It was Red Nose Day today! I managed to arrive at School sporting a blue shirt and yellow tie having forgotten temporarily about the importance of the day. But help was at hand! The front office popped a plastic nose onto my everyday one and Mr Berry quickly appeared with a red top hat which he seemed to have lurking around in his classroom. Is there any occasion for which a Reception teacher does not have a prop? There were any number of red clothes in evidence today including a beautiful Chinese silk top emblazoned with two glorious dragons and some red trousers covered in big black spots. When I complimented the wearer of the spotted trousers, he pulled his anonymous jacket back to reveal a shining red top with a glorious ladybird on the front. The trousers now made perfect sense! The most original piece of red impedimenta was the pair of red glasses being worn by a boy who arrived dramatically on his bicycle. “I’ve had a very interesting journey. My red glasses transformed the colours of the traffic lights. The red looked brown, the yellow looked green and the green looked blank!” I was relieved, I have to say, that he had arrived at school with everything, including his glasses, fully in tact.

World Book Day is one of my favourite occasions. Pupils you know so well seem not to turn up that day while there is a stampede of characters from books, dressed in their clothing, many clutching wands and staffs. I arrived, dressed this year, as Dumbledore! “Oh look,” said one boy as he approached the school, “it’s Father Christmas.” I spent the rest of the day trying to ensure that everyone knew who I was and, indeed, I found myself getting carried away. I was using a perfectly sized stick as my elderwand and was attempting to bring about magical transformations by brandishing this twig. One of the many Harry Potters who had decided to attend our school, said, as he flourished his plastic wand in front of me, “Well yours is not a wand, it’s a stick - unlike mine!”

Yesterday Pre-Prep resembled a rather exotic corner of the Spanish Main. It was Pirate Day and, as I stood on Brewer Street, shiploads of pirates were deposited on the early morning street, clad in colourful head gear, scars adorning their faces from ferocious cutlass fights, and bright gold earrings glinting in the early morning light. One young pirate approached me and stood staring at me for a long time. Suddenly, from behind her back, she raised an inflatable plastic cutlass which she thrust towards with extraordinary speed. “Shiver me timbers!” I expostulated. It was going to be a dangerous day! I hope you will be delighted to hear that I survived the encounter.

I spoke to the pupils on Monday morning about the importance of following the news at the moment, pointing out to them the on-going saga of Greenland, the tragic events in Minneapolis and the Shakespearean drama of the Prime Minister and the Mayor of Manchester. Do please take the opportunity to encourage your children to listen to or read the news.

It was lovely to see so many of you in the Cathedral this morning to hear The Master of Magdalen
College School, Helen Pike, speak to the School. The reading she had chosen was the one about
Jesus calming the Storm. “Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith.” says Jesus before causing the wind to drop. The Master had read some important research about which factor is the most important in
causing people to succeed in an activity. She was expecting, and I suspect hoping, that it would be
diligence, always a useful message to deliver to a pupil body, but in fact it was ……. confidence.

It’s been another week of Christmas entertainment! Today we had a wonderful Christmas lunch, Turkey, pigs in blankets, Brussels sprouts – everything that one could possibly have wished for on such an occasion and all beautifully prepared by our wonderful Kitchen staff. It is perhaps a good moment to mention them – in fact all year they have worked tirelessly to provide us with nourishing and tasty food and they have always done so with a smile. We have been doing so well on the sports pitch and in the classroom this year. I’m sure these successes are partly because of the nutritional value of our food. Of course, many of you will know the old phrase, “We are what we eat!” and judging by the quality of our food, we should be a quality school!