So many of them have paid a lot of interest in the process and they have expressed all sorts of opinions. Many of the pupils seem to know a great deal about the election. I spoke to the pupils on Monday morning about what to look out for and made some predictions. Though I was right about which states were easily won by both parties and about which were swing states, I completely failed, along with almost all the pollsters, to predict how easily Donald Trump would win the election. He clearly played his Trump card!

Life is often less predictable than we imagine it might be. Human behaviour cannot always be anticipated and, after all, that is one of the things which makes dealings with people so interesting. I’ve always been sceptical about saying that anything in human affairs is inevitable. What this means is that we should never believe that some weakness or short-coming or difficulty is inevitable – there is always the chance that difficulties can be overcome. I have said before that some of those pupils whom I have taught who have found academic work difficult have ended up doing higher degrees; some people who have not been very sporty have ended up performing for their country at a sport. I have known pupils to achieve both of these things. We must always have hope and always imagine that there are very few limits, if any, to what people, particularly those who are young, can achieve.

I had the pleasure just before Half Term of taking some of our senior musicians to Winchester College to take part in a strings day. Winchester’s Head of Strings undertook a workshop, during which the boys rehearsed with pupils from two other prep schools. Our pupils performed brilliantly and impressed the music teachers there hugely. I took the opportunity to catch up with the Registrar, who mentioned how much our former pupils were contributing to the life of Winchester. I was delighted when I was walking through the School to bump into one of them, a boy who is one of Winchester’s top performing musicians and a star in the classroom. He was pleased to see me – as mature and charming as ever. He informed me that he was about to go to an A Level Latin lesson where he was going to be taught by a certain Mr Philomin, who also happens to be a former pupil of CCCS! Not bad that both Winchester pupil and teacher were both educated at our school!

This morning I noticed that a number of furry animals, mainly of the bear variety, were arriving at school. Why were all the younger pupils bringing with them furry companions? “Because the Teddy Bear Hospital is coming!” responded one of those cuddling his teddy fondly. It was true. This afternoon a large contingent of University medical students arrived to spend time ministering to any teddies brought in by our pupils as a way of teaching the pupils about the human body and how it works. Clearly our pupils are much concerned about the health of their bears, as the number of patients was very large. Rarely has there been such a concentration of medical knowledge present in a school but, as a consequence, we must have the fittest set of teddy bears in the country!

It is Friday afternoon as I write and it is therefore Enrichment. I have just been attending a talk given by a charity worker who is involved with an organisation which tries to get environmental campaigners in touch with politicians. He has come down from Sheffield to talk to the pupils. The boys are so lucky in the variety of activities which are being offered and the experiences to which they are being exposed. Our local MP now has a batch of letters from some of her younger constituents heading her way!