Life at school races on

The pace of life at Arnold seems to be getting faster by the day and I am particularly delighted to see so many of our pupils getting involved in all aspects of school life. Arnold really does present children with unique opportunities to develop their leadership, team working and decision making skills. It is these skills that will allow our future leaders to be adaptable and able to cope with the ever increasing rate of change in the workplace. I enjoyed reading Chris Lawson's eloquent account of his summer work experience at a German TV station: http://bit.ly/9uczH2. This sixth form student obviously made an impact there, and his positive experience illustrates just how well his Arnold education is preparing him for the challenges of life outside school. We are extremely proud of him. I hope that his article will inspire other pupils to submit stories about their own achievements for the School website.

Tuesday's assembly finished on a high note, literally, with a magnificent performance by Amy Clark, who has the lead role in our forthcoming Christmas Musical, 'Calamity Jane'. Mr Chandler, Miss Horrocks and Miss Preston are working very hard with the cast to create a fantastic production. Tickets will be going on sale soon but remember to get your order in early... many fans were disappointed when tickets for last year's show sold out extremely quickly.

I awarded 20 pupils with their certificates for the instrumental music examinations, which they took at end of the summer term. The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music is an internationally recognised examination system and congratulations go to all those who passed these prestigious examinations. I would like to highlight the awesome achievements of Jessica Bolus (Musical Theatre) and Sarah Broadhurst (Singing) who both achieved distinctions. Well done.

I am looking forward to hearing our talented musicians perform at the Autumn concert on 12^th October. If you would like to come along, please contact the Director of Music, Mr Chandler, as soon as possible on Daniel.Chandler@church-schools.com. Tickets are free, and they are sure to be popular.

Excited children at the Junior School and Kindergarten were keen to welcome Miss Wright, their new Headmistress, into school on Thursday. I know that she really enjoyed her day with us and is eager to join the Arnold community in January.

I was at the sports fields again on Saturday to support our hockey and rugby teams. We were hosting All Hallows School from Brisbane, Australia and the 1^st XI completed an impressive 3-0 victory against our Australian visitors. I do hope that this is a good omen for the Ashes later in the year! Please do come along and support our sports teams; you will see some fine youngsters playing for their school with pride and determination. To watch videos of our recent sporting achievements, and to get a true flavour of life at Arnold, please click on http://bit.ly/aNge25. Sit back and enjoy!

Finally, I enjoyed an email correspondence this week with Jonny Azern, who left Arnold five years ago and was reminiscing fondly about his time here. He now works for Deutsche Bank and is clearly enjoying life in London. I was so pleased to hear about his successes; it is always most uplifting to hear from OAs.

Best wishes

Jim Keefe, Acting Head

Posted by: J E Keefe
Date: Monday 27/09/2010