From The Head

Reflection, progress and the road ahead

Miss Katherine Haynes, Head

As we reflect on another eventful and successful term here at John Lyon, we look back at some historic moments as well as positive and heart-warming news from inside and beyond the classroom. Autumn 2022 has been full of success stories for our John Lyon community, with new initiatives and much more besides. We were deeply saddened back in September to learn of the passing of HM The Queen. This term’s issue of The Standard, which covers the opportunities pupils had to reflect on the news, features a purple colour theme in Her late Majesty’s honour. Progress with UCAS applications has been encouraging across the board. Oxbridge interviews are coming up and we wait with bated breath to hear how our six candidates got on – but in any event, to have secured an interview at Oxford or Cambridge is in itself a superb achievement. Talking of Oxbridge news, this term saw two events associated with the universities: one Upper Sixth student came in the top 0.7% of the Cambridge Chemistry Challenge – a simply phenomenal result – while two Lower Sixth students attended a Gore Lecture delivered by the Regius Professor of Divinity, University of Oxford. Our charity programme continues to gather pace. At this important time of year, when giving back is perhaps more important than ever, I am proud that our pupils and staff raised a very impressive £1,400 with a Macmillan Coffee Morning, supported a local nursery by collecting over 1,000 foodbank donations and organised a charity ‘mufti day’. I am also delighted to report that 85% of our Sixth Form students participate in some form of weekly community service. Together, we will continue to promote charitable initiatives supporting a range of good causes. In keeping with our tradition and heritage, we held our Founder’s Day celebration at St Mary’s Church, Harrow-on-the-Hill. It was a wonderful occasion and we were honoured to have in attendance The Mayor of Harrow, along with Old Lyonians. Newer events such as Familiarisation Days continue to provide our Prep pupils at Quainton Hall with ‘tasters’ of life and work at the Senior School site. They took part in a carousel of activities, including a virtual swimming with sharks experience! It has been lovely to see our pupils benefit from the growing number of collaboration opportunities across our Harrow Family of Schools. This term alone, there was a Commemoration Concert at Harrow School, international collaboration with Harrow School, Hong Kong through a joint lesson on values and community and a music concert featuring a number of our Foundation’s schools as well as meaningful conversations with John Lyon’s Charity. Looking ahead to our Fifth Form Family Conference with the Harrow International Schools and a joint USA golf tour with Harrow School next year, we are reminded once again how, as part of the Harrow Family of Schools, we belong to a very special and truly unique international community. Our Excellence, Goldhawk and Careers programmes have been highly productive with pupils and parents alike enjoying insightful and impressive talks from our high-profile visitors. Among others, we welcomed BBC’s Mishal Husain, Professor Nicola Rollock and Governor Anup Vyas (OL). These events would not be possible without the support of the Lyonian Association, who fund a number of such initiatives that benefit our pupils directly. There have been tremendous outcomes across our Sports teams, and our creatives too have enjoyed a fruitful autumn, with perhaps the busiest term for Art, Drama and Music. At the time of writing, we look forward to three consecutive nights’ performances of The Sound of Music at Harrow School’s Ryan Theatre. We are very proud that thespians often say that our musicals are of a standard akin to the West End’s fully professional productions. You will have seen that our Governors have appointed Mrs Rose Hardy as our new Head. We are delighted that she will take up her post from September 2023 and I look forward to working with her during a close and thorough handover. I would like to take this opportunity to wish all a very Happy Christmas from all at John Lyon. We hope you, together with your loved ones, have a restful and enjoyable festive period and a Happy New Year. n

www.johnlyon.org/values

FRONT COVER The John Lyon School 2021/22 show, The Sound of Music