A year in the life of the School and Message from the Head Master Stuart McPherson

A year in the life of the School

Hand sanitising stations became part of everyday life

Catering events in lockdown included a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party

The Perera Prize was presented in honour of former Head of Maths, Gordon Perera

It was wonderful to fully reopen the School at the start of the 2020-21 academic year as tentative steps were made on the road to recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

A difficult path still lay ahead with restrictions, bubbles, logistical problems and two further national lockdowns, but Worth dealt with each challenge confidently and with resilience, emerging stronger from what can be considered as the most testing year it has ever faced.

Trying to retain a sense of normality for pupils was a key focus for the Senior Leadership Team and staff in general. Face masks, hand sanitising stations, bubbles and year group zones were the new normal, but as much was done as possible to retain the old ‘normal’ for the wellbeing of the children in the School.

That was achieved in the Autumn Term through some notable events and occasions, the likes of which would increase as the year unfolded, particularly in the Summer Term.

Early in the year the School’s youngest students, in Years 7 and 8, put on a performance of Macbeth – not to an audience, but filmed and released via a link on the school website. There was a ‘Welcome to the Sixth Form’ event for our new Year 12 students, the Debating Society was relaunched, with some notable successes in online national competitions, and a student-led library delivery scheme was started to ensure library resources remained available to all without having to mix in person with different year groups.

The Inter-House Debating Competition was revived – and won by Farwell

Pupils went on a Gold DofE expedition as restrictions eased

A Year 10 Confirmation service took place in the Abbey Church in the Summer Term Alice McNeill took over as Deputy Head (Academic)

Former England cricket captain Sir Alastair Cook took questions from students and passed on tips via video link – and talking of cricket, competitive sport resumed with cricket fixtures in the Autumn Term, which was a change from the past.

As Austin House sat down for their Christmas dinner, the smiles were clearly back and this was reflected throughout the School.

All this happened to the backdrop of work continuing on the new £6.25million Sixth Form Centre, which is an extraordinary gift to the School from Lord Spencer of Alresford, Michael Spencer B’73.

With some momentum created, it came to an abrupt halt. The day before the start of the Lent Term, another national lockdown was announced which meant most of our students stayed at home. The School returned to online learning which in truth was an easy step – albeit an unwelcome one – with a strong infrastructure for virtual learning already in place. Academic enrichment on Saturday mornings, Music, Sport, Drama were all part of the online provision alongside academic lessons. Everything was delivered in a very Worth-like way, with a community feel, a sense of belonging to the greater good.

Some overseas boarders remained on campus in bubbles, having come back to Worth at the start of January to find a blanket of snow. In their free time they were kept entertained by our fabulous Catering team, who offered themed evenings and cooking masterclasses.

Another note of importance for the first half of the Lent Term was the arrival of a new Deputy Head (Academic) in the shape of Mrs Alice McNeill. She, like everyone else, was delighted that the second half of the term began with a date for pupils to return to in-person teaching. Lessons

Sir Alastair Cook took questions from Worth pupils via video link

A year in the life of the School continued

Music certificates were presented in the Summer Term

A Leavers’ tea party was held on the Head Master’s lawn A glitzy evening dinner was the highlight of the Year 13 Leavers’ Day

were soon taking place in classrooms again, Sport, Music, Drama all resumed, there was a Duke of Edinburgh’s Award practice on campus and our Chaplaincy Reps took part in a charity sleepout to support a homeless charity.

The Topping Out ceremony for the Sixth Form Centre, the Spencer Building, also took place on the roof of the new building in the presence of Head Master Mr Stuart McPherson and Abbot Luke Jolly.

If the first two terms had been stop/start, the third was very much fast foot forward as restrictions began to lift and more normality returned to everyday life.

Like the Lent Term, the Summer Term quite bizarrely began with snow but the weather soon improved… in the main! The exception being a rainy Sports Day which went ahead this year with all events on campus. The revised and superbly organised programme included rounders, basketball, ultimate frisbee, golf, tennis, girls’ football and cricket alongside the normal athletics.

There were two Confirmation services in the Abbey Church – for Years 10 and 11 – an inter-House Debating competition was held, students went on DofE expeditions, a Year 9 student wrote and directed a fabulous short movie, which was his prize for winning the Young Person’s Scriptwriting Challenge, music certificates were presented

Sports Day included a number of new events

in recognition of exams taken during lockdown and Year 7 performed The Lion King, albeit not to an audience.

On a sporting front there was a record partnership between two of our cricketers, the senior golf team reached a national final and a Year 13 Sports Dinner proved to be a popular evening.

One of the highlights of the term was a Leavers’ Event for all of Year 13 which included speeches and the presentation of leavers’ gifts, a Mass, afternoon tea on the lawn outside the Head Master’s study and a glitzy evening dinner.

Other notable events included a visit from the One-Day Film School when students became actors and filmmakers for the day – this was actually part of our ‘Into the Sixth Form’ programme for Year 11 students who had sat their exams, a programme which also included a Sixth Form fair, off-site trips and a retreat.

There was a merit trip to Thorpe Park and the presentation of the Perera Prize to the most improved Year 11 mathematician in honour of former Head of Maths, Mr Gordon Perera, who was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease in February 2018 and continued to work at Worth until his death in September 2020.

From darkness comes light and the academic year finished with very much an upbeat feel to it, which continued into the summer with outstanding IB, A Level and GCSE results. The Worth community was also proud to watch and follow former Head Boy Tom Mitchell F’07 captain the Great Britain rugby sevens squad at the Tokyo Olympics.

There is no doubt the year had been challenging but Worth rose to that challenge to deliver the best possible education in the circumstances while also creating some special memories from the ever-growing number of students in the School.

A Message from the Head Master

You might think there would be no prize for guessing what the overriding theme of the 2020-21 school year was, but you would be wrong! For as much as Covid-19 made a play for the top spot, in the end it was pushed off the podium by some old Worth favourites: the strength of community spirit and good humour, hopefulness about the future, and the resilience of people when faced with a serious challenge.

Prior to the pandemic, it was the prospect of what (for some reason) has come to be known in the UK as 'a snow event' that gave ordinary operations their greatest test, but now - thanks to Covid - we have the virtual school ready to go at the press of a button. Like most organisations, we adapted to what we were required to call 'the new normal' with a speed and flexibility that surprised us, and we will keep some of those innovations, but no one was under any illusion that online school is better than in-person school, or that young people can really thrive through screens. So it was that March 8 loomed large in our planning, and when the School came back together, even though encumbered by all the various Covid nuts and bolts, it was something to celebrate.

This Autumn Term has seen the School gather in the Abbey Church again for the first time since March 2020. We have had two Masses with the whole monastic community, which has reasserted that fundamental relationship after a long time apart. I am convinced that the School's congregational singing is better than I remember it; perhaps it is just that I missed it so much.

After everything that Covid threw at schools and pupils last year, including teacher assessed grades and the like, I am pleased to report that Worth is in the rudest health of its life, and that the future looks bright.