12th December 2025

Our Senior Voices Choir has been especially busy, touring Henley and sharing seasonal cheer with a range of community groups. On Monday, they visited Chiltern Court Care Home, where residents greatly enjoyed singing along to favourites such as Once in Royal David’s City and Frosty the Snowman and then speaking with the children afterwards. The choir then joined pupils from other Henley primary schools on stage at the Kenton for the annual Carols event, performing three beautifully delivered pieces beautifully and with a real sense of Christmas cheer. They also brought joy to the over-65s of Henley at The Mayor’s Christmas Party at the Town Hall on Tuesday, which is a real highlight for many of the residents.

Wednesday’s Carol Service was a very special occasion and a lovely opportunity to showcase the festive music the children have been learning throughout the term. It was fantastic to have so many parents, staff and former pupils join the choir and orchestra and many thanks to them all for their contributions as well as to Mrs Light and Mr Dwinell and the peripatetic staff for their incredibly hard work in preparing the children and in the case of Mr Dwinell, rewriting the scores for a number of the pieces. It was lovely to see the Year 6 parents and children who stayed afterwards for mince pies and mulled wine with the staff.

A huge thank you to all the parents who helped make this year’s Christmas Fair such a magical experience for the children. An enormous amount of work went into the preparations, and the joy and festive spirit on the children’s faces spoke for itself. Special thanks to Elizabeth Benson, Fiona Chater and Claire Kemble for leading the event so brilliantly, to all the parent reps for their invaluable support, and to the staff for assisting throughout.

This afternoon’s traditional Christmas lunch - with all the trimmings - was, as always, a much-loved treat. To conclude the festivities,  several children performed in our Final Assembly, including a second rendition of ‘Walking in the Air’ which the children sang so beautifully once again. The finale was the annual, delightfully chaotic staff rendition of The Twelve Days of Christmas!

You can view a selection of photos here to get a flavour of Christmas at Rupert House.

 

Staff News

In our final assembly today we said a fond farewell to Mrs Belcher, who has been our LAMDA teacher for a staggering 33 years! Mrs Belcher has inspired numerous future actresses and actors and her record speaks for itself, with numerous Distinctions achieved over the years. We wish her all the very best for her retirement.

We also said goodbye to our two GAP students, who have both worked incredibly hard this term and have endeared themselves to everyone because of their positive attitudes and willingness to do whatever has been asked of them. We wish Miss White all the very best as she goes off on her travels prior to university, whilst we will be excited to hear how Mr R-G's pilot training goes when he moves over to Spain to embark on it in the new year.

 

Cross Country

We are delighted to announce that Rupert House are once again the South Oxfordshire Primary Winter Race Series cross country champions! Congratulations to all pupils who braved wind, rain and mud to take part in one, two or all three races, helping us retain the overall school trophy for another year. We also won the Year 6 girls’ trophy, as well as the Year 4 boys’ and girls’ team trophies.

Special congratulations to the following pupils who earned individual prizes for their overall placings:

• Teddy M – 1st (Year 6)
• Florence S – 1st (Year 5)
• Alice F – 2nd (Year 5)
• Olive G – 2nd (Year 4)
• Henry C – 1st (Year 4)
• Percy F – 3rd (Year 4)

Please see the news section below for further details.

 

Scholarship Success!

It is the time of year when the Year 6 children start to receive their senior school offers. I am delighted to say that the children have been 100% successful in achieving places at the independent schools they have applied to so far, with places offered at The Abbey, Downe House, Heathfield, Pangbourne College, Queen Anne's and Wycombe Abbey to date. In addition, Lotte G has achieved a Sports Scholarship at The Abbey and Sophia S the top Sports Scholarship at Queen Anne's. Very well done to them all!

 

Santa Run

We hope to see many of you at the Santa Run at 10am on Sunday 14th December, starting outside the Leander Club. It is always a wonderfully fun community event for all ages. We are once again sponsoring it and providing free, very tasteful Rupert House–branded Christmas hats for all participants. Please come dressed in your finest festive attire - there are prizes to be won! Sign up here.

 

Henley’s Living Advent Calendar

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the Living Advent evening on 6th December. The children sang beautifully, and thanks to the generosity of those who attended we raised over £600 for The Debt Relief Centre through the raffle – an excellent achievement and record total for this location on the calendar!

 

The Big Christmas Chorus

We have been delighted to take part in The Big Christmas Chorus, a nationwide singalong celebrating 40 years of Walking in the Air and raising funds for Classic FM’s charity, Make Some Noise. The children performed the piece twice - once during the Carol Service and again at the Final Assembly.

Thank you to everyone who brought in a £1 donation on 10th December. We have raised £120 so far, and further contributions are very welcome via this link. Donations through the link also enter you into a prize draw for a fantastic bundle of prizes, including a £2,000 John Lewis & Waitrose gift card, Merlin Annual Passes, a Frasers gift card, and more.

The performance at the church was recorded and can be viewed here. https://youtu.be/NnukZ7tO0WA

 

Spring term minibus bookings

Please email Arlette at arlette.halfhead@ruperthouse.co.uk to confirm minibus and aftercare arrangements for next term by Monday 29^th December latest. Adhoc bookings can be made during the Spring term.

 

I hope you have a relaxing Christmas break and we look forward to welcoming everyone back in the New Year.

Best wishes,

Nick Armitage