Just like my comment on the end of term reports last summer, I am wowed by the busyness of your average Pilgrim boy, and equally wowed by how well the staff know your children. I said to a colleague this week, in some ways (the pitfalls are hopefully obvious!) I wish parents could listen in on the richness of the conversations between staff at Pilgrims’. Being in a Senior or Junior or Pre-Prep meeting is fascinating and inspiring; the detail, care, and pure common good sense never ceases to amaze me. The individual conversations I have with staff are always interesting, very often illuminating, and yes, often quite funny.  Pilgrims’ staff like to tell anecdotes - the staff room at break time is full of them, and that shows you that they care. It also shows that Pilgrims’ is a place of a lot of laughter, and that is important.

Back to the reports. You may remember that I asked last summer: Does your son read his report? I hope he does because his engagement with the process is important. Reports are written with the intention of highlighting what is going well and suggesting what can be done to make things better. Children need both affirmation and constructive criticism in order to progress.  

I will be reading every boy's report and commenting on it, and I am working towards a finishing deadline of next Friday. When you receive notification that your son's report is ready to download, do take the time to sit down with him and talk him through what it’s all about.

In the meantime, I hope you will enjoy (or have enjoyed, in the case of the Pre-Prep Nativity, or the LAMDA showcase) the fun things that happen in the run-up to the end of term. I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible in the Cathedral on Wednesday; the Carol Service is one of THE signature Pilgrims’ events, and if you haven’t managed to come before, I heartily recommend it