Senior Reflections Week 11 November 2024

Dear parents,

It has been a busy week on the admissions front and it has been a pleasure to meet music and sport scholarship candidates for interviews. It is always a pleasure listening to the passions and interests of our applicants, and hearing about their accomplishments both in their own schools (many of them are external candidates) and in their clubs and organisations beyond school. Next week, we have music and drama and I am looking forward to meeting them. On Saturday, we have sixth form interviews too, and also preparation day for our 11+ assessments. This will be a busy day for us all and I wish all our candidates the very best.

We welcomed lots of families to our open house event on Thursday and, as ever, your children were excellent advocates and guides, helping our visitors to make the most of their visit on a normal school day. Prospective parents really enjoy seeing the school in action on a working day and get a very clear flavour of what it is to be an Exonian. Many thanks in particular to Tabby from Lower Sixth and George, from Lower Fifth, for speaking so eloquently to our guests in the presentation in the Andrews Hall.

Blue Stockings

This week, the drama department has been extremely busy rehearsing and preparing for the senior school play, Blue Stockings, whose first night was very successful on Thursday. It is a triumph! I was gripped from the outset and have been incredibly impressed by the actors, and also by the innovative use of the Butterfield Hall as a setting. Huge thanks to all the cast and crew, and in particular to Mr Jamie Brough, Mr Chris Harknett and Miss Caitlin Smith, whose drive and vision has seen this play onto the stage. Well done to all.

Click here to read more about the senior school production

Music

We are looking forward to the season of lots of musical activity as the term draws to a close. We have a fabulous, inclusive, music department that everyone can get involved with; whilst, at the same time, producing music of the highest quality.

As usual, the Christmas season sees our musicians performing regularly:

• The Magdalen Road street fair kicks things off on Saturday 7 December and is quickly followed by our Christmas concert taking place, this year, in St Michael’s, Heavitree, on Tuesday 3 December to raise money for WaterAid.
• A new event on our calendar this year is the ‘Light Up A Life’ event at the cathedral on Wednesday 4 December, in which some of our younger musicians will be performing to support the excellent work done by Hospiscare, our school charity of the year.
• This year, our Christmas service will take place in the new location of St Leonard’s Church on Friday 13 December, giving all sections of the school a chance to have their own tailored service, and creating lots of opportunities for our young musicians to perform in choirs and orchestras as well as singing some solos.
• The term will conclude with our senior school Christmas concert on Tuesday 17 December, with a smaller choir performing for at our community service Christmas party on Wednesday 18 December, the last day of term.

Many of our pupils are very committed to raising money for charity through their concerts. Therefore, the decision has been taken to not host our annual concert in the cathedral this year as, among other factors, the cost of hiring such a large and expensive venue denies them this opportunity. We have also found that attendance by the public at our concerts has been lower in recent years, and therefore smaller venues such as local churches can provide pupils with a better performance experience as they look out on a full venue rather than lots of empty seats. There are also some logistical challenges that come with performing at the cathedral, such as the strain on our operations team for the setup of a larger space and the distance from school, which makes it harder for staff and pupils to travel to and also adds to the cost. Performing in the cathedral remains really important to us, and we will continue to do so on a regular basis; the musicians will continue to perform as part of the Founders Day service annually, if not more frequently in the future. This will grant our pupils the chance to perform in a range of diverse and inspiring venues during their time at Exeter School and give parents lots of opportunities to see their children perform in these different settings. Please do come along and see the pupils perform – whether your child is a musician or not – we always love to see you.

It is always a lovely moment when we switch on the lights on the trees on campus. The festive period is here and I hope that they make you smile when you visit.

Have a lovely weekend.