6th June 2025
I hope you all had a restful half-term break. Everyone has quickly settled back into the busy rhythm of school life this week. A big well done to Year 5 for their hard work and focus during this week’s assessments.
The Year 6 children have been making the most of their preparations for the upcoming Annie Jr. production, benefiting from valuable tips and guidance from a professional actor, and it is very exciting to see the production taking shape. Meanwhile, Steph from Divas and Dudes has been working with our Prep year groups to help perfect their dance routines. Details on how to book tickets for the production will be shared with you soon. Our IAPS District meeting was held at Pangbourne College last night and it was fascinating to hear about the exciting changes Oli Knight is making at the school.
Henley’s Great Big Green Week
Henley’s Great Big Green Week kicks off tomorrow — a vibrant community celebration of climate action, nature, and sustainability. The week is packed with inspiring talks, poetry readings, film screenings, a hands-on workshop, and a Big Green Festival in Market Place. All events focus on how we can work together to combat climate change and restore local wildlife and natural habitats.
To learn more and get involved, please see the flyers below or visit the Greener Henley website: GBGW 2025 – Greener Henley. Particular highlights will be the events in the Market Place tomorrow and the Great Big Green Picnic next Sunday at Mill Meadows!
Ekiden at Rupert House
Ekiden is a long-distance multi-stage relay race originating in Japan. It is a traditional race where teams of runners pass a sash, called a tasuki, between runners, covering a set distance across multiple legs and it is one of the biggest sporting events in Japan. Following its successful launch in the UK last year, the 2025 FT Nikkei UK Ekiden will take place on Friday, June 20th. It will be held along the Thames Path, starting from Windsor and following the route to Reading, with a return leg. Henley-on-Thames is one of the locations on the route, with a leg from Sonning to Henley-on-Thames. The race will feature university and corporate teams and we hope to take some pupils to Mill Meadows to see the runners passing through. To celebrate this amazing event, we will be having a Japanese themed week at Rupert House from 16-20th June. There will be an Asian twist on the school lunch menu (starting next week and supplementing the normal menu) and the Sports Department will be running mini Ekiden relay races with all the children during PE lessons. Between them they will cover 40km in their houses!
Meet Chapter One
A reminder that on Wednesday 18th June at 8:30am, parents are invited to meet representatives from Chapter One, our catering team. They will introduce the new school menus and talk about their philosophy for instilling healthy eating habits in children, and how school and parents can work most effectively together to that end. An in-house nutritionist will also be available to discuss how the updated menus support healthy eating. Please do complete this form if you would like to come along.
Africa Uniform
A huge thank you to everyone who has donated school uniform for the children at the Mukuru Promotion Centre in Nairobi. Thanks to Mrs Eccles, the latest batch of clothing has safely arrived, and we have received a lovely email of thanks — along with some heartwarming photos of the children wearing the uniforms. We will be sending one final shipment so if you have any more items to donate, please bring them in before the end of term. You can read more about the centre and their work here: Mukuru Promotion Centre. A considerable amount was also raised for the Mukuru Centre at the Centenary Ball and we will be in contact once a decision has been made as to what that will be spent on.
Portrait of a Loved One
Thank you to everyone who came along to the Portrait of a Loved One exhibition at The Amber Gallery this week. It was wonderful to welcome over 80 sets of parents, grandparents and children from schools and colleges across Henley to see the artworks. The exhibition will be open to the public until 11th June from 10am to 6pm so please do go along and take a look if you haven’t done so already. More details HERE.
Neurodiversity
It is important that the children understand that we all learn differently and have different strengths and areas that we might find more challenging. I have spoken in recent assemblies about various forms of neurodiversity, such Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Dyspraxia and Autism and I wondered if any of our parents who have been diagnosed with any of these neurological differences might be willing to talk with the children about how they have gone on to be very successful in their careers and lives. Please contact Penny if you might be willing to join me in one of our weekly assemblies to talk to the children (penny.gibson@ruperthouse.co.uk).
Summer holiday camps
Bookings are open for the Discover Activity Camp taking place at school during the summer holidays. The camp is perfect for working parents as it provides a full day’s entertainment for children aged 4-12 from 8am to 5.30pm (with a hot lunch included). More information can be found here: Summer Activity Camp at Rupert House School - open to all. Discover are also planning other exciting activities, including a Rugby Camp with the Hawks, and further details will be shared shortly about this.
Clubs and wrap-around care for next term
Clubs go live for next term over the weekend on My School Portal and bookings close at 23:55 on Tuesday 10th June. In the survey which we conducted last year, a number of parents told us that they would appreciate there being wrap-around care available until 6pm each day and that they found the range of different club finishing times and locations confusing. As a result of this feedback, the pick-ups for the vast majority of Pre-Prep Clubs will be 4.45pm and Prep Clubs will be 5pm from September, with additional Late Stay provision being available until 6pm. All bookings for Aftercare, Late Stay and Combined After School must be made via email to arlette.halfhead@ruperthouse.co.uk. Please read the club letter below.
I hope that you enjoyed Sports Day today and congratulations to Sahara for winning the cup! The Year 6 parents very generously presented me with a lovely big bell tent as a leaving gift to the school during their post-Sports Day BBQ which we look forward to putting up for the children to use soon.
Best of luck to all those taking their LAMDA exams today.
I hope you have a lovely weekend.
Best wishes,
Nick Armitage