New test and trace laws, three new counties of Wales facing local restrictions, new regulations on travel to Hong Kong – so much is changing on a daily basis. We try our best to keep up but remaining informed is tiring and adapting to change can be exhausting.

All the more important then, that school offers certainty and routine. Normally at this stage of the academic year we would not even notice that we had completed our first fortnightly timetable in the Senior School or that new girls and staff across both schools had bedded in to the familiar cycle of the week. Unless, that is, there were problems.

With so many of these ‘problems’ being outside our control, the joy lies now in the familiarity of school and the sense of a new shared purpose. Teachers have commented, somewhat surprised, that all the Covid changes are not so bad after all and are easily eclipsed by the energy of classes in the flesh once again. Pupils have, as we knew they would, adapted skilfully. Some reactions were unexpected. For example, Year 7 has suggested that they would like to keep their dedicated outdoor zone in future years as it has helped making new friends so much easier.

So, as far as possible, we want all girls to benefit from traditional classroom lessons with their teachers. We have adapted well to guided home learning and can shift seamlessly to mixed model learning for those pupils who have to stay at home due to Covid. However, we want the default position to be that girls are in school unless they are ill or having to isolate under the current government regulations.

Please do join our parent forum meetings in the Senior School or talk to the Prep Leadership Team if you have any remaining uncertainty or questions. We would like our message to be loud and clear: we want all our girls in school as we continue to focus on academic rigour, exemplary pastoral care and high expectations with them secure in the knowledge that our routines provide much-needed certainty in a time of change.

Mrs Kate Reynolds, Head

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