome all our scholars in Year 6, 7 and 8 and their parents, together with our governor Mark Weatheritt, to a special celebration dinner last night. We commended them on the work they have done and wish them well for the work they will do in the future and we thanked them for the contribution they have made to St Michael’s Prep. The pursuit of excellence is an exciting endeavour and as we focus on drawing out the best in every child, we find that focusing on the very top raises standards for all. The opportunities for excelling in music, art, drama and sport are equally important to us as is the chance to love learning, work hard and strive to put our knowledge to the best use we can. But above and beyond that, there is a strong sense of the value of consideration, courtesy, manners, curiosity and as another group of children set off today for their Curiosity Curriculum convention, the excitement will continue right up to the weekend. And excitement there was a-plenty as Bruno won the individual challenge competition and our boys then went on to win the Senior School performance challenge. Many congratulations to everyone who went to take part today.
Out in the wilds of Essex, a whole cohort of Year 2 pupils today woke up to perhaps their first night away from home. Experience of travel, change, challenge and collaboration is an important way in which we build resilience, co-operation and communication, all of which are life skills.
Sports this week have been extremely damp but pretty good by all accounts. We were delighted to hear that H Martin won the silver medal in his fencing tournament at the British Youth Championships in Sheffield.
Many congratulations to our Under 8 tennis team, who became the Kent Champions this week.
As the school looks forward to a weekend of celebration and music at the festival, I am only sorry that a significant birthday takes me away from this wonderful event which I hope everyone will enjoy. I am proudly sporting my St Michael’s festival friendship bracelet, crafted by Syrian refugees in Istanbul working for Empathy Action. This morning, we enjoyed a superb assembly presentation on Brunei from the Friis family which opened our eyes and our minds. With the appointment this week of Ali Chugg as Global Dimension Leader for St Michael’s, we formally acknowledge through this role, the fundamental importance of our wish to look out on the wider world, understand it better and play our part in keeping it beautiful and making it a fairer place.
I hope that the festival is a wonderful and happy occasion.
Jill Aisher
Headteacher