Pre-Prep and Nursery came to the Cathedral this morning. We were very fortunate to have preaching today an old friend of the School, The Revd Charlie Kerr, Diocesan chaplaincy advisor. He set the place alight with his lively and entertaining sermon.

As I write, I am sitting beside the Solent, the sun gleaming on the sparkling waters. In front of me are boats of every description, sailing boats, tankers, ferries rushing across to the Isle of Wight, the sunniest place in England, and a little old coracle.

We are delighted to be able to announce our Senior School awards for this year. They are as follows:

• Hugo Branderhorst, Music Scholarship, St Edward’s School, Oxford
• Russell Xiao, Music Scholarship, Abingdon School
• Splendour Adeboga, Music Exhibition, Harrow School
• Trust Tiyapairat, Music Exhibition, Eton College
• Troy Buttimer, Golf Scholarship, Harrow School
• Trust Tiyapairat, King’s Scholarship, Eton College

These are a tremendous set of awards at some very serious schools and encompass three different types of scholarships.

I was very touched by the pupils’ attitude towards V.E. Day. Given that this happened 80 years ago, it cannot have meant very much personally to any of the pupils. And yet almost all of them arrived, wearing red, white and blue, and in our assembly, Mr. Harrison gave a moving summary of what VE Day meant.

It’s wonderful to be back. There is no better time in a school year than the beginning of the Summer term with so much to look forward to.