This week we introduced our new Learning Strength focus – Resilience. The ability to adapt and ‘bounce back’ when faced with difficulties or challenges is vitally important academically, socially, personally and when pursuing interests in sport and the arts. In assembly, the boys reflected on examples from nature of wild salmon returning to their spawning grounds by swimming against the current. They also heard about Stephen Bradbury, an Australian speedskater who faced a number of challenges whilst pursuing the sport he loved. Demonstrating resilience when faced with serious injuries, lack of funding and limited success over his twelve-year career, Stephen famously won a gold medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics where he was the oldest competitor in his race. Luck played its part in the final with Stephen in last place until all his competitors crashed out on the final bend. Stephen almost felt embarrassed to claim his gold medal but decided that he deserved the medal which reflected the resilience and determination he had shown over the previous 12 years. 

We also announced further positions of responsibility this week with the Year 6 Reading Buddies who will be supporting some of our younger boys with their reading, and the class School Council representatives who had their first School Council meeting this afternoon. 

Earlier this week, I visited some lessons, and it is always a pleasure to see what is going on in the classroom. On this occasion, I saw boys demonstrating great focus in DT whilst constructing the wooden frame for their gearbox, a huge amount of ‘hair raising’ enthusiasm in Science as the boys used a Van de Graaff generator as part of their work on electricity, and creativity and problem solving in Geography as the boys designed a house to meet the challenges of living in a mountain environment.  

This term seems to have flown by and as we head into the final week before half term, I wish you an enjoyable weekend. 

John Bond 

We want to make you aware of a recent issue affecting some popular children’s books by Andrew Cope, including the Spy Dogs, Spy Cats, and Spy Pups series.

Some editions of these books include a printed web address at the back. This link used to go to the author’s website, but the domain is no longer under his control. It has since been taken over by another party and now leads to inappropriate adult content.

The publisher, Puffin, has paused sales and distribution of the books and is working with schools, libraries, and retailers to remove copies from circulation. They have stressed that the website has no connection to the author or publisher.

What this means for you:

• If your child has any Spy Dog, Spy Cat or Spy Pups books at home, please check the back for website links and make sure they do not try to visit the site.
• It is safe for children to continue reading the stories themselves — the concern is only with the outdated link.

We recommend talking with your child about the importance of not following web addresses in books without checking with an adult first.

This week in assembly we looked at the example of Xavier Hopkins, a mountain biker who rides downhill courses whilst only having 10% of his sight. The boys were amazed not only by his skill but also by how little he can see whilst riding challenging courses. We linked Xavier’s story to our focus on independence and the importance of preparation. The boys also reflected on the fact that by trying to be more independent we can make mistakes – or have crashes in Xavier’s case! - and that this is part of becoming more responsible and mature. If you want to learn more about Xavier’s story please do watch the short BBC news report.

It was a pleasure this week to announce more positions of responsibility for our Year 6 pupils. Congratulations to all those boys who applied for roles as well as those boys who were successful in being appointed. 

School Council – Chair: Hugo; Vice Chairs: Jasper and Ronnie 

Sustainability Council – Chair: Noah; Vice Chair: Ethan 

Playground Pals Leaders – Tristan, Barney, Harrison, Ruben and Alexis

Digital Leaders – Edward, Arthur, Ben, Sam, Will, Louis, Teddy, Jaiden, Austin and Alden

Librarians – Zakk, George, Brody, Lucas, Kabir, Alexander, Joshua, Louie, George, Myles, Jonas and Charlie

Photos of our new school leaders can be found in the 'Highlights from the Week' section. Due to pupil absence, we haven't included a photo of the librarians, but that will be included in next week's newsletter.

This week also saw the fixture programme continue with matches for the U10 and U9 rugby teams. Well done also to the U8s who had their first fixtures against Bromsgrove and Blue Coat.  

Wishing you a relaxing weekend, 

John Bond 

Facing unpleasant feelings can be a challenge, even for adults – let alone for children and young people, whose minds are still developing. To many youngsters, a mistake in an exam, a hurtful word or even losing in a game can sometimes feel like the worst thing in the world, causing them to react accordingly.

However, this isn’t always an effective way to deal with difficult emotions or life’s setbacks, so it's important that parents and educators are able impress a healthy approach to these feelings on the children in their care. This guide offers you expert tips on how to instil emotional resilience in young people, helping them to learn from unexpected feelings and situations – and to process them in a mature, effective manner.

Read some useful top tips for parents on supporting young people to build resilience.

As part of Year 6's electricity topic in Science, they have been learning about the work of Allesandro Volta and his development of the world’s first battery – the voltaic pile.

In pairs, the boys replicated the work of Volta producing a 10-cell battery that was able to light an LED. But this was not enough for 6C, who then decided to see how big a battery they could make by adding their voltaic piles together!

Following an application process and presentations to their houses, last week the House Captains and Vice Captains for 2025-26 were elected. Congratulations to the boys elected, but also to all the boys who showed great determination and skill in standing for election in front of their peers.

This year's House Captains and Vice Captains are: 

Aqua  
House Captain: Ted 
Vice Captain: Ike 

Ignis 
House Captain: Gregory
Vice Captain: Edward 

Terra 
House Captain: Alfie
Vice Captain: Fred

Ventis 
House Captain: Leon
Vice Captain: Grayson