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(The full version of St. Mary's Messenger can be found in the password-protected area of the web site)

Done! Another year over. Another day of great excitement and not a few tears: excitement because we break up for the long summer holidays and we have a million dreams of what we are going to do, where we are going to visit and all the pleasures that we are going to have; tears because some are leaving and this has been their final day in the uniform of St. Mary’s and they will never again come together as the same group.

We have had a good final week with various sports to keep us keen during the rain-showers and a lovely Speech day and Prize-giving in the Cathedral. My thanks for the success of this must go to Mr Nowell as ever for the uplifting music and organisation within the Cathedral, also to Mrs Coulson and Mr Daly for sorting everything out at the school end. It is not an easy task to make sure that all the items and all the people come together in the same place at the same time. It’s a shame that no-one managed to save some of the sunny weather for the picnic afterwards but it took more than a squall of rain to dampen our spirits.

The Speeches and the Prizes all seemed to go well – thank you Mr Reid, you’ll be getting plenty of speechifying in Scotland, so it’s good to know that you cut your teeth at St. Mary’s. That the time for my own speech had to be squeezed was pleasing in one respect in that there was less to physically write (and less to have to listen to, I hear you say) but I regretted that I didn’t get the opportunity to celebrate more closely some of the personal successes or thank everyone who deserves it. However, I have been catching up here and there this week: I said my bit to the leavers on Tuesday; I spoke to Year 5 on Wednesday and I bored the whole school with a mini-speech before the Final Assembly today. Well, boys and girls, that’s the price one has to pay for a long summer holiday – lots of speeches, but when the hols finally come, oh, how sweet they are!

Hard copy of the ISI Inspection report will be mailed out to parents once the school office has had the chance to compile the usual end of year mailings and we can get to the photocopier. Without going over it all again, it is a very, very good report of which we feel proud. It is not perfect, it gives us ideas to think about, but it has come at the right time – the start of the summer break so the staff are able to think about it in a relaxed and calm way, plan what needs to be done, what needs tweaking, without the usual pressures of every day school life. The Reporting Inspector said as she was leaving, “You have a lovely school here and lovely children”. Who am I to argue?

Obviously the more people who know just how good a school we are, the better it is for us all, so if you know of a way that you can spread the word about St. Mary’s or offer any practical help, please do so. In times such as these a small school like St. Mary’s needs as many friends as possible, so we would all love to see the message spread far and wide. New families add extra vigour and extra enthusiasm to the community, keep the school fresh and strong. Hidden away behind our walls, it is easy to overlook us, which is why I am always grateful for parents to advance our cause.

When we return in September, some familiar faces will be gone, starting at their next schools, but there will also be some new faces who will quickly become firm friends. Their parents will soon get used to the weekly round of exhortations to sew nametapes onto socks, check bags and planners for forgotten messages and not to park on the pavements near the school. Some things change, Headmasters don’t.

I shall close by repeating my thanks to all the families of St. Mary’s for the help you have given the school this year. Without your support and encouragement we would merely be a great school, you have made it brilliant. Thank you, have a good summer and stay safe till we meet again.

Andy Salmond Smith

©2010 St. Mary's Preparatory School