Diary Dates Some of the events coming up next term


Monday 16 April Start of term


Friday 20 April Annual Sports Awards


Tuesday 24 April PSFA Meeting


Thursday 26 April Year 11 English Trip to Rose Theatre, Kingston Café Scientifique


Friday 4 May Open Morning


Thursday 17 ~ Friday 18 May Year 4 Residential to Bath


Saturday 19 May PSFA Charity Ball


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Sunday 20 ~ Wednesday 23 May Year 5 & 6 Activities Week in Malvern


Monday 28 May ~ Friday 1 June Half Term


Tuesday 29 May ~ Friday 1 June Fun in the Country Holiday Club


Tuesday 5 June PSFA Meeting


Saturday 9 ~ Sunday 10 June Bronze Duke of Edinburgh expedition


Saturday 16 June Open Day


Wednesday 20 June Rain or Shine Theatre Company presents ‘Much Ado About Nothing’


Friday 22 ~ Sunday 25 June Silver Duke of Edinburgh expedition


Tuesday 26 June Year 13 Celebration Evening


Saturday 30 June ~ Saturday 14 July World Challenge to Borneo


Sunday 1 July New Parents’ Tea


Monday 2 July ~ Friday 6 July Curriculum Enrichment Week


Friday 6th July End of Term


s we come to the conclusion of a typically busy and energetic term for our community I am minded of those who remain busy and energetic across the Pond. On the day after we broke up, there were a number of rallies across the globe under the banner of ‘#neveragain’. These rallies are the latest step in a student led gun control protest which, for now at least, has a significant head of steam. Yes, they have their celebrity supporters, but the energy and impetus is from a vocal and determined student base. I was interested to read that several analysists have suggested that these rallies were considerably larger in number than those of a recent inauguration – although I suspect that there will be those who dispute this.


One of our recurrent themes to our students this year has been that they have ‘a voice’ and that our Quaker values give them a unique setting in which to have their say and feel empowered.


Our pupils tend to be very active in Meetings across school – from Celebration Meetings in the Junior School (it was great to see two pupils steal the show at our Easter meeting when they handed out sports awards – including to the fellow pupils they had ‘coached as coaches’!) through to House Meetings and Key Stage Meetings. In class it is a great strength of our school that students feel confident and happy in giving their opinions – knowing that, delivered in the right manner – all voices count. We have individual pupils who take a lead and propose all sorts of initiatives – from the Junior School basketball club through to


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Giving a Voice through


an Amnesty group and our recent cancer charity fundraisers. Small classes are, of course, a great help but I wonder whether our pupils fully appreciate that an educational environment based upon mutual respect and unspoken expectation is a fabulous one for encouraging creativity, problem solving, independent and collaborative learning and much more. As a Quaker school, which from its outset in 1842 has been moulded by values including mutual respect, tolerance, conflict resolution, peace and non- violence, it is fascinating to see the natural generation of human action within our cousins in the United States of America as they grapple with the thorny and all too often tragic issue of how to control the glut of firearms in their society. We will watch this wave of human action and the voices of these students with interest. I


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