With a little over a week left to go, it really does feel like the end of the summer term, the biggest indicator being those celebratory events. Midweek, we had the Arts, Food and Craft fair, a wonderful showcase of a variety of artwork completed in different media from our year one pupils all the way up to year 13, it was fantastic to walk around and see and hear the buzz and feel the enthusiasm from pupils, parents, staff and guests. There was a mix of projects and sharing of skills; from Van Gogh’s sunflowers to Gothic corsets and thumbprint cookies and pizzas in between. There was something for everybody to enjoy that evening and everybody I spoke to did. I was also thrilled to see members of our local community who had popped in to see the work that the children do. It was a really great event to show off what Hollygirt at its best.
I would love to offer more opportunities like this to showcase the pupils’ talents, skills, hard work and effort and to be able to increase the positive word-of-mouth about Hollygirt school. A big thank you needs to go to Mrs Phipps, Mrs Hill and Mrs Heatley, in particular, for their organisational skills and for helping to put on the event, but most of all, to those pupils who turned up to demonstrate their skills and offer workshops to their peers and to parents it really couldn’t have happened without their commitment and involvement.
Thursday saw a number of new pupils and new parents joining us for an afternoon in the White House garden for the New Year 7 event. Thank you to Mr. Dean, who hosted the parents that afternoon, and Mrs Schmidt, for her help in setting everything up. It was wonderful to be able to introduce myself and key members of staff to the new pupils, and to see friendships emerging and blossoming between pupils, several of whom will be joining us from the prep school, but also from further afield. There didn’t seem to be many boundaries preventing the development of friendship, as many pupils took to activities together as if they had all been friends for years.
There was another special guest there on Thursday afternoon, another new starter, who like the Year sevens will be setting foot inside Hollygirt school as a new joiner in September, our new Deputy Head Dr Holbrook. He spent the day with us shadowing Mr Cholerton, meeting pupils and learning the ropes and then joined in with the new pupils in the afternoon. We look forward to welcoming Dr Holbrook back to Hollygirt next week for a few more meetings, greets and then again more formally and fully in September.
Finally, this evening, sees the glamourous event that is the Year 11 Leavers Prom hosted at Bestwood Lodge. I know that a number of hours have gone into preparations throughout the year, including fundraising for the event. They worked hard putting a lot of effort and energy over the year into fundraising, so that they could have the prom that they wanted. Earlier this afternoon, a number of new prefects, on the events team, went to support the setup of the prom in order that they could see what the current pupils had opted for so that they could start getting ideas for their prom happening in 12 months, time; I’m sure that’s a scary thought for Year Ten parents that their prom is just a year away!
As you’re reading this, I am probably at home, getting out my glad rags and dancing shoes, although to be fair at this age, I’m probably looking more for some sitting comfortably shoes! I’m looking forward to greeting the year 11th again, hearing what they’ve been up to in the last couple of weeks and celebrating with them and the teachers who have worked alongside them over the years they have spent at Hollygirt.
Ever Onwards and Upwards,
Ms Purdy
Head