28th March 2025
It is hard to believe that it is already the last day of the Spring term.
The school calendar has been jam-packed over the past 12 weeks, with a number of different events taking place this side of the half term, including STEAM week, Henley Youth Festival, Sports tournaments, fixtures and masterclasses, mini musicals, a number of school trips to places including the Sealife Centre in Brighton, The Ashmolean Museum and the Year 6 residential trip to the historical town of Rue, France and of course the House Music Competition and the lovely Easter Service today. We are looking forward to some warmer weather in the summer term and commencing our summer sports programme. You can find out more about this HERE.
Foodbank donations
This morning a group of Year 6 pupils took over 150 Easter eggs and chocolates to the NOMAD foodbank which is based at the D2 Centre in Henley. This is the fourth year we have one this as a school and once again the staff were incredibly thankful for your generosity. A huge thank you to all the families who donated. This is such a special thing for us to do as it will help ensure that every child in Henley receives an Easter treat this year.
Year 6 senior schools
We have now received the results of almost all the senior school applications by our Year 6 pupils, with just the Grammar School offers outstanding. All the children have excelled in their senior school exams this year and among the 27-strong cohort, they earned 15 scholarships across a range of subjects, including 9 academic awards as well as others in sport, art, drama, and music. In September, they will be heading to an impressive 13 different schools, including Reading Blue Coat, Wycombe Abbey, Pangbourne, St Mary's Ascot, Shiplake, Great Marlow, The Oratory, St Andrew's, Queen Anne's, Cranford, Chatham Middle School in the US and with nine pupils going to St Helen and St Katharine and successful outcomes in the 11+ Grammar exams. Additionally, we had 100% success in the ISEB and 13+ exams, and places have been offered at Bradfield College and Cheltenham Ladies' College. We are incredibly proud of their achievements and know they will make the most of their final few months here at Rupert House!
Our leavers' programme is now underway and an overview of what the children will experience can be found HERE. We know that the children will enjoy the various activities on offer, creating special memories to take with them when they head off to their senior schools in September.
House Music
On Tuesday we held our annual Prep House Music Competition on the main stage at the Town Hall. All the children in Years 3-6 took part with solo and group performances taking place throughout the evening. The grand finale saw the four houses performing their house songs, all inspired by the Brit Pop theme and with House Staff also joining in with the fun! After a fantastic display of talent, our independent judges scored each performance and announced the winners of each category before awarding the overall winning cup to Amazon. Well done to everyone and thank you to Mrs Light for organising and running the show.
Sporting success
This week we have had two outstanding sporting results from a group of Year 6 pupils. On Monday, our U11 girls cross country team took the top spot at the Oxfordshire Schools Cross Country final at Radley College, with Mima, Eloise and Teddy taking 1st, 2nd and 3rd place individually. This makes Rupert House the U11 girls county champions! Huge congratulations to them all – this is a fantastic achievement. In addition to this, Mima, Eloise and Alice V also competed at the British Biathlon Championships in Bath last weekend. Mima came away with a bronze in the 800m and as a team they came first overall in the Year 6 category. Well done girls!
Easter fun
The teachers, children and I would like to say a massive thank you to the parent reps from the Friends of Rupert House for organising yesterday’s Easter jigsaw hunt! The children had lots of fun hunting for the hidden puzzle pieces and the elusive golden egg! Teamwork was on full display across all the houses, and of course, the Easter Bunny made a special appearance to hand out chocolate eggs to everyone!
Portrait of a Loved One Art Competition
Over the holidays, we hope your children will be keen to take part in the above competition, with all works to be exhibited locally in Henley and the winning pieces to be shown on Sunday 13th July at the Henley Festival! More information can be found HERE and the deadline is Friday 25th April, the first Friday of term.
Great School Run
A reminder that The Great School Run of Henley is back for its 4th year in the grounds of Stonor Park on 18th May. Everyone is welcome to come along and take part from Nursery upwards and parents are also encouraged to join in! It is free to enter and is always a fun way to spend a Sunday morning. NOMAD is the charity for voluntary monetary donations this year, as chosen by the Education Henley Schools Committee. Please visit The Great School Run Henley for more info and to register.
I hope you enjoyed the Easter service and thank you to the children for their wonderful performances which made it such a special event. I hope that you and your children have a lovely Easter break and I look forward to welcoming everyone back through the Big Blue Door on Wednesday 23rd April.
Best wishes,
Nick Armitage