From The Head We have had an interesting mix of weather with snow in March and tropical heat in June! That said, most school activities have continued as planned with lots of enthusiasm for the Second Year Camps on Dartmoor, whether in sunshine or rain. As I write, our students are emerging from examinations and, as the end of term approaches, youthful exuberance has erupted with the Science Festival filling the School with everything from an inflatable planetarium to lectures on quantum mechanics and crystallography. The Lower School play, ‘Treasure Island’, was a great success and we have Sports Day, the Endeavour programme and the Swimming Gala to pack in before the summer holidays begin. We are busy finishing the expansion of the Dining Hall together with a new Key Stage One building at Stroud. We have also been impressed with the development of our memorial quadrangle, created to commemorate the end of the First World War.
The statue, designed and made by Mike Long, former Head of Art, is a remarkable addition to the School and will formally be unveiled on November 9th by the Venerable Stephen Robbins CB, Honorary Canon of Salisbury Cathedral and a former Chaplain-General of the British Army. The number of co-curricular trips that take place each year remains a very impressive part of the School’s provision with record numbers involved. Over a third of the School were involved in these activities over the spring holiday. These included a very successful ski trip to France, a creative arts trip to Vienna, a pre-season cricket trip to Menorca, exchange and language visits to Montpellier, Andalucía, Catalonia and Mutterstadt and various Duke of Edinburgh expeditions in the New Forest, Yorkshire and Dartmoor. Reports of these activities and various individual achievements are given in detail in this edition.
Our charity work remains very active with significant numbers involved in the Summer Camp for young carers in the New Forest and our annual participation in the Goedgedacht Project outside Cape Town. Other planned visits over the summer include an expedition to The Galapagos and the Amazon Rain Forest and the water sports trip in southern France. This term sees the retirements of Mr Foyle, Mrs Freemantle and Mrs Lupton after a combined seventy years of service to the School. Others moving to new positions and challenges elsewhere, include Mrs Ahmad, Miss Champion, Ms Gadsbey, Mrs Jones and Mr Westwater. We wish them all well and thank them for all that they have done for the School. A J Thould Head
King Edward VI School Wilton Road . Southampton . Hampshire SO15 5UQ Telephone: 023 8070 4561
www.kes.hants.sch.uk