Head’s Blog

Head’s Blog

Saturday 29th April

We have welcomed two new starters, one to Prep and another to our Senior School as we begin the summer term. Both are settling in well and seem to be enjoying life at Stoke. It has been very good to hear the same experience also reflected by so many parents in the past few days. Stoke has had a transformative effect on many children.

We are very proud of the unique relationships between pupils and staff at Stoke and realise we work in a very privileged environment. The cooperation in and outside the classroom is second to none and for teachers it is wonderful to be able to share the passion we have for our subjects and to meet with such enthusiastic responses from our pupils.Read More

Head’s Blog

Sunday 26th March

Following on from the highly entertaining Prep School production, this past week saw the Senior School take its turn with the musical ‘Olivia!’. It was great to see such a good audience for both nights at the Haverhill Arts Centre. I know that all the parents who came to see their children act and sing were extremely proud. We are lucky to have so many children who are so artistically talented and see them work together to put on such an entertaining evening.

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Head’s Blog

Sunday 19th March

It’s good to be sitting here writing the blog whilst looking out on what has been an unexpectely lovely spring day. The sun shone and the daffodils in the grounds are in full bloom. It marks the turn of a really positive time for the school.Read More

Head’s Blog

Saturday 11th March

The highlight of the week has to have been the hatching of the chicks! Amidst all the major events of school life the emergence of new-born chicks from their eggs created huge interest and excitement. It was wonderful to see the sheer delight and curiosity of the Prep School children as they raced in each morning to find out what progress there had been overnight.Read More

Head’s Blog

Saturday 4th March

Having just returned from the British Boarding Schools Workshop in Heathrow yesterday evening, I am now with Mrs Hunn-Smith and the scholarship candidates for September 2017. All seems to be well and the pupils have started their papers relaxed and focused. It is a quiet Saturday morning and it is good to hear the Spring birdsong as well as two woodpeckers, which are also hard at work.Read More

Head’s Blog

It’s just over a week now since the ski trip returned and a number of parents remarked on just how well it went. The accompanying staff did a wonderful job and the pupils were a real credit to the school. Stoke’s unique ethos was very much in evidence. In the words of one parent, “One of the things I love about Stoke is the way pupils of widely varying ages interact so well together.  It is something that really marks out Stoke as being different to other schools.”

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Head’s Blog

Saturday 4th February

Last Monday saw the launch of our new website which we have been working on for the past three months. The site greatly needed to be refreshed with more up-to-date images, a more striking design and to be more tablet and phone friendly. We do hope you like the design.

It is early days, so if there are any glitches, please let us know. One change we have made, is to email the weekly menu to you via iSAMS rather than publish it on the website and you should receive each week’s menu from now on, on the preceding Friday.

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Head’s Blog

After the first week back everyone is now fully into the swing of term time. We were fortunate not to have too much disruption on Friday with the snow being both later and rather less dramatic than forecast. However, we hope that the communication channels worked well and that everyone now feels familiar with how to check for the latest information on school arrangements during adverse weather conditions.Read More

Head’s Blog

The past week has been one of note for individual successes, where pupils have represented the school in a wider arena. We welcomed Oscar Roe back at our Wednesday assembly to present him with his prize for winning the design for the International Mathematics Olympiad to be held in the UK in 2019. Stoke has made all the difference for him, not least in his mathematics. However, whether he will be able to crack the 10-sided Rubik’s cube that came as part of his prize remains to be seen!Read More

Head’s Blog

The next two weeks will be extremely busy at Stoke with so many events to celebrate, including the GCSE Presentation Evening on Wednesday and our first Alumni event on Thursday. However it is worth taking a moment to note the week just past.

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