At the end of last term, there was a hole in the place where the old pavilion stood, whereas now, only a mere eight weeks later, there stands a substantial building. I remember seeing the first drawings appear from the architect’s pen, many years ago. We wanted to provide a generous-sized space in which to entertain, a kitchen, decent storage space and changing rooms – all in a building which would be a modern take on a traditional pavilion. It was wonderful to watch the design evolve, the architect fulfilling our brief brilliantly. Our choice to go with a pre-fabricated building, where the parts of the building have been constructed elsewhere and then brought to the site to be fitted together, has ensured that once the building was started, progress has been rapid. It has also meant that the impact on the site itself has been minimal – far less than if everything had been constructed here. The latest indications are that the Pavilion will be completed by mid October. We will be in touch very soon about the exact date for our celebratory drinks.

I mentioned to the boys on the first day of term that I had discovered an app called Merlin. One of the boys was able to tell me that, rather than being an app connected with Arthurian legends, it was one which was able to listen to, and then identify, birdsong. Lay your phone out in the garden, set the app up, and it will tell you which birds are singing around you. I told the boys that the moment I switched it on, I started hearing all the individual bird calls - not that I, unlike the app, was able to identify them. This tiny electronic picture of a bird sitting on my phone enables me to listen to the world in a much more sensitive way – and indeed I would recommend you try the app both for its ability to help you identify birdsong and for the way in which it prompts you to listen. Indeed, I think it is so important that the pupils be encouraged to notice everything around them. The ability to appreciate the beauty of the world is one of the most important and life-affirming abilities, and part of my focus this year is to encourage the pupils to take a Merlin approach to the world. No day should ever pass without our pupils noticing something new, and given the wonderful variety of trees available to us in our Woodland School, it has been suggested that we should load up the app onto our new school iPads and teach our pupils to have Merlin ears!

I never fail to marvel at the interest which our pupils take in almost any subject. We will soon be appointing a Head Boy, a Deputy Head Boy and various other school officers. One of the boys asked whether the pupils would be allowed to vote upon the matter, a most interesting suggestion. But of course this is Christ Church Cathedral School and so it didn’t end there. The next ten minutes were taken up with a debate about what the best voting system should be for this process - should it be decided upon by a first past the post system, or should it be decided upon by proportional representation, or indeed (like the USA Presidential election) a college of Form representatives? The pros and cons of the various systems were discussed in detail. And all I had expected when I went into the hall was a quiet lunch... How naïve of me. I should know by now that that’s never going to happen. And of course, I will now have to think carefully about the democratisation of the Head Boy selection process and, if we do decide to adopt this scheme, what sort of voting system would be introduced...

For pupils and staff, the beginning of term is always a dramatic shift of gear. One of the most heartening conversations was with a boy who was returning to school. The boy’s mother said how quickly she thought that the summer holiday had swept by. I sagely agreed. “That’s true,” said the boy, “but it doesn’t matter because we have an even more exciting school to come back to!” Quite!

Mr Murray Headmaster.