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

With predictable cruelty The Fates have sent their traditional “Welcome back to the second-half of the summer term” weather, with leaden skies plus rain every day giving children and teachers the chance to display the Blitz Spirit as they refuse to be downhearted and soldier on, smiling grimly as the cold rain trickles down their warm, dry neck. Last Saturday evening, on my motorbike, I was lucky: I managed to dodge the weather before it really let rip. The scale of the storm was really rather unexpected and while it may not have been Hurricane Katrina, it certainly was not the weather one hopes for when camping at Walesby.

I really felt for everyone under canvas at the weekend though I heard on Monday morning that whilst it may have been noisy and wet, the intrepid campers had treated it as a big adventure, returning muddy but unbowed. It certainly gives all the children bragging rights when they are older: “You think this is bad weather, do you grandchildren? Well, let me tell you about the great storm at Walesby back in June ’10…”

Since then we have had a wet trip to Skegness for the Y2 children and another cold, grey school photo. It’s not as much fun for anyone involved when the rain spoils things but it is character-forming, honest! Children learn when they are young that neither can they control everything in their world, nor can mum and dad, nor even can Headmasters in their sober suits and shiny shoes. One of the most important lessons we learn is the one about you can’t always get what you want. Anyway, let us hope for improved weather for the rest of the term as we have so many other things in the calendar that would be greatly improved by glorious warm sunshine.

The exam week is over, apart from a few assessments still outstanding for people who weren’t able to come in at various points of the week. There’s more than one way to skin a cat, so to speak, in modern education which is why teachers use a broad range of methods for passing on skills and knowledge but every now and again we absolutely must see how much of those skills and knowledge has been retained. Now begins the task of working out what are the next targets, what are the next steps along the road. Talk to the teachers about how your children have done and what lies ahead not just for your child in particular but for the Year group that they are going to enter in September.

Parents whose children will be in Upper School have received the letter about the restructuring of the tutoring and House system. Without going over it all again, I’ll restrict myself to mentioning a couple of key aspects. I feel it’s going to give us better scope for mentoring the Y4 children as they make that very big step up from class-based Lower School plus it will give the Y5 and Y6 good opportunities to show their caring side and help the younger ones to adapt. Secondly, having three Houses instead of four will mean that we can see more competitive sporting fixtures between the Houses which have, over many years, grown unbalanced with anomalies such as one boy in a Year Group. Furthermore the new system will continue to be flexible so that we don’t see “combustible mixtures” being forced together and the difficult social or pastoral situations arising. (Sorry, that’s three points and I said only two.)

Tomorrow (Saturday) we see one of our informal Diamond Jubilee events – the Jazz Workshop and Concert, with an afternoon of guidance, tuition and rehearsal leading up to a concert with musicians of all ages coming together to have some fun at 1930 in the evening. Mr Nowell has everything in place for what is going to be a great day. Now all we need is some of that sunshine to make it perfect!

Next week we are looking forward to Y2 and Y6 History workshops as well, with the Victorians and World War II as their respective focus. (There is absolutely no truth in the rumour that Mr Daly is a primary source for these!!) These workshops are really fascinating, giving the children an extra dimension to all the knowledge that they learn in the classroom. The most uninterested child cannot help but have their attention hooked by what is happening in front of them.

I would like to close by singing the praises of one someone who very quietly gets on with things, doing a fantastic job in every respect – a real “back-room boy” except she’s a girl and she’s not in a back-room, she’s in the attic! Rachel Pareezer has been selected as one of the candidates for Independent School Finance Manager of the Year, deserved recognition for all the great work she does for St. Mary’s and every single one of us involved in it.

Here’s to a sun-filled weekend,                                                                               

Andy Salmond Smith

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