We appear already to be in that part of the summer that newspapers call The Silly Season. While Donald Trump has changed his mantra from ‘Make America Great Again’ to ‘Keep America Great’, an England batsman has hit 17 sixes in one brief innings, and men with the unlikely Christian names of Boris and Jeremy make the running in the race for the Tory leadership. I am always amused by the halting, bombastic way Mr Johnson speaks, and, with the limitations of his vocabulary, Mr Trump brings a smile to my lips whenever he utters. Jeremy Hunt conveys intelligence, but, strangely enough, our cricket captain Morgan comes across as the most eloquent. And how important it is – especially in these days of presentation – that our young people, as well as our leaders, have the desire and the capacity to communicate effectively.
At a time of national emergency 80 years ago, Winston Churchill’s oratory was largely responsible for galvanising the nation and defeating Nazism. The ability to communicate with the nation, and with the EU, is going to be vitally important in the coming months and years.
On that subject, I must commend our Speech and Language children who gained highly impressive results in their recent exams. As I say, this skill is one that will support them greatly throughout their lives. Well done to all.
I am so pleased that the awful weather is relenting now and starting to shine on the ICC World Cup. It tried its best last week for us, when The Friends staged a wonderful Summer Fayre. Although it rained for a large part, the sun shone for a while, too. A big thank you to The Friends, volunteers, catering and estates teams for working so hard. They created a memorable event.
The Friends have asked me to remind all parents that there will be a second hand uniform sale on Wednesday 3rd July. They also request donations of old Christmas jumpers be added to the clothing bins situated in the day houses.
I would like here to congratulate our Year 5 swimmers who competed at the ESSA swimming event in Sheffield. Mr Kelly reports that Milo, Filippos, Kieran and Freddie all swam brilliantly, and for three of them against competitors a year older. Next year might well be our year again!
The swimmers expect to get wet, of course, but we always keep fingers crossed for dry weather on sports days. The Pre-Prep one went ahead without rain on Tuesday, and it was charming to see so much sportsmanship from our youngest pupils. A big thank you to Mrs Shotton, who organised this event. I was so proud of all the children. And to the parents for supporting them so enthusiastically.
Today we had a wonderful Chapel service with Nick Thorley. Nick, who is blind, gave an amazing and thought-provoking service for Christian Aid. A dear friend of our Chaplain, Nick was also in her band in her student days. I dare say that this assembly is one that will live long in our memories.
St Margaret’s House must also be commended on their wonderful charity day last Friday in aid of Edwards Trust. The whole event was a roaring success and they raised a fantastic total of over £6,000. Thank you to all the staff, parents and children who gave so generously.
And to wind up, good luck to our Year 6 netballers as they head to Condover Hall to take part in their final netball tournament as Blue Coat pupils. Good luck, have fun and make great memories.
Happy weekend everyone!
Mr Noel Neeson | Headmaster
