30 April 2026

The bank holiday weekend is upon us and it is somewhat difficult to believe that we are already on the footsteps of May. A key transition point in the academic calendar, there is a discernible shift change as the Year 11s and 13s size up their first public exam. Over the last couple of months many of them have grown exponentially in terms of maturity, self-efficacy and resilience. Exams are a performance piece, and whilst rehearsals help to automate the performance process, there is something unrepeatable and distinct about doing it “live”. Calm, positivity, and a focus on building on and assuredly knowing their strengths at this final stage helps pupils enter the examination space with the highest possible level of confidence.

The “shift change” of the May transition window is felt in the other year groups also. There is a sense of finality to the year and in the space left by those on public examinations, the Year 10s and 12s become inevitably more visible. They both have an incredibly important job in the year to come, not only personally, but also in terms of the example they set for younger years and the effectiveness of their representation of the pupil body as a whole. With this in mind, I wanted to share with you the pride I feel for the significant proportion of Year 12 that have chosen to put themselves forward for positions on the Study One team. Their letters a clear demonstration of achievement, endeavour and personal growth to date, their videos eloquent and clear in their individual desires to shape the future of the school. The interviews so far have been both moving and inspiring and I have no doubt that the next year will be an exciting one for the impact they will have on the school and the pupil community. The outcome of these interviews will be shared a couple of weeks from now.

Another highlight of the week for me has been the AI x EI conference we had the pleasure of hosting. The first of its kind, and hopefully the first of many, it brought together a wide selection of professionals with a passion for education and an interest, underpinned by perhaps a small sense of urgency, to discuss the impact of the evolving AI landscape and the importance of ensuring that schools give themselves the knowledge and upper hand to become discerning adopters. The varied presentations, that were both insightful and challenging, posed at their heart a much bigger question about the value that we all put on education and the acknowledgment that how we define its purpose may well shape the way in which we embrace what automation and artificial intelligence has to offer our classrooms and our children. It made me reflect on what I believe to be the fundamental goal of time well spent growing up and learning and the three key pillars for assessing the success of the process; self-efficacy, self-esteem and self-worth, all developed through experiences of learning curated to challenge and inspire. I will speak about this more at the next Open Day to which you are all invited; it promises to be a venerable celebration of everything that the teachers, pupils and wider community bring to make the school the incredibly special place that it is.

As mentioned in my start of term letter, I believe that this is the right time for me to ask for feedback on your experience of your child’s education at Westonbirt to date. Surveys are important markers for any school leadership team open to ongoing reflection and improvement. We will look to run these twice each year so as to provide another avenue for parent voice alongside other means such as the Working With Parents group as well as Q&As and parent lunches on the horizon. The survey is set up to be anonymous although I would much prefer to know who is filling the form in as we can then explore and respond directly to individual queries or reflections raised. A similar survey has already been sent to the pupils and we will work through the responses we have received from them also to triangulate and shape the way in which we evolve in the year to come.

As the sun rises over the cricket squares this morning, I look forward to being able to announce very soon the appointment of our new Director of Sport. This is a critical role for the future of the school and we have invested significant resource and experience in carefully assessing whether the candidates can build on our many current strengths whilst also bringing with them ambition and vision for the exciting chapter to come.