On Wednesday 24th October we celebrated our annual tradition of commemorating our founding benefactors - without whom the School would not be in the shape and form it is today.

The service took place at St. Georges Church where many of our former pupils will remember the traditional boaters that continue to be worn by the prefects as we mark this most important of days.

The day concluded with lunch at the School - we were delighted to welcome former pupils, staff, governors and other guests joining us for the meal. 

Stephen Seabridge, Stoke-on-Trent's inaugural Poet Laureate, has been in school the last two days speaking to the pupils and running workshops with Year 5. We were delighted that Stephen agreed to be the judge for our first Junior School poetry competition. All the finalists met Stephen in our assembly and you can read the poems of the three winners here

We were honoured that Stephen had written a special poem for his visit.

Poetry in the world of Stephen

Often, I find myself on stage, at the front of a hall,

like this one, and people might ask me, Stephen,

what does poetry mean to you?

And I say that it means this, and that,

and that it might mean this and that too,

but what I really want to say is…

Poetry is the light peeking out on the horizon

in the morning when the sun starts to rise.

Poetry is the clean breeze on a summer’s day,

and the soft white of midwinter snow.

Poetry is the speck of dust falling,

that small circle of something

that can tell the entire history of the earth.

Poetry is the touch of soft cotton,

the dance of the light on a piece of silk.

Poetry is what helped a little boy like me

who didn’t read very much, helped him

on the way to finding his words.

Poetry is the way of looking inward,

and outward, at yourself, at others,

it is the way of seeing all that around you

that is grace, that is a marvel.

Poetry is me and poetry is you.

On Friday 28 September England International Hockey star, Sam Ward, declared our new Astroturf open and ready. 

He has enjoyed considerable success in the last four years with appearances at the World League Final (2015) and both the Euro-Hockey championships and World League Semi-Finals in 2017.

He cut his teeth as one of the "Banana Bunch"; the name for Leicester Hockey club's mixed youth development group. After Leicester he moved on to Beeston, where he earned a reputation as a prolific goal scorer on the domestic scene.

Sam gave a series of masterclass sessions with opportunities for all our aspiring hockey players to learn first-hand from an England International!

Headmaster, Mr Getty, commented on how inspiring it was and how fortunate for our young sportsmen and woman to have an Olympian in school.

Following the masterclass sessions, Sam took part in a Q&A session where pupils of all ages quizzed Sam on what life is like an England International.

 

As part of the Extended Project Qualification, students are required to present their project in an accessible manner to a non-specialist audience. Each student has been involved with their presentation for over a year, with the presentation acting as a culmination point.

This year's cohort put on a wide-ranging display of presentations including reflections on: 'Immortality in antiquity', 'The controversy of Euthanasia' and 'Antibiotic's Apocalypse'.

It was a pleasure to see how diverse our Sixth Former's interests were and the detail they went into to master their topic area with such confidence and skill. Such an experience will no doubt prepare them well for life after Sixth Form.

For information about the benefits of the EPQ go to the:

Sixth Form Curriculum page

Mr Getty announced the appointments of Senior Prefects in the first assembly this morning. 

Head Girl is Sandali Agarwal and Deputy Head Girl is Millie Wain. Head Boy is Charlie Nash and Deputy Head Boy is Aum Chaudhary. They will lead a team of 24 prefects, supporting the Headmaster and Senior Staff and assisting with pastoral duties amongst the younger pupils.