Welcome

Dear Parents and Guardians,

What a year! I could hardly believe it yesterday when I stood at our final whole-school assembly and addressed all of the students for the last time this year. It was a pleasure for me to wish all of our leavers good luck for their future journey, to thank everyone for being part of our vibrant community, and then to witness the emotional moment of friends saying goodbye to each other as they left our school doors. There were many tears, which is testament to the strength of friendship, love and care our students have developed for each other. It was beautiful to observe, even though it was sad, too. Indeed, the end of the school year is a time of transition that we must embrace. To turn to the sage words from Tom Stoppard: “Look on every exit as being an entrance somewhere else”. I look forward to hearing from all of our leavers in the future about their exciting next chapters.

Thank you to those of you who were able to join us on Wednesday for our Prize giving at Chelsea Old Town Hall. It was a beautiful event and a wonderful opportunity for us to come together to celebrate all of the achievement and success this year. It was a good reminder of just how much happened over the course of the year and just how talented our young people are. Indeed, I hope you enjoy reading this end-of-year newsletter and that it provides you with a glimpse of all of the great things that happened this term.

There are two operational matters I would like to draw your attention to:

Change of account

Starting from 1 September 2023 Eaton Square Senior School will be using a new bank account, distinct from that which the Eaton Square Prep School uses. We appreciate that such a change is unusual and contrary to the message we regularly send warning parents. This change does leave the school and yourselves open to scammers who will try to encourage you to make payments into a non-school account. To counter this, we will be asking that families sign up to the Direct Debit Scheme, details of which will be sent with your regular fee invoice. This invoice will also contain the details of the school’s new bank account. Please note:

• The School will not send bank account details within the text of an e-mail

• The School will not be offering discounts or fee reductions for early payments

• If you are unsure of any e-mail you receive about a change of bank details contact the school by phone to confirm the legitimacy of the e-mail

• Please sign up for the Direct Debit Scheme. This scheme is the best protection against scammers as it protects all payments

School Devices and Digital Literacy

I am delighted to inform you that we will be providing all current students, and all incoming students for September 2023, with a new device to use in the classroom free of charge. We will be sending you more information about these devices before the start of term but please note that they will be of a higher spec than our previous devices thus enhancing and improving what we can do in relation to teaching and learning in the classroom.

I am very happy that we are able to do this as a school as digital literacy is becoming so important and we want to ensure that your children are being equipped with all of the skills they will need to navigate our increasingly technological landscape. We as educators need to be proactive about how to tackle the challenges we face from Artificial Intelligence, ChatGPT, and other rapid technological advancements. Focusing on digital literacy and increasing our students’ understanding of technology will, I am sure, help them immensely and keep us at the forefront of educational innovation.

Before I sign off this newsletter, I would like to thank all of you as parents who have welcomed me as the new Head of Eaton Square Senior School & Sixth Form. I have thoroughly enjoyed these past two terms. I have loved meeting you and getting to know your children and am extremely grateful for the warm way you have welcomed me into the community. I cannot wait until September to see your children again and to continue to develop the school into an outstanding place of learning, enrichment and innovation where your children will thrive and flourish.

I would like to end this introduction by thanking all of you parents who are leaving us for new adventures, especially to those of you relocating to other countries. It has been a pleasure having you and, especially, your children as part of our community. I wish you all the best. To all parents, I wish you a wonderful summer break with your families and that it is full of laughter, love, good health and happiness. I look forward to seeing you when we return in September.

With very best wishes,

Dr Adrian Rainbow Head