My message at the whole school end of term assembly was inspired by a film that influenced me when I was growing up: Dead Poets Society. Released in 1989, the film sees Robin Williams play the part of an inspirational teacher who challenges his class to seize the day and follow their dreams. In a pivotal scene, Williams asks his class to read ‘To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time’ by Robert Herrick. It ends with Robin Williams echoing the voices of the school’s long-dead previous students, as they whisper ‘Carpe, carpe diem, seize the day, boys; make your lives extraordinary’. The message of ‘seizing the day’ to make the most of time in these few weeks is of course important, particularly for students preparing themselves for public examinations. We are at the end of a longish Easter term. Easter is late this year and as a result we have a short first half of the summer term. We return to School on Tuesday 23 April, and then it is less than two weeks until study leave begins for Year 11 and less than three weeks for Year 13. So for Years 11 and 13, these are the final weeks of teaching and a crucially important time. However, the message is relevant to us all. It is tempting on rainy winter days to sit inside and complain about what could be better at school or in life in general. But the sun is coming out, the daffodils have almost finished flowering and having a positive mind-set will allow us all in the words of Robin Williams to ‘Carpe Diem, seize the day and make [our] lives extraordinary.’

I hope you all have a good Easter break after what has been an extremely productive term.

Matthew Morgan,
Headmaster