The New Term
At last, after many months, we are ready to welcome almost 340 pupils back (some, of course, for the first time) to the College campus in the coming days. These months have been strange for everyone, but we are truly looking forward to re-establishing some sense of normality: to excited friends meeting up again after such a long time, to classes resuming in physical classrooms, to the buzz and movement of a busy school around a beautiful campus, to pupils making the most of the outdoor exercise opportunities here.
Enormous efforts have gone on in recent months by the Bursar and her team to prepare everything according to the best safety standards. Pupils will see the signs and arrows we are all familiar with now, in all public places, and some of the standard procedures of daily life (like meals and class routines) will be altered for a while, but much is unaltered, and we hope that as the year goes on we can gradually restore things like sports’ matches and major College events.
First Form pupils, who of course missed the rituals of leaving their Primary schools, arrive for a relaxed introduction to the campus on Tuesday afternoon; other new pupils come on Wednesday afternoon, with returning boarders that evening (they should not arrive before 6.30pm), and day boys and girls on Thursday morning.
On Thursday morning there will be House and academic administration sessions in small groups, including recorded ‘Assembly’ messages. Classes start after lunch on Thursday (after which day boys and girls may leave), and Friday is the first full day.
We look forward to getting into the routines of College life very shortly.