Mr Lester's Term 1 Roundup
What a Term! A Joyful and Busy Start to the Year
Another joyful term and another busy term. In just seven weeks, the school community has packed in an extraordinary range of learning, trips, performances, competitions and new opportunities.
Highlights have included visits to Portsmouth, the Tate Modern, the Imperial War Museum, Battle Abbey and Wimbledon; geography fieldwork for Years 11 and 12; the Duke of Edinburgh’s Silver Expedition; Cambridge University’s Physics at Work; Frantic Assembly drama workshops; rowing, netball and cross-country opportunities; the UKMT Senior Maths Challenge; and much more. Our cadet contingent welcomed 100 new cadets, while students representing Team GB in South Korea enjoyed an unforgettable experience — complete with BBC News coverage.
Participation has been a real theme of the term. Nearly 180 students signed up to audition for Connections, while around 200 are preparing to audition for our newly announced summer musical, Mamma Mia! Meanwhile, 139 students in Years 10 to 13 joined the new national Future Leaders opportunity. That places FSG third nationally by total sign-ups — and, when measured as a proportion of eligible students, potentially first in the country.
We have also been delighted to see 207 new students, along with our new sixth formers, settle so successfully into school life. Every day, in classrooms and offices across the site, staff have continued to create the kind of magic that helps our students come alive.
At a time of tighter budgets, fewer staff and growing numbers, that energy matters more than ever. Change may be inevitable, but there is the change we make and the change we endure. This term has shown, once again, that the positive change created for our students far outweighs the pressures we face.