Junior Reflections Week 34 June 2024
Dear parents,
Summer Fete
I wanted to start by saying a huge thank you to everyone who was able to join us for our first annual summer fete. It was a resounding success and even the weather decided to be on our side. I have received so many positive comments from both parents and pupils over the week and I know that everyone is keen that this becomes an annual event, as are we and we have already decided on 7 June, 2025 as the date for next summer’s event, which we hope will be just as successful. The Family Society did a remarkable job masterminding the whole affair, ably helped by our wonderful estates team, thank you to you all for working tirelessly behind the scenes to bring our school community together. If you would be interested in joining the Family Society event please do get in touch with the jsreception@exeterschoool.org.uk and we will pass on your details to the Chair, Mrs Ruth Hughes, as we would be delighted to welcome you to the team; the more the merrier, and as we all know events such as the successful fete wouldn’t have happened without our team of dedicated parent volunteers.
Eid Mubarek
In Monday’s assembly I talked with the pupils about the Muslim festival of sacrifice, Eid ul-Adha, and a special mention to Jiaqi C L2P who recounted to the school the background behind this festival, sharing his knowledge and vast understanding. It is always important to share our communities’ different religions and I am looking forward to welcoming pupils from the Hindu community who will be leading an assembly in the autumn term about their festival, Diwali.
Picnics on the Lawn
On Tuesday, Year 2 visited us from pre-prep to have a picnic lunch and break with Form One pupils. It was lovely to see the classes playing and entertaining each other and enjoying the sunshine on the field. Form One also had an ‘Incredible Edible’ afternoon tea on Wednesday, with a talent show and pupils sharing their work that they had created from studying the book Madame Pamplemousse and her Incredible Edibles – with thanks to our wonderful catering team, it was a really special afternoon.
Read more about the incredible edibles tea here
Alice in Wonderland
The Upper Two play was a resounding success, and I was lucky enough to see all three plays of Alice in Wonderland. The pupils were outstanding, and I forget sometimes that they are only 10/11 years old. There was some real talent on stage, which I hope is further developed in senior school. A huge thank you to Miss Cox, and the many pairs of hands that put this truly wonderful extravaganza together over the three nights; it really was superb. Thank you, upper two pupils, you were amazing, each and every one of you.
Sport
The U11A cricket team played in the West Finals at Kings Taunton on Monday. Mr Dutch was extremely proud of their performance, as the boys should be, coming second overall; huge congratulations to the whole team. Keeping on the sports theme, we ended our week with sports day. The weather was kind, the pupils enthusiastic and there was sportsmanship in abundance. It was a superb event for both lower and upper school, with healthy house competition and smiles all round. Thank you, Mr Dutch, for putting on such a successful event, and also to all our sports leaders for giving up their time to come and support the junior school.
New uniform
You are aware that we are currently reviewing the school uniform with a view to making changes in the years to come. We will be in touch with you about this before the end of term, but I am happy to reassure you that no changes will be compulsory for existing parents until September 2028. This long transition period is in response to the current cost pressures that we know parents are under and means that you can manage any move to the new uniform (and the purchasing of new items) as makes best sense for your own family circumstances. Obviously, you can adopt the new uniform immediately for your children if you wish, as soon as it is available for September 2025, but pupils will not be able to wear a mixture of the two.
VAT on school fees
With the announcement of the general election next month, we know that the imposition of VAT on fees is uppermost in your minds. As you will know from previous communications, we have been planning for this and there is much work ongoing behind the scenes with leadership and governors at present. We plan a more formal communication with the parent body, setting out as much detail as we are able to at this stage next week and will also be hosting a webinar before the end of term so that parents can hear more, and pose questions.
We know that your children’s education is the most important thing to you, and we do not underestimate the commitment that you show to us as parents. We are working hard to ensure that we continue to provide the very best education, and the best value to our parent community and we will continue to do so.
Enjoy the weekend and good luck to all the cricketers who are off to Millfield tomorrow.
