Last week, Year 5 headed off on their residential trip to Dorset. They arrived in Swanage and their first activity was a steam train ride. They then visited Corfe Castle. The history of the castle is similar to Warwick Castle — built at a similar time and for similar reasons, but it was the gruesome stories of death and betrayal that really piqued the boys’ interest.  

The boy headed to camp for the evening and they were very eager to find their tents and figure out who they were going to share with. The day ended with the ever popular toothbrush disco and a record-breaking five hours sleep! 

Thursday was spent completing a range of activities that the boys got thoroughly stuck in to, literally! They started with a mud run in the morning, with some boys so covered we couldn’t always tell who they were! Followed by a range of target sports after lunch which included archery, axe throwing and rifle shooting, which were thoroughly enjoyed by all. 

The final day arrived the boys spent the morning being launched off various obstacles at a water park – the perfect way to wear out a group of 46 Year 5 pupils! The bus journey back to Warwick was a peaceful one.

We hope the memories the boys take home from these trips are positive and the bonds that grow between peers are the start of a lifetime of friendships. A huge thank you to all the staff who accompanied the trip. 

Our Year 3 pupils performed in a concert for their parents in the Assembly Hall on Wednesday. It has been only four months since their last concert, and since then our brass players have taken up the French horn, trombone and euphonium, while our woodwind players have progressed to the bassoon, flute, clarinet and oboe.

We hope those in attendance enjoyed the performance as much as the boys enjoyed preparing for it!

You will spot some of them performing with All Stars, Rising Strings and Brass Monkeys in our Summer Concert next week in Warwick Hall.

We look forward to building on the success of the wider scheme this year and to seeing how next year's Year 3 pupils embrace it in September.

On Thursday 11 June, the IAPS Online Chess Championship Final took place. Warwick Junior School’s U9 chess team, consisting of Alex, Ansh, Arthur and Zach, was one of ten teams which had qualified for the Final, ahead of many other IAPS schools across the country. The field was predictably a very strong one with its ranks swelled by many junior county players including some ranked among the best in their national age groups.

By 3.30pm the boys were engaged in battle, with Mr Lam keeping a close eye on proceedings. It was impressive to see just how seriously the boys took the task at hand. Silence fell across the room as all four concentrated on their individual games. Some excellent chess was played, with a combination of principled play, fine technical conversion and sharp tactical vision on display, leaving Mr Lam greatly impressed.

Warwick came in fourth place overall, just a single point off third. Congratulations to the boys and a big well done for their efforts on behalf of school!

Congratulations to all the boys who performed in the teatime concerts this week. We saw performances from every family of instruments, including performances on the timpani. The progress we have seen over the year in the playing of some of our students who have performed in multiple concerts is really impressive. It is such a fantastic opportunity for boys to showcase their musical skills in a non-pressured performance context, and it also highlights musicians to watch in the future.

Good luck to all those who used this as an opportunity to practise performing in front of an audience ahead of their exams.

This week, we have introduced a new Learning Strength to the boys: Creativity. In assembly, we explored the idea that creativity is rooted in our imagination—the ability to picture new ideas, to think differently and to approach challenges with originality. As the boys reflected, imagination is not a fixed talent but something that can be developed over time; like a muscle, it grows stronger the more we use it. Whether through daydreaming, storytelling or simply giving ourselves time to think, nurturing imagination allows boys to see possibilities beyond the obvious and to express themselves with increasing confidence.  

It has been a week in which this creativity has been particularly evident through music. Our teatime concerts provided a wonderful platform for individual expression, with boys performing on a range of instruments including piano, violin, timpani, clarinet and trumpet. The breadth of repertoire—from Bach to the Flintstones theme—captured both careful preparation and imaginative interpretation. This spirit of creativity was also clear in the House Music competition, where collaboration, originality and performance combined to create something genuinely uplifting. 

Alongside this, we are incredibly proud of the outstanding success of our swimmers at the IAPS National Finals. To achieve two national titles, multiple individual and relay medals, and overall runners-up positions at such a prestigious event is a remarkable accomplishment. Equally impressive was the composure and teamwork shown by the boys throughout—an example of how discipline and creativity in performance can go hand in hand on a national stage. 

The wider life of the school has, as ever, been busy and varied. A full programme of fixtures has seen boys representing the school in athletics, cricket and at the U9 IAPS online Chess tournament, each demanding a different kind of focus, resilience and strategic thinking. Meanwhile, Year 5 have enjoyed a wonderful end to the week in Dorset, embracing a range of activities and water sports. The boys have challenged themselves, developed their teamwork and shown great perseverance, and we very much look forward to hearing more about their experiences when they return. 

As we continue through this rich and rewarding term, we encourage the boys to keep using their imagination—to think creatively, to take pride in their ideas, and to approach each opportunity with curiosity and enthusiasm. 

I wish you all a restful and enjoyable weekend. 

John Bond 

From Monday 1 June to Sunday 7 June is Child Safety Week. It is the Child Accident Prevention Trust’s annual community education campaign, acting as a catalyst for thousands of safety conversations and activities UK-wide. This Child Safety Week, the focus is on building capacity for safety behaviour, with the theme ‘Making prevention possible’.

The aim of the Child Accident Prevention Trust is to enable children to have the freedom to grow and learn, safe from serious harm, by helping families build confidence and skills in managing the real risks to children’s safety.

Accidental injury is one of the biggest killers of the UK’s children and a leading cause of disability for otherwise healthy children, with many of the children killed or suffering disfiguring or disabling injuries in accidents that are completely preventable.

The scale of the problem

Every year, in England alone, 55 under-fives die due to accidents in their own homes and 40,000 are admitted to hospital.

47 children died on UK roads last year and 2,380 were seriously injured in road accidents.

The personal consequences of a serious accident can be devastating, including years of painful skin grafts or permanent brain damage. They can impair a child’s mental health, education, and job prospects, and put family relationships under serious strain.

On top of these devastating human costs, there are high financial costs for our hard-pressed NHS.

The Chief Medical Officer has estimated that it costs £9 million a year to treat childhood accidents in A&E and another £87 million to treat children who stay in hospital. The cumulative costs are even higher.  In just one year, children who suffer serious bathwater scalds generate lifetime treatment costs for the NHS of £6.7 million.

Find out more regarding keeping your children safe at home around everything from hair straighteners to toys, as well general advice regarding road safety, bike safety and water safety.