Senior School newsletter – 13 February 2026

Head’s welcome

As we head into Half Term, we do so with a spring in our step after a magical House Music competition reached its crescendo with the House ensembles and Choirs on Wednesday evening. This is a competition that stretches out over several weeks, with individual performances ringing out in the Saloon throughout the school day, before the big event this week. It is almost entirely pupil-led, with the occasional light-touch input from Mr Gibbs, Miss Wilson and the Housemasters and mistresses. All of our pupils – whether self-professed musicians or not – did themselves and their Houses proud, and I am grateful to Mr Gibbs and Miss Wilson for masterminding it all. 

This is an event that gets under the skin of the school in this dark and very wet half of the term, and it is a great vehicle for pupils to live our values. I was struck by the number of pupils volunteering to compete in the individual and ensemble competitions, regardless of their level of musicianship: their commitment to performance and to smashing the normal routine inspired us with their risk-taking courage and curiosity. Meanwhile, our House Captains – who drive that many-tentacled beast, the whole House Choir – are the embodiment of endeavour and integrity as they corral and cajole unimpressed Fourth Formers to be at rehearsals on time, sing and SMILE! Not to mention their role on the night as wise-cracking and proud hosts. And the whole competition gives Houses more time together and helps them build House spirit, which ultimately is about kindness and being one of the many families in our big school family. Finally, the night itself provides an important opportunity for our musicians to be heard and appreciated by their less musically inclined peers. 

This event is not about the competition (although I think the pupils would dispute that!), but on the night, the winners of the Ensemble competition were Gibbards, the House Choir were Owens, and the overall winner of the individual competition was Gibbards. There were many cups awarded to the individual winners, too. All of these laurels contribute points to the House Cup, which is awarded at Speech Day. 

As ever, we are disappointed not to be able to share this event with more parents. The reason is that we have around 500 pupils involved, so there is a complex logistical picture that involves around 250 of those at any time being seated in the Lewis Hall auditorium. This leaves about 100 seats for guests. For these seats, priority is given to parents of solo or ensemble performers. It is something we will continue to consider as we look forward to next year.  

Thank you to those families who have kindly donated to the William Templeton Foundation for Young People’s Mental Health for the Cambridge Half-Marathon on 8 March, which I will be running with Millie A-A. (L6) and Alasdair L. (U6). We are a third of the way towards our ambitious target of £1500 – we would be grateful for any contribution you can give here. 

Donate here

I wish you all a very happy Half Term and hope that you are able to spend some quality time with your children in the next week. 

I wish you all an excellent weekend. 

Warm wishes,

Will Chuter
Headmaster

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“I was struck by the number of pupils volunteering to compete… their commitment to performance and to smashing the normal routine inspired us with their risk-taking courage and curiosity.”

Will Chuter
Headmaster

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