Dear Parents

We have just completed our first MAD [Music, Art and Drama] festival and what a fantastic week it has been and an excellent way to end the term. Pupils in Forms 1-4 and the Lower Sixth have enjoyed the opportunity to take part in a whole range of activities, ranging from Phone Art to Gamelan and Samba Workshops, Art House Cinema to Theatrical Make Up, Graphic Design to Salsa Dancing.  An enormous amount of planning  goes into organising such a festival and I know that Miss Roffe and her committee have been working tirelessly for months, preparing and timetabling a truly wonderful experience which I am sure, for some pupils, was the highlight of their year. I am also grateful to all my colleagues, teaching and non-teaching, who took on additional work and to the RCPA who generously sponsored the excellent Film Festival.

MAD week followed quickly on the heels of Athletics Day where the sun was shining [but not too much] and the event was supported in large numbers by parents, as was our lower and middle school production of 'Mulan' which played to packed audiences in The Dulverton Hall. Miss Mills gave us a production to remember with excellent performances from Dan Geerah as Shang, Alistair Sinfield as Mushu and Holly Phelps in the lead role. Special mention must also be made of Sister Rogers, whose costumes were, as always, first class.

In addition to your child’s end of term report, you should also find in your pack a letter from Mr Baker on two unrelated issues: our new school uniform and our new database. As several of you will already be aware, our preferred mode of communication with groups of parents is by email and we would be very grateful if you could return the pro-forma giving us your up-to-date contact details to Mrs Christine Johnson, my PA. We are also on the point of launching our new website after eighteen months of detailed work co-ordinated by Mrs Holden and Mrs Brealy. It is our intention that this facility will enhance our communication with parents and allow us to give regular updates of the school calendar. We will develop this issue later next term.
 
In yesterday’s Headmaster’s Assembly, as well as hearing reviews of the sporting, musical and cultural aspects of college life, we also said au revoir to Mrs Sophia Blackwell and Mr Chris Wood. Those of you who were able to attend Founder’s Day heard me pay tribute to the excellent contributions which Mrs Blackwell in the Art Department has made to the college over eighteen years; the last six of them as head of department. Under her inspired leadership, the work of the department has gone from strength to strength and there is a whole generation of artists who have been taught their craft at the skilful hands of this gentle and very caring teacher. She is replaced in September by Mr Austen O’Hanlon, who is currently Head of Art and Design at Archway School in Stroud.

Mr Wood also leaves us, having joined the college as a boy in 1965. His contribution to Rendcomb over the years has been so colossal that the Old Rendcombian Society Newsletter devoted seventeen pages to him! Many of your children will know him as an outstanding teacher of Chemistry, an excellent hockey coach and a very supportive sixth form tutor; some of you who are Old Rendcombians may well remember him with Mrs Wood as very caring houseparents in the Old Rectory. More recently, he has taken on the demanding role of Director of Studies; a post which requires a meticulous eye for detail and an avaricious appetite for administration. In this role he has worked closely with Dr Stacey Scarisbrick, who takes over from him in September. We wish both these long-serving colleagues, who have given selflessly of their time to Rendcomb, a long and happy retirement.

As many of you will already know, Mrs Hayward stands down as housemistress in Lawn House after eight years’ sterling service supporting the pastoral needs of girls in the middle school. Mr and Mrs Ferreira take up the joint post of houseparents from next term.

May I take this opportunity of thanking you for your support at the end of what has been a long and fulfilling summer term and with the sun still shining on Independence Day, wishing you and your families a restful and enjoyable summer.