Wednesday 16 September 2026
With the end of Term 3 rapidly approaching, students have been attending a range of celebrations for the co-curricular activities they have been involved in. Our sports teams experienced success across a range of codes at Winter Tournament Week, and these achievements will be celebrated at today's assembly, a highlight being the Rankin Cup win by the First XI Boys’ Hockey team.
This time of year is also when our senior students realise the end of the year is approaching quickly. This brings mixed emotions, and sometimes a degree of stress, as exams come firmly into view.
My message to students is simple: organise your time well, revise early, and treat every piece of feedback as a gift - one that only creates value once it is actioned.
The research is consistent on this point. Educator and Academic John Hattie's work places feedback among the most powerful influences on student achievement, but only when it changes what a student does next. Similarly, students who test themselves regularly on material (retrieval practice) and space their revision over time, consistently outperform those who simply re-read notes the night before.
Parents can reinforce this at home in small but meaningful ways: asking what feedback a teacher has given recently and how it's being acted on; encouraging short, regular revision sessions rather than long last-minute ones; and helping create a calm, distraction-free space to work.
Our staff are here to support every student through this final push, and we have every confidence in how our students will rise to it.
Patrick Gale - Headmaster