I spent the weekend practising my swimming, just in case this terrible outcome occurred. You will be relieved to hear that I managed to stay dry. I was warned on Tuesday that there were pirates about and so I proceeded with caution to the Form 1 classroom. As soon as I entered the room, I adopted a jovial piratical demeanour and shouted with abandon “Ooh arrhh, me hearties!” This was clearly a sensible move as the assembled company of bucanneers greeted me like a longlost companion. I was kitted out with a hat and a bandanna and asked to join the crew. On no occasion did it occur to them to ask me to walk any form of plank. It was a delight to spend time amongst such a hearty crew of miscreants and it was clear to me that they had a wonderful day. Whether they ever discovered that chest full of treasure and dubloons, I shall never know.

In the Prep School, we ended this half of term with the magnificent general knowledge quiz. There were some surreal moments. The music round started with a piece of music I recognised as one of Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” I was just congratulating myself, when Mr Richards said, “As all of you will know, this is Vivaldi. The question is... What was his first name?” There were very few questions that someone was not able to answer and the breadth of knowledge demonstrated by our pupils was quite staggering. Having said that, it is not altogether surprising. Earlier in the week, having had a busy morning with meetings, teaching and working on some complex emails, I went to lunch to refuel.

As I sat down, a couple of familiar faces appeared. “Sir! Another round of general knowledge please.” Then began a lunchtime quiz. I decided that all my questions were going to be about Napoleon. I had no idea whether any of the boys present would even know who Napoleon was, but I decided to give it a go. Between the four boys they managed to answer almost all the questions including the obscure island upon which Napoleon had died. One question that they did not get was where Napoleon had been exiled to in 1813. The answer is the island of Elba just off the coast of Italy. I always enjoyed giving my pupils the following little sentence which Napoleon was supposed to have uttered when he arrived there:

Able was I ere I saw Elba

Two questions I always asked were: what is interesting about this statement and secondly why do we know that Napoleon did not say it? If you have any time over the half term break, why not ask your child these questions. The answers will appear in the newsletter after half term!

The general knowledge quiz was only the last event of a hugely busy week; the newsletter that I’m sure you will enjoy reading speaks of many of the events that have been occurring. We are so lucky that our staff are so dedicated to ensuring that our pupils have a memorable and nourishing time at the school. I want to thank them very much indeed for everything that they have done over the last couple of weeks.

I have been very impressed by the number of Form 8 pupils who have told me, when asked what they will be doing over half term, that they will be revising for their mock exams. This is music to my ears. One thing is certain, that all of them seem to know what they ought to be doing. I hope that they will find time to do some revision, to get some rest and spend some time relaxing, always the perfect combination when preparing for exams. I always enjoy half term at this time of year, as one becomes very aware of the lengthening hours of light as the early spring flowers fight their way through the solid earth, to appear resplendent above the dull ground. I very much hope that you will find time to enjoy the company of your wonderful children in the coming week.