As a Headteacher, I expected assemblies, budgets, Speech Day planning and even reminding children to tuck their shirts in, which I do on an hourly basis! I did not expect meteorology to become quite such a significant part of the role.
Sadly, despite spending far more time than is healthy studying hour-by-hour forecasts and weather maps, Tuesday’s predicted downpours never quite materialised. We had to make the decision to postpone Nursery and Pre-prep Sports Day based on the forecast, only to spend much of the day peering out of windows at dry skies. Such is the life of a school leader. Whilst frustrating, these decisions have to be made in advance to allow families to plan and to ensure the safety and enjoyment of the day for all involved.
The Upper School Sports Day did go ahead on Wednesday and was a tremendous success, with plenty of sporting prowess, sportsmanship, determination and enjoyment on display, accompanied by only a couple of showers. For some pupils, it was their final Sports Day before moving on. One of the great privileges of working in a school is watching children grow over time. To see them progress from balancing bean bags on their heads and hopping enthusiastically through sack races in their earliest years, to throwing the javelin, running relays and competing proudly for their House a decade later is a reminder of just how much happens during a childhood.
I am immensely proud of young people on days like these. They approach challenges with enthusiasm, resilience and good humour, embracing both competition and fun in equal measure. In an age where adults can sometimes over-analyse every outcome, children have a remarkable ability to throw themselves wholeheartedly into an event, celebrate success, shrug off disappointment and move on to the next race.
This weekend, we look forward to the school summer fête. More weather-map watching has, of course, been taking place and contingency plans have been quietly prepared should they be needed. Enormous thanks in advance to Mrs Kingdon and the PTA . The Summer Fête is definitely going ahead tomorrow and I am looking forward to seeing the St Peter’s families come together once again. School fêtes, sports days and similar occasions remind me that schools are about far more than academic results. They are communities, built through shared experiences, muddy fields, last-minute changes of plan and the collective hope that, just this once, the weather forecast might be wrong in our favour.
Until then, I’ll be keeping one eye on the radar.
Charlotte
Head
