As many of these blogs do, this week’s missive reflects upon events which started prior to the pupils returning to school on Monday morning.
After school on Friday, I headed up to Highbury Infants to join in with our Friends’ Association Christmas Fair. It certainly felt very busy and having one of our choirs perform was a lovely touch. At the end of the evening, I was invited into Santa’s grotto and was blown away by the creativity and hard work to make this room so special. I would not have recognised it from its usual function.
The queue for refreshments was healthy and although I didn’t sample anything during the event itself, I was treated to a piece of cake at the end made by Mrs Spier, and I have to admit that it was rather scrumptious!
Rumours early on Monday morning suggested it was one of our best winter events yet and I can confirm that this was indeed the case with a record total in excess of £3300 being raised. This will be added to the year’s total and will be shared between the two schools in September. A huge thank you to everyone who worked so hard in putting another great event together and to everyone else who came along to support.
From the beginning of October, our woodwind teacher has been working with a choir of 23 pupils who had been invited to join forces with Stevenage Singers and perform in their annual Christmas concert. Last Sunday, I joined the pupils for an afternoon rehearsal and the concert itself.
The pupils were amazing and sang so well. I was impressed with the songs they performed on their own, as well as the depth of sound created when our pupils joined forces with the adult choir. Thank you to the friends and family who came along and supported this event, particularly at this time of the year when family life is getting quite busy.
Our Friends’ Association were back out again at the beginning of the week, with the help of the ‘main man’ again, spreading some Christmas cheer around the school’s neighbourhood. The committee clearly do have some great connections.
I used some of Monday afternoon to visit the classes to see what they were working on this week. There was some very precise technology continuing in Year 6. In Year 4, I was lured into Kusama Class by the smell of cooking to see groups of pupils prepping the vegetables for their soup. As Mrs Davies commented whilst I was there, the pupils’ knife skills were very impressive and I can report that no plasters were needed.
In Year 5, Space Week was continuing with another very interesting talk on the Euclid telescope. Coming in towards the end did me no favours and I was pleased to see that the pupils had clearly taken in the information they had been given by Dr Joachimi from UCL. That, and the fact their eyesight is considerable better than mine! I caught up with our visitor before he left and he was very complimentary about the pupils and their knowledge. We also spoke about the importance of outreach work at this age to hopefully inspire the next generation of physicists.
After school, I couldn’t resist popping into the hall to see the final dance session of the year run by Mr Sapsed. Joking as the parents came in that there would be audience participation, I suppose I should apologise. When I returned for the last dance, there was a repeat of one of the earlier numbers and many of the parents had been persuaded to dance along with their children. I promise no images were taken or will be shared… by me!
Tuesday was a much quieter day for me in terms of my diary, although I did start with my regular weekly JLT meeting. I can confirm that not a single topic discussed had anything whatsoever to do with the school.
Given the rather wet and unpleasant weather we have been having recently, I went for an indoor version of my silly advent calendar game that I started a couple of years ago. Was this wise? Let’s just say it was interesting. I ran four games at the same time on Tuesday lunchtime and so feel free to guess your own adjective. I used the screens in the dining rooms to display a simple message: Don’t be greedy, and I am pleased to report that, on the whole, the pupils weren’t. They entered into the spirit of the games and where they were lucky, they shared their winnings.
After school couldn’t have been more different as I headed into London, having been invited to attend the Parliamentary Science Reception at the House of Commons. It was a lovely evening, and I had the opportunity to talk with some very interesting people, including, ‘four Oxbridge professors, three biochemists, two former MPs and a Lord, over a glass of wine.’ Now reread that sentence with the obvious tune in your heads and you can tell we have entered the Christmas festivities.
Despite the late night, it was an early start on Wednesday as we welcomed Anthony Glenn back to Whitehill to perform for the school. This is a treat, part-funded from our Friends’ Association money, which we enjoy each Christmas. It is a one man, many-pupil show and this year’s entertainment was the Nutcracker. I didn’t manage to see all the show as I had a few things crop up that needed my attention but the section I did see looked as frenetic and funny as ever.
I mention my early start, but even that was scuppered by the mischievous Kusama Class Elf who had commandeered my office to spy on the pupils in class. I eventually gained entry as the pupils headed into the show.
I came off a Teams meeting with five minutes to spare before we started serving our Christmas lunch. A huge thank you to Mrs Granger, Mrs Flanagan, and Mr Waluk for setting up the dining room in my absence and prepping the festivities. Thank you also to the staff who gave up some of their lunch break to help serve and look after the pupils from other year groups.
The word from the kitchen is that it was the most enjoyable yet, and I would have to concur, especially when the Year 6s came in and sang through the songs from their Year 3 play. Who can forget the earworm that is ‘Do the Donkey’? If you haven’t seen it yet, there is a great real on our social media page which we are also trying to get to the magical 100 likes – can you help us get there?
I had a wonderful Wednesday afternoon as I joined the Year 5s for their music lessons. The first half was spent with the pupils who are learning the clarinet and then the second half was spent with the flautists. Their energy and enthusiasm were wonderful and it really cheered me up. Thank you, Year 5s.
Thursday was much more chilled (for me anyway) which meant I could watch some of the HGS Sports Leaders working with our Year 5s and also enjoy showing a fellow HGS trustee around the school to meet the pupils and see how we operate as one of their largest feeder schools.
Mrs Vernon and Mrs Winter took a group of 10 Upper School poets to Milford Lodge Residential Home to share some of their festive poetry and to get to know each other. It was a lovely (and lively) hour where the pupils learned they had a lot in common with their hosts, from a love of poetry to horses and pancakes! As one parent commented on our social media page, and as I’ve been saying a lot this week, it is ‘such a great community-based activity.’
Our main event on Friday, which meant we didn’t have an Achievers’ Assembly, was the dress rehearsal, to the rest of the school, of the Year 3 production. I can promise those of you coming to see it at one of next week’s three shows, that you are in for a real treat! The Year 3 team’s sweat, tears (and probably blood) have certainly been worth it! It is incredible!
Next week is the last week of the term and the last school week of 2025. A few events in my diary catch my eye, especially the Year 3 production which takes place on Monday afternoon, Tuesday evening and Wednesday evening. I have maxed out on the tickets and so we should have three great audiences.
My assembly on Monday will take the form of an Achievers’ Assembly so we can present the regular awards and also the end of term sports awards as we weren’t able to do so on Friday this week.
On Tuesday lunchtime, we have the joint leadership teams’ Christmas lunch. This is my treat to the four junior leads and to my colleagues on the Senior Leadership Team.
On Thursday, the Year 4s have a ‘Victorian experience’ marked in the diary for the morning and then, at the end of the week, we have our festive assembly at St Mary’s church. It starts at 9.30am (providing we can get 240 pupils down the hill quickly enough) and you are welcome to join us. We have been warned about lack of space due to ongoing building works and so it might be standing room only.
As a reminder, we finish at 1.30pm on Friday 19th.
Time to recharge batteries over the weekend prior to the final push. Have a wonderful weekend. I am off to celebrate Mr Mills Junior’s birthday!
Best wishes,
Steve Mills
Headteacher
