12th Septebmer 2025
It has been a smooth and enthusiastic start to the term, with everyone settling back into school life beautifully.
The children have embraced their new year groups and are already engaging well with their daily routines and learning. A particular highlight for Years 4 and 5 has been the excitement of receiving their new devices, which will play an important role in supporting their learning throughout the year.
In my assembly on Monday morning, I spoke about our school values of Courage, Creativity, Respect and Resilience, all underpinned with Kindness. I focussed on Courage this week, talking about ways in which we can be brave enough to step out of our comfort zone in our learning, taking on new challenges and making the best of situations.
Last night, Sam Antrobus (Executive Chairman and Founder of Wishford Education) and I hosted a discussion meeting with parents about the acquisition by Wishford of St Mary's school. A number of very relevant questions were asked and we hope that parents felt reassured by the answers that were given. We look forward to welcoming St Mary's into the group and working together in various ways going forward.
This morning we were treated to a drumming assembly by Neill Ettridge, our new drumming teacher. He performed to the children who were thoroughly enthralled by his skills! Neill has spaces in his drumming groups and also a few spaces left for 1-2-1 lessons. If your child is interested in learning to play the drums please click here to find out more.
Cross Country
It was wonderful to have so many children, including a number of new pupils and parents, join us for Running Club this morning. The South Oxfordshire Schools Cross Country series starts this weekend with the first race taking place at Greys Court from 9am on Saturday. This is open to children in all year groups from Year 1 upwards. It is great fun and a good team event. Further races take place at Maiden Erleigh Chiltern Edge School once a month throughout the autumn and winter months. See the below letter for more details and best of luck to everyone competing tomorrow!
Future Schools Fair
Next Tuesday we are hosting the Education Henley Future Schools fair in the hall from 6-8pm. This event is a fantastic opportunity to speak to representatives from over 20 senior schools, both state and independent, under one roof. All parents are welcome to come along, and we would be grateful if you could also mention it to parents with children who attend other local schools. The link to register your attendance is here: https://forms.office.com/e/Mu3HQdGcFw
Ahoy there!
Today we took delivery of a new play boat and an outside table and seat (with an additional one in the Pre-Prep playground) for the Pre-Prep Courtyard, which was renovated over the summer holidays. As you can see from the picture above, the children are loving playing on it, and we hope that Prince Rupert, who was an admiral and allegedly a pirate, would also approve!
Access into the Pre-Prep building
Please can parents make a note that the main entrance to the Pre-Prep building is now via the conservatory, which is the door closest to the astroturf, and just past Mrs Fletcher and Mrs McCarter’s Year 1 classroom. The library is often used for early morning meetings and it will help greatly if the library is no longer a walk-through. Year 2 classes can be accessed via their garden doors and the Nursery classroom should be accessed via the path which runs alongside the conservatory. All other classrooms should be accessed via the main conservatory door. Due to the volume of people going into the building in the mornings we respectfully ask that buggies are left outside. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
Attendance and Term-Time Absence
We would like to remind families that schools are not permitted to authorise holidays, days out, or other non-essential absences during term time. This is not a decision made by us as a school, but guidance set out by the Department for Education to help improve attendance nationally. While we understand that family time is very important, we ask that holidays are arranged during school breaks, as any absence taken in term time will be recorded as unauthorised. Please be assured that attendance records are not passed on to secondary schools when children move on – they are for our own monitoring only, so that we can ensure every child makes the most of their learning time with us. Thank you for your support.
Roald Dahl Day
Wednesday 24th September is Roald Dahl Day and we are celebrating with a special menu. Barry and the team at Chapter One are looking forward to getting creative with the well-known book titles at lunchtime! You can view the menu here
October half term camps
The Discover Activity Camps for October half term are now available to book online. Open to all children aged 4 to 14, each day is fuelled by a nutritious homemade hot lunch, included in the booking. Enjoy a 10% early bird booking if you book before 14th September. In addition to the multi activity day camps which run from Monday 20th to Friday 31st October, children can put their design and innovation skills to the test at Discover STEM: K’Nex Fairground on 28th October (open to all children ages 6–14). Find out more and book here: Rupert House School - Discover Activity Camps
I look forward to seeing many of you at the Night Market tonight. Thank you so much to Mrs Benson for organising the event which promises to be a fun evening!