Rarely had the Cathedral seen such a huge choir and it all sounded magnificent. The Cathedral Choristers also performed two works, one of which was The Lord is my Shepherd by Howard Goodall (better known as the theme tune to the Vicar of Dibley, which was sung for the TV series by the Christ Church Choir.) The event was a huge success. Many thanks to Ms Biddell, Mr Moy and Mrs Fairhurst who organised the logistics.

The William Walton Hall has been in almost constant use this week, mainly because of preparations for the School Play. As ever, the play is the brainchild of our very own Mr Richards and has the appropriate and easily misread title Wilton Hall. From what I have seen, it will prove to be a wonderfully colourful experience and I look forward to watching it in a couple of hours’ time. I very much hope that you will all be able to come. So much work has been put into it.

I am delighted to be able to announce that Mr Pedr Davies has been appointed to teach English. Mr Davies has been teaching at Henry Box School in Witney. He studied at Sheffield University and did a PGCE at Oxford. He will be starting at Christ Church next term and I am certain will prove to be an enthusiastic, energetic and knowledgeable teacher who will enjoy working alongside the new Head of English, Mr Farmer. Many congratulations to both of them. Very sadly Mrs Schiller has announced that she will be retiring at the end of this year. We will miss her greatly and I will talk fully about her at Speech Day. I very much hope that she enjoys the rest of her time here.

It was Red Nose Day today as was evident right from the start as people arrived at school clad in red, some even wearing noses and I very much enjoyed watching the red caterpillar making its way across Tom Quad this morning on its way to Cathedral. I decided to wear my nose on Brewer Street this morning. One member of Nursery, came rushing up to me as she always does, “Mr Murray – you have got a nose!” This sounded positive. “Where?” I asked. “Right there,” she said, pointing, “On your face!”

In the Cathedral this morning, the Chaplain spoke to us about the parable of the Prodigal Son, one of my favourite parables. After having wasted his inheritance, the younger son comes back home after many years away. He is greeted by his father with open arms who calls for the slaying of the “fatted calf” in honour of his son’s return. The elder brother who has remained at home all along helping his father on the farm is furious and complains that his younger brother should not be forgiven. “What would you do?” asked the Chaplain. I was always the elder one of two brothers and so always had sympathy with the sensible, stay at home brother. But what would our pupils think? One of the best answers was the following nuanced response: “I would have forgiven him, definitely, but not allowed him to attend the party!” A wonderful and practical compromise. Afterall let’s remember our priorities!

Indeed the wisdom of young people is often extraordinary. Afterwards at coffee one parent told the enlightening story of a young boy who had read the story of Pinocchio. The more Pinocchio lies, the longer his nose grows. The attentive boy had been asked what moral he took from the story. After a short pause he responded, “If you want a nose, you’ve got to lie!” Maybe it’s time for me to take my red nose off!