14th January 2022
It has been a busy first full week of term, with clubs and activities underway, swimming and games sessions all happening and the Year 6 cohort finishing off their entrance and scholarship assessments for senior schools over these first few weeks' back.
Lots of prospective parents have already visited and they all commented on the buzz around the school as the children enjoy settling back into their learning with their teachers and friends
Assemblies
In these rather unsettling times, where people in positions of power who have allegedly broken the rules are being held to account, I am pleased that the younger children at Rupert House have such super role models as our Year 6 leaders to look up to. They were given their roles and responsibilities in Assembly on Monday and I have every confidence that they will lead by example.
It was wonderful to hear from Year 2 with a super assembly yesterday, continuing the theme of New Year's Resolutions. The children had clearly spent some time thinking on areas of school life they particularly wanted to focus on this term, and they confidently and clearly shared their plans with the rest of the school, also sharing with us their ambitions for the future. I encouraged them to absolutely aim high and when Rafe mentioned wanting to be a racing driver, I was able to share with the children the similar ambition of a young girl at the first school in which I taught. This was Jamie Chadwick, now one if the world's foremost female racing drivers, who is aiming to race in Formula 1, so these dreams are all there for the realising!
Henley Educational Partnership
Since joining the school, I have been wanting to explore ways of us working with the other schools in and around Henley, for the benefit of all the children. Last Friday I was very excited to have the opportunity to meet with Catharine Darnton, the Head of Gillotts, and Tyrone Howe, the Head of Shiplake College, to discuss the idea with them. They are very keen on the concept, which is ostensibly to share resources, facilities and expertise between the schools where appropriate in order to broaden horizons and create opportunities for all children in Henley. The next step is for us to engage with Henley Business School and Henley College, before we open a dialogue with the primary schools to explore their willingness to be part of the partnership. We will then be keen to engage with local businesses, clubs, charities and faith centres to see how they might work with us. The initial response is very encouraging and I look forward to updating you as our plans progress.
House Music Competition
There was much excitement when Mrs Breen announced the theme for the House Music Competition, which is happening this term. Each of the houses is representing one of the Home nations and they will be choosing a song from one of the artists of that nation. If it were my choice, we would have songs from the Proclaimers, Tom Jones, Snow Patrol and The Beetles, but I am looking forward to hearing their choices performed in front of the rest of the school!
Cross-Country
Good luck to all those children who are taking part in the Cross-Country event tomorrow at Shiplake College. Hopefully, we will have runners in all categories from Year 1 upwards and if the turn-out is on a par with that at the Chiltern Edge series last term, we will have lots of children taking part. I was certainly most impressed with the nineteen children who joined us for Running Club on Tuesday morning, who were not put off by the dank and extremely muddy conditions!
I hope you all have an enjoyable and restful weekend.
With best wishes,
Nick Armitage, Head