I hope that, if you are reading this, it's with your feet up and Friday's G&T in your hand. We have reached the end of a very busy seven weeks, and everyone deserves a break. This is certainly true for girls who are now showing obvious signs of tiredness and who clearly need to recharge. May I encourage them to rest well by catching up on sleep, but also by spending time outdoors and enjoying fresh air and exercise? As ever, I hope girls benefit too from regular breaks from phones and technology. 

The last week of this half term was a happy one, filled as it was, with hockey, music and encouraging messages. The EDI theme, led by Nico, involved collating Pimlico's thoughts on the problems of racism and discrimination and the challenge of integration, all of which resulted in a rather eye-catching wall and tree, composed of our ideas and captions. On Friday, we also wore red badges to mark our solidarity against racism. Otherwise, junior and intermediate girls entered the House hockey competitions with enthusiasm and grit and, although they didn't win, played willingly and well. Music continues to grace Pimlico House through practice for the House singing competition and other avenues: I was certainly delighted to be able to attend Thursday night's Scholars' concert and to see so many of our girls perform and attend. 

In particular, I commend the following girls for continued progress in their respective fields of music, be that voice or instrumental: Yichenxi X; Tabitha A; Dorothy A; Aora L and Ruby G. 

Finally, the Friday Fun award today was awarded to Tian H for being our youngest non-English native speaker and for making it through the first half term so well.

As we look forward to a well-earned rest over half term, I urge exam groups to view the two weeks ahead as valuable consolidation and preparation time. With correct discipline and focus, GCSE and A-level classes should use this time to improve their subjects, as well as rest and recuperate. 

I also look forward very much to seeing as many parents and guardians as possible at our Pimlico drinks event on Friday, November 7th. This will be at 4.30pm in the Orangery, so even if you are only able to call in for a few minutes, it would be lovely to see you. 

Until then, have a wonderful half term break.