“Far away the dusty vines overhanging wayside cottages, and the monotonous wayside avenues of parched trees without shade, drooped beneath the stare of earth and sky. So did the horses with drowsy bells, in long files of carts, creeping slowly towards the interior; so did their recumbent drivers, when they were awake, which rarely happened; so did the exhausted labourers in the fields. Everything that lived or grew, was oppressed by the glare; except the lizard, passing swiftly over rough stone walls, and the cicala, chirping his dry hot chirp, like a rattle. The very dust was scorched brown, and something quivered in the atmosphere as if the air itself were panting.”

Unlike the inhabitants of Provence described above, our boys have managed the whole situation brilliantly. They have remained calm, purposeful and in good spirits while the teachers have juggled all their usual balls with the skill and panache that we are so used to.

Really this week started with that remarkable day on Saturday when we opened the Pavilion. It was one of the most joyous occasions that I have attended for a long time and I’m so pleased that so many of you were able to be there. We were very fortunate to have Johnny Searle opening the building for us and it was lovely that he gave time afterwards to the pupils who wished to meet him and to hold his gold medal.

One boy told me that he had even bitten the medal. Apparently, he had been unable to make any impression upon it! The Pavilion has already come into its own this week by providing a place for the hosting of match teas. I have always thought about the Pavilion as providing shelter from the rain. This week, of course, it’s been a shady and cool place to which to retreat while watching cricket being played in the baking sun.

On Sunday I had the pleasure of attending evensong at Pembroke. The preacher was the Russian Orthodox priest, Stephen Platt, a father of three former Cathedral choristers. He has preached at Pembroke every year for as long as anyone can remember. He said that this year he had never heard the choir sing so well, now there’s an objective and experienced judgement. The boys who sing there should be very proud of what they have achieved.

On Tuesday I went with a number of parents on a tour of the Christ Church Gardens. The new Head Gardener showed us round his new place of work. It’s difficult to imagine a more attractive office! The pure variety of the gardens at Christ Church is breath-taking. There are formal gardens in very public places, there are gardens only open to members of the College, with incomparable vistas of the buildings of Oxford, and there are some very private gardens open to the fellows only, with hidden nooks and crannies and, up against the old city walls, subtropical areas where figs and bananas grow in profusion. All in all it was a fascinating tour behind some of Oxford’s most secret walls. Afterwards we retired to the Buttery bar, just next to the Great Hall, and had a very pleasant drink together. I cannot recommend these events more highly so please look out for next term’s trip to Christ Church.

I’m very sorry to let you know that Mr Bagnall, our DT teacher, has decided to retire at the end of this term. It was particularly poignant, therefore, to see the wonderful creations that his pupils had made in last week’s art exhibition. We will speak about him properly at Speech Day in two weeks’ time. We will miss him very much.

I have just been out to the playground to see a huge pile of rucksacks and bags lying in a huge heap. Their arrival denotes the return of Forms 3 and 4 from the trip to the PGL camp near Swindon. By all accounts it seems to have been a hugely successful trip despite the epic temperatures. It’s always a very important trip this because it will be the first time that some of the campers have ever been away from home for any length of time. I get the impression it’s often more of an issue for parents than for the boys but I very much hope that everybody has a lovely weekend together!

I was just teaching earlier when I heard some banging and a great scream. I rushed to the window to see what had happened only to discover that everything was all right and that I was observing a rehearsal for Macbeth! From what I have seen (and indeed heard) I think it’s going to be extremely exciting experience. I hope that as many of you as possible will be able to come on the final Wednesday of term. There will be some time to see the play, have a picnic on the field and then move back to the School for the Friends and Family concert. Can anyone imagine a more entertaining evening? I know where I’m going to be!