The Worcester Chapel choir was invited to take part in the celebrations for D-Day - a great honour. We set off on Wednesday morning, crossing the channel, as those who liberated Europe had done 81 years before, from Portsmouth to the Normandy Coast. The ferry was crowded with men in uniforms all sporting medals. When we could no longer see England, we went up to the top deck and performed a ceremony, the voices of the choir mingling with the thrum of the ship's engine and the stiff channel breezes. We threw a wreath overboard to commemorate those who had made this journey and not come back. We all watched as it floated away into the air, only to land in the sea in the middle distance. In a sign of things to come, some reporters from Good Morning Britain filmed the choir singing and interviewed some of the boys. On Thursday morning, the nation woke up to their voices!

On Thursday we took part in a huge service at Bayeux Cathedral in the presence of the British ambassador and many local dignitaries. At the beginning of service the bells of the cathedral were rung out, a deep, body-shaking, haunting sound and one which made singing inside the cathedral difficult. The boys managed to hold their note against the deafening sound. At the end of the service a pipe band from Jedburgh in the Scottish Borders played Amazing Grace, the cathedral echoing to their sound. That service was broadcast by the Daily Express online. On Friday, we sang in the beautiful cemetery at Bayeux, the largest Commonwealth Cemetery in Normandy. We were surrounded by the graves of 4000 servicemen who had fallen retaking the town.

Two of our number read lessons and we were privileged to have present a number of veterans, all whom were at least 98. At the end of the service the boys were able to meet the Secretary of State For Defence, who was delighted with their performance, and a veteran who took a great deal of time to talk to the boys. He handed them cards which showed a picture of him as a young man of 17 and a half in his smart new uniform. Despite the passing of 81 years, the face was recognisable.

I cannot compliment the boys enough - they sang magnificently and drew the applause of the huge crowd gathered at the cemetery. During the course of the service, they were bathed in hot summer sun one moment, and minutes later rained upon torrentially. And yet they continued doing what they were there to do with complete professionalism. This ceremony was reported on Sky News.

But perhaps the most moving experience was to attend a ceremony in a little village, Sully, a few miles outside Bayeux. There, every year, they remember a British serviceman who died in the village and whose parents asked for him to be buried in the local churchyard. The villagers, probably 20 in number, gather and remember him with full honours. It was a privilege to take part in their service. Two elderly citizens of the village whom we met remembered being liberated. They knew that this had happened when they heard unfamiliar words in the lanes. In particular they remember the names, which they quickly recognised as English ones. They knew then that they were free and have celebrated that moment ever since.

I’m very touched to have been part of the celebrations and we should all be proud of those boys who were involved.

Some of the Worcester boys were not able to come because they were taking Common Entrance. I always find the moment when the boys sit down to start the exams a moving one because it speaks of the end of their time at the school. For many of them it is the end of a time beyond which they cannot remember, some having arrived with us in nursery. There will never be an institution with which they will be more significantly related. This is one of the most humbling aspects of working at CCCS. We will of course miss these boys very much indeed.

So much has been going on at School in the days I have been away, much of which you will be able to read in this newsletter. May I thank my colleagues for all they have done while I have been away.