Weekly goings on 

What a wonderful week! It has been one of firsts, friendships and finding our feet, all wrapped up with a lot of excitement, as we open the doors on a new house and a new academic year. The building has been (excuse the pun) buzzing(!) and it has been so lovely to have the building full of laughter, smiles, hurried feet and the inevitable smell of toast. The girls seem to have settled in well and enjoying the light and bright space, the common areas, and the decoration of the house, as well as the new faces and new team of tutors. 

There is certainly a feeling of unknown and perhaps uncertainty when September comes around and whether you are a returning pupil, starting a new school, or returning to teach a class, I do think it is an important time to support each other. I am so pleased to say that I have seen this happen every day this week in Lodge House and I am already so proud of our girls and the ethos we are starting to create. Whether it has been through parents welcoming myself, the older pupils aiding the Year 7s find their way to lessons, or a detailed discussion on the use of toast tongs – there certainly has been a welcoming sense of comradery and support within the house. 

Monday was a great opportunity for parents and current pupils to come over the Lodge House and see the building before academic teaching commenced and I was so pleased with how many came to welcome one-another. I sincerely thank parents/guardians for accompanying their daughters to the small event and I hope everyone saw its purpose and enjoyed the introduction to Lodge House. 

The house has some finishing touches to be made to it in the upcoming weeks but I'm sure you have been informed of its welcoming feel or 'vibes' as I have heard. Some of the girls have already made their mark on the building by creating artwork, cushions and crocheted items. I very much welcome the girl's individuality and creativity to extend into the house and look forward to some more projects getting started as we move forward. Creativity is something that we really would like to instil in the girls and with our quiet/craft room we hope this will be something they can get involved in. 

As Friday comes and goes and the week draws to a close, I hope the girls have had a successful week. I do urge them to reflect on all the things they have achieved and to try not to dwell on things they may have forgotten, or things that have felt challenging – because we all feel like that on the first week back to school, believe me! 

We now have a sparkly new Instagram.

Please do follow us for an insight to the house and what we get up to: Lodgehouse24

Lady of Lodge 

With Lodge House's moto centred around bravery, Nimah (our Head of House) wanted to start a tradition of awarding a Lady of Lodge each Friday to a pupil who shows bravery. Bravery can be found in so many aspects of life and I'm sure we will see all sorts of examples of bravery throughout the year. 

This week's Lady of Lodge is Amelia H (Yr 7) for stepping up to the challenges of the first week of Year 7. Well done, Amelia. 

Upcoming dates for your diary 

• Thursday 19th September (7pm-8pm) New Parents Drinks 

• Wednesday 25th September: Year 7 Pizza and film evening in Lodge House 

• Friday 4th October: Sixth Form bowling (times tbc) 

• Monday 14th October: Year 10 + 11 social (Halloween themed crafts) 

• Monday 18th November: House Music I the Cathedral 

• Monday 25th November: Year 8 and 9 Social (Christmas crafts) 

There will be small costs to the above activities, but these will be kept to a minimum. More information will be circulated in due course. 

Have a lovely weekend, all. 

Be brave. 

Mrs Beth Spence