|
The week has had its usual share of additional activity beyond the classroom, including an Art trip to Edinburgh for some of the Year 10 girls, a lot of cricket and the arrival of three new boarders who will be with us until the end of term. In addition to Giulia, from last week, we also warmly welcome Celia, Gaia and Carlota. Happily, the weather is starting to improve which makes me less embarrassed about hosting girls from Madrid, Milan and Sicily!
Even though summer looms and there is a faint whiff of the end of term in the air, some girls have, unfortunately, had a difficult week. Tiredness and the summer cold have hit some quite hard and possibly as a result, there has been a slip in standards in some quarters. As well as looking into individual occurrences, Mrs. Spence and I have spoken to the whole House of the need to be vigilant in interactions with each other and we have reminded everyone of the real need to be kind. Thank you for echoing this message at home. Thank you too to girls who have been kind this week and who have brought smiles to others and to the staff as well. This is always so lovely to see.
Looking ahead, girls are busy building their year group teams for Sports Day next Friday (21st June). The day offers many challenges and we expect everyone to be there to build as many points for the House as we can get. We would also be so grateful to any Year 11s and 13s who can also attend: the additional boost from these year groups could make all the difference on the day, so thank you in advance. Thank you also to Rosa B for kick-starting us into action yesterday morning; I am confident that with excellent sportswomen like Rosa at the helm, girls will be enthused to give their very best next Friday. We look forward to it.
I would also like to alert your attention to the timings for the final two days of term:
Thursday 4th
Trips and activities all day.
House BBQ start: 18.00
House BBQ finish Years 7-11: 21:30
Years 12 & 13: 22.00
We look forward to seeing all the House together that day and to having a lot of ‘American Icon’ fun!
Friday 5th
Normal start to the day
Community Challenge 08.45-13.00
All pupils, except boarders, go home 13.00
Boarders’ parents collect belongings 13.00
Year 13 leavers’ service in Chapel 17.30
Roll call in House for all pupils 18.30
Speech day in Marquee 20.30
No return to Houses.
This brings me to my final, but no less important, point today and that is that Miss Maya, our fantastic resident tutor, will sadly soon be leaving us at the end of term. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank her enormously for her unfailing support to me and the boarders in Pimlico over the last two years. She has shown warmth, kindness, interest and empathy to a lot of our girls and has put thought and love into her work for the House. She has also brought with her fresh ideas for the House, many of which I intend to continue. We will miss her very much when she goes, but wish her all the very best for her new adventures. We hope Miss Maya will stay in touch.
This is what she says about her next chapter:
Like many of the pupils in Pimlico, this is my final term at Durham School. I've been accepted onto the JET cultural exchange programme run by the Japanese government, and will be moving to Kagoshima City, on the Island of Kyushu, this August to work as an English teacher. Kagoshima could not be any more different to Durham! It has a subtropical climate and is home to Japan’s most monitored, active volcano; Sakurajima. I’m excited to go but expect to miss Pimlico and Durham School, especially the staff, the pupils and the strong sense of community. I’ve learnt so much from working here and I’m going to carry that knowledge with me forever, wherever I end up in the world. Speaking to students in Pimlico, I know that many of the pupils who are leaving will feel the same way. I’m going to try to set up some kind of letter writing pen-pal exchange project between Durham School and my new school in Japan to stay in touch. I’ve already begun discussing this with teachers here. Still, this is my final Friday Flyer entry, so I want to wish everyone the best for the future. I hope you have a great summer. Good luck whether you are staying at the school next year or moving on like me. Finally, thank you to Miss Hinde and everyone in Pimlico for having me as your resident tutor!
|
