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Dear Parents & Carers
This morning, it was an absolute delight to watch our Year 4 pupils bring history so vividly and joyfully to life through their assembly: Anglo-Saxons’ Got Talent. The energy, confidence and sheer enthusiasm in the room were infectious. Through storytelling, music and performance, the girls transported us back in time, celebrating figures such as Alfred the Great, Æthelflæd of Mercia, Beowulf and Boudicca with real understanding, humour and pride. It was a wonderful reminder of just how powerful learning can be when children – and adults – are fully immersed in it.
History plays a vital and much-loved role in our curriculum from Reception through to Year 6 and beyond. For our youngest girls, it begins with stories – learning about themselves, their families and events beyond their own lived experience. As they grow, pupils develop a strong sense of chronology, an understanding of cause and consequence, and the ability to think critically about how the past has shaped the world they live in today. History encourages curiosity (a nod to Curiosity Fox), thoughtful questioning and empathy (a nod to Empathy Rabbit), helping the girls to understand that there are often many perspectives behind a single event.
This feels particularly poignant as tomorrow is Holocaust Memorial Day. Teaching history is not only about celebrating achievements and heroism; it is also about remembering, reflecting and learning from the past so that we can build a more compassionate and just future. Even with our youngest girls, we carefully lay the foundations for understanding fairness, responsibility and moral courage, helping the girls to appreciate why remembering matters.
History also provides our girls with powerful role models. Through studying leaders, changemakers and everyday people from different periods and cultures, they learn that courage, resilience, wisdom and compassion are timeless qualities. Seeing figures such as Queen Æthelflæd and Boudicca portrayed with such strength and confidence this morning reinforced a crucial message: girls have always shaped history and always will.
On a personal note, when I was a form teacher earlier in my career, my favourite subjects to teach were English, art and history. I loved the way these subjects allowed pupils to be creative, to express themselves and to make meaningful connections with the world around them. Watching the Year 4 assembly this morning reminded me exactly why; history has a unique power to inspire imagination, spark curiosity and ignite a lifelong love of learning.
The Year 4 assembly truly exemplified what we value most in our approach to teaching and learning: deep knowledge combined with creativity, confidence and joy. The girls did not simply recite facts; they understood them, interpreted them and shared them with pride. These are the foundations of excellent learning and of confident, articulate young people.
Thank you, as always, for your continued support of the curriculum and for encouraging curiosity and conversation at home. Moments like this morning remind us just how special our school community is and how our girls continue to enjoy success across the full spectrum of subjects on offer.
As a final reminder, the parent survey closes today. Thank you to everyone who has already taken the time to complete it. If you have not yet done so, please click on the link here to share your views. As the survey is conducted only once every three years, your feedback is incredibly valuable in helping to shape our school.
With warm wishes
Miss Dina Hamalis
Head of the Junior School
