Most impressively was the independence and confidence shown by the whole cast and crew. At 5.30pm on Wednesday I took a phone call from Mrs Warren to tell me she had a family emergency and could not attend the production that night. No problem I said, we will cope and left my office ready to leap into action, much like Superman, ready to ensure that the show must go on. Quickly finding a member of the Technical crew I explained the situation and said “Now tell me please, what does Mrs Warren do on production night?” She thought for a moment, thought again and then said, “Nothing”. I wandered away a little confused, but it turned out to be absolutely right. Costumes were donned, makeup applied, microphones tested, lighting cues honed and all without any intervention by a member of staff. Ten minutes before the curtain was due to go up  I went into the Green Room and a member of Year 10 was stood on a chair warming up the entire cast of 30 or so, demanding lines, correcting diction, asking for more volume of inflexion.

That confidence, independence along with group and self leadership continued all through the whole production. We place such great emphasis on pupils taking control, taking the lead, and accepting responsibility and they never fail us - I was so proud of them.

Similarly on Thursday a few of our Year 8 and Year 10 senior girls were great ambassadors for the school when they acted as officials when we hosted  Burchetts Green Primary School’s Sports Day in the morning, and Year 10  again stepped up to the mark when they partnered with the PE Department to run a highly successful rescheduled Junior Sports Day.

We recognised academic endeavours in Thursday’s assembly. Academic excellence is one of our most important objectives and it is right to recognise those that have striven, progressed and achieved. The History department awarded books and certificates for Year 7 and 8, and the Maths team showcased our efforts at the Times Rock Stars event - we did brilliantly in tables competition but much to our delight we also won the air guitar competition! Most impertantly we presented  academic awards for the term, given to those who have excelled through their attainment, their effort of the progress they have made.

Our final week rushes towards us at an ever increasing pace! Monday night sees our inaugural Sports Dinner when we recognise and celebrate all of our sporting endeavours and successes of  the year. This is the first time that Claires Court has held an event to celebrate all the sport that we do and I am so grateful to the Senior Girls PE Department for putting on this event at the end of a great, but exhausting year.

For years 7 to 9 activity week is a great opportunity to test themselves in new and sometime challenging environments - to pre D of E walks, camping, circus skills, sculpture, young entrepreneurs, public speaking, yoga etc etc. I said to the school on Thursday just to make sure that they grabbed every challenge and tested themselves.

The Year 10s have a slightly different focus in their Enrichment Week. They will be engaging with and investigating aspects of our local community, getting a real insight into filmmaking, and also having their collaborative skills challenged on the team building day.

Friday will see the whole of the Claires Court College community come together for a final assembly.... The highlight of which will be a filmed performance of Radioactive.... Lead by Y12 Music Technology, SG Rock School and whoever else we can encourage to join in.

Thank you for all your help, support, enthusiasm and engagement with all that we do. I wish you all a fabulous summer holiday, and look forward to all of us reuniting next September.