On Friday, 8 December Warwick School held a Christmas Jumper Day in support of the Kissing it Better and LWS Night Shelter charities.

Sunday, 19 November marked the celebration of National Men’s Day. A day to celebrate the positive value that men bring to the world, their families, and communities. This year we focussed on mental health, where we were encouraging the boys to start positive conversations with each other and talk when they needed to. Mr Etheridge, Dr. McKee and Mr Preece spoke in assemblies about their mental health and the positive difference a conversation can make.

The countdown to Christmas officially begins! Wednesday (15 November) marked the latest exciting milestone for our upcoming professional Christmas show – Nativity! the Musical – with the introduction of our professional actors, George Attwell Gerhards, Natalie Turner, Aidan Cutler, Matthew James Hinchliffe, and Anne McCall.

Last week, a group of our pupils, alongside pupils from King’s High School and The Kingsley School, had the brilliant experience of taking part in a workshop with conductor Rebecca Miller.

Image of Billy playing chess in school

On Sunday, 22 October, Billy in Year 7 competed in the Open section of the Birmingham Rapidplay. In his first round, he faced a formidable foe in the form of International Master Ameet Ghasi. Ameet is the current British Rapidplay Chess Champion with a national rating of 2640. He recently drew with legendary former World Number 2 Alexei Shirov. Facing him in rapid format would be a daunting prospect for any chess player, let alone someone who just turned twelve years old.

Quite unbelievably, Billy did what Shirov could not do and had Ghasi in all kinds of trouble. The master offered him a draw at one point and Billy boldly declined, playing on in pursuit of victory. Some ten moves later, he was offered another draw. Billy was objectively winning still in the position, but, with it being complicated and having limited time on his clock, he accepted this time. This is nevertheless a phenomenal result against the reigning British Champion and world-class player in this format. Furthermore, Billy went on to score 4.5/7 overall in the tournament, performing nearly 150 points higher than his rating.

I don't like to use superlatives for the sake of it, but on this occasion they are merited. There are few children Billy's age on the planet who could have achieved what he did on Sunday.

Part of the beauty of exceptional music lies within its ability to be enjoyed by all ages. We have been unwaveringly proud to have seen exactly that at Warwick Schools Foundation this month; throughout October, we have had the pleasure of welcoming pupils and adults to our Warwick site to engage with orchestral experiences.