I am delighted to be writing my first house newsletter article of the year, including the words “We did it again!”

I refer of course to the house trophy.

The announcement of Elm’s victory at the tail end of the 2023-2024 academic year marked our third win in four years. In addition to this, we have finished either first or second in every single one of the last three sports days. These are phenomenal achievements, and I am immensely proud of them — and you should be, too.

Now I don’t think anyone would disagree that I have been a dedicated and impassioned head of house since taking up the mantle but I certainly would not look to take any credit for this success.

I am blessed with a cohort of students who impress in many areas. We have formidable netball players, talented musicians, budding engineers….

I could go on.

However (and you can call me greedy), we can always be doing more and the very nature of my role is to recognise where we can improve and encourage you all to contribute.

The latest attendance figures place us 4th in the rankings and I, for one, am not content with that. Therefore, I beseech you to consider whether your attendance and punctuality could be improved and to take the necessary measures to get us above 90% (we are currently on 89%).

All I am asking for is a 1% improvement in one area.

Our continued success hinges on each person doing all that they can to meet the school’s expectations and, if we can, go above and beyond.

Congratulations Elm on what was another successful year, I am one happy head of house and I can’t wait to see what we can achieve this year.