It's not only the students who are excited about the first day of term. After a taste of the year to come on Orientation Day, our teachers got right into things today, welcoming students and settling them in for a successful school year.
Here are the day's highlights from our Heads of School.
Christian Chappell, Head of Early Years - "One of the biggest things is seeing some of our existing students who are so young, but so confident, and seeing their delight when they saw the changes we made ove the summer to the playground and corridor. And also the trust from all of our parents; they entrust us with their most precious children. It's a real honour to be, in many cases, a child's first teacher and we're looking forward to each individual child's learning journey."
Sally Scrymgeour, Head of Infants - "I was really thrilled to see how all the buddies looked after the new students. They were so proud to wear their buddy badges and I know it really helped the new students to feel welcome and to understand their new routines."
Steven King, Head of Junior School - "I loved watching our new students come in and slowly settle in. My favourite thing today, though, was seeing our returning students getting off the bus and walking in to B Block with beaming smiles because they know how great the school is and they're so happy to be here."
Nicola Howard, Head of Middle School - (Walking back to her office from Science class) "I've just had the best Year 7 Science safety lesson today. The students learned to light bunsen burners and each of them did it successfully and confidently. This builds a platform for them to be able to learn the Science curriculum practically. Overall, this is just a really great start to the year; the new electronic key-pad lockers worked really well, and the buddies have been brilliant with the new starters, making them feel very settled and welcome."
Jane Kilpatrick, Head of Upper School - "The whole of Upper School in the Auditorium looking so enthusiastic about the start of the school year. I've also had so many positive comments today from form tutors about the attitude of students, but the very best thing is so many returning students coming to me to say "hello" and reminding me of what a great place this is to work."
Clement Parrish, Head of Senior School - "My favourite moment in the first day back at school was finding out that the TOK teachers, Mr Wilson and Ms Koster, would be dressing as Glaucon and Socrates to introduce Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. Our teachers will stop at nothing to enthuse and inspire our students!"