Headmaster's Message
Dear Parents and Guardians,
Religious Theme
First of all, may I offer a warm welcome to our new children and families. I hope that you are already feeling the warmth of community spirit and that your children are settling into Edmundian life.
Resolving to re-double my efforts towards my family and to my work over the year ahead, I, no doubt like so many of you, return brimming with enthusiasm and simply cannot wait to realise the reality of what are currently ‘merely’ diarised events, or even just dreams The children in Form Six were thrilled to hear that they will be performing ‘Mary Poppins’ at the end of the year and Mayne House are busy plotting their charitable approach Lent will soon be upon us and I strongly recommend that you note the date for the Easter Story in the Pugin Chapel (28th March) in your diaries This is always a poignant time for reflection but also, selfishly, gives us a chance to see our children performing considerately, and historically so movingly, with their friends.
For the immediacy though, a few notes Parents of children of a slightly older age may have found that Father Christmas delivered a digital device over the break Please exercise caution and make sure that you are clear with the children that, even though they may have come in Santa’s sack, these things are yours first and theirs second You must always be vigilant with monitoring their use and wise and reflective on how they fit into your vision of a healthy family routine Remember, keeping lines of communication open between you and your children is number one, always Beyond this, experience teaches us that the age guidelines for various games and apps are really there for a reason
We also return with, thankfully, low absence rates and, joyfully, happy and healthy children. Unfortunately, there are a lot of illnesses including flu, Strep A and COVID, affecting peoples’ health at the moment. The advice from the UK Health Security Agency is:
“It’s important to minimise the spread of infection in schools and other education and childcare settings as much as possible If your child is unwell and has a fever, they should stay home from school or nursery until the fever has resolved ”
Ensure that hand sanitiser is freely available and encourage students to use it. Improved hand hygiene is key to reducing the spread of infections.
Use CO2 monitors to check when rooms may require additional ventilation, helping to reduce the spread of any airborne illnesses
The school asks that if you are in any doubt about the health of your child you err on the side of caution and keep them at home The school is eager to protect other children and staff from absence owing to illness and we will: Finally, the staff and I encourage you to read with your children each day and to hear them read You cannot imagine how important this can be and also, how quickly the opportunity to actually do this, passes Listening to a good audiobook, perhaps as a family, is another idea and doing this would be a galvanising moment for the family unit, as well as being a valuable opportunity for developing intellectual curiosity and promoting discussion of topical and wider issues Not to mention, strengthening existing family ties
So, here’s to the year ahead, here’s to you and most importantly to, our enthusiastic and committed young learners, all of whom, have a made a really positive start to this term
With every best wish for the year ahead,
Mr Cartwright Headmaster, St Edmund’s Prep
