Letter from the Headmistress – 28th April 2011

I hope you have all had a super holiday and a lovely Easter. It has certainly been a nice long break and Easter time is always a wonderful family holiday with Good Friday and Easter Monday to enjoy as well as a normal weekend. A Catch Up:

The Ski Trip
Whilst Hilary and I left school early last term to accompany the ski trip we kept our ears to the ground and I believe all went well in the last week of term. We were even ‘tuned in’ deep in the heart of Austria to hear who won the House Song Competition and a cheer went up from G Millar, William, Caspar and Lucy when they heard that Hazards had won! I am sorry we missed it and we will certainly make sure that next year’s ski trip is at half term or failing that it will be during the Easter holidays.

The Ski Trip went extremely well and we really did have the most amazing fun. Fortunately it had snowed the night before we arrived in Galtur and the village looked quite beautiful. We were also very lucky and the snow fall was followed by a week of perfect sunshine. The pistes were perfect for the children and just below us we had the Village of Ishgyl where our more advanced skiers could go and branch out a little. Our hotel looked after us very well and Let’s Go Travel had smoothed the way for our flights, the bus transfers, ski school, lift passes and ski hire and the whole week was a complete pleasure. Please think seriously about joining us next year. We will definitely go during the holidays either at half term or as the Easter holiday begins.

The Rugby Tour – Rosslyn Park 7s Tournament
The boys won their first warm up matches and then started the knock out Tournament at Rosslyn Park on Tuesday 29th March. They won their first two matches and then had to face Milfield! I hear the boys played extremely well and the entire crowd was thrilled with the quality and excitement of the play. Unfortunately the Kenyan team lost and Milfield, tired from our match, went on to lose against St Olaves. Our congratulations to all the Pembroke boys who were selected to play for the Team.

Coming up
This term will be very busy and there is much to fit in over the next 11 weeks. To try and further improve the academic progress of each child and to maximize the teaching weeks available we have positioned the school exams closer to the end of term than usual. This should allow the momentum of the term to proceed unchecked and we will be keen to monitor whether we feel that this move is to the children’s advantage.

Dates ahead
The calendars are in the office so please contact MJ or Chiru if you need one.

Please have a good look at the School Calendar for this term and make sure you take particular note of many of the dates. Please focus on the exeat and half term dates, CE Exams, School Exams, the ABRSM exams, the Lamda exams, the Ndume 7s and Open Day along with our International Schools Fair, The Barn Dance, The Widgery Cup, The School Play, the Year 8 Dinner, the Dinky Safari Rally and of course Speech Day. There are many other fixtures and trips in the Calendar and time spent in studying the dates will definitely pay dividends later on in the term as life becomes more hectic.

Speech Day
For Speech Day this year we are very lucky to welcome Peter Roberts as our Guest of Honour. Peter is the present Headmaster of Bradfield College and the future Headmaster of King’s School Canterbury. Peter will join us with his wife Marie and his three daughters.

Awards
Towards the end of last term we were all thrilled to hear that Jack Bonham had been awarded the John Wesley award to Kingswood School in Bath. Alex Haller is also going to Kingswood to join his brother Nico and he has been awarded a Bursary to help with the fees. Peter Christianakis performed very well in his prelim papers for Oundle and due to his creditable performance Peter has been awarded a secure place at Oundle for September this year. Finally Georgina Millar has been awarded the All Rounder William Morris Award to Marlborough College. Exciting developments and our sincere congratulations to the children and their families.
In addition to these awards Maria Page sat the entrance exams to Repton School last term. Repton like this to happen in Year 6 and on the basis of Maria’s outstanding marks they have requested that like her sisiter Isobelle, Maria should sit the Academic Scholarship exams to Repton in Year 8.

The Royal wedding
On Friday the children will watch the actual wedding after lunch in the Music School. We will then have a Tea Party on Pre’s Lawn to celebrate such a very special day. We would love you to join us and we will also ask the local community to join us as well. We hope you can pop in and to add to the excitement for all please be very kind and bring something to add to the tea table. (The TV will be on in the reception room so you can watch and chat and you don’t have to miss a thing! )

New Children
We have 18 new children who have just joined us and our main aim will be to make sure that our new arrivals settle in happily and take to their new school. For our stalwarts returning to life as normal at Pembroke, we will endeavour to help, teach and support each one as they tackle the new challenges of this term and reach for new heights in all they do.

I am quite sure that mixed with the excitement of a growing school there is concern over your own child and the individual attention that you hope they will receive. As your Headmistress I can assure you that this concern is ours too.

In September we will be taking on a few extra staff to ensure that standards are upheld. Year 4 will split into two mixed ability classes each with their own class teacher. Year 5 will split into 3 classes of around 10 to 15. With some year groups having only one class we feel that making an exception for Year 5 and splitting into three classes is acceptable under the present circumstances.

That brings you up to date with events over the holidays and information from last term. May I take this opportunity to wish you well for the term ahead. Please remember we cannot help if we do not know what’s wrong so please get in touch as quickly as you can to sort out any concerns or worries you have. No worry is too small.

With warmest wishes,

Debs