End of Term Events

15th December 2009


Dear Parents

I hope that you enjoyed the many recent end of term events which helped set the scene in the lead up to Christmas.

Many of you joined us on Saturday, 5th December when the choir performed at Dickens World as part of the Medway towns Dickens Festival.

I was delighted to see such a huge number of parents at our annual Carol Service at Rochester Cathedral on Thursday, 10th December, I trust everyone who was there enjoyed the occasion, I am fairly certain that everyone will agree that the quality of performance by the choir and soloists was absolutely first class. I would also like to thank the children who read the lessons and those who acted out the Christmas story through the tableau performance for their help in making the night so memorable.

I must apologise at this stage to all of those parents who did not manage to get a seat at the Carol Service. The cathedral is the largest venue in the area and should comfortably be able to seat something like 800 people. I do know that the Cathedral have installed new seats during the past year and it may well be that they have not got the same number of seats as before. If you did not mange to get a seat I do hope that it did not spoil your enjoyment of the service. The school will endeavour to work with the cathedral before next year’s service to ensure that more seating is available for Gad’s Hill pupils and parents. It is very apparent, in speaking to the cathedral staff, that the Gad’s Hill Carol Service is the largest and best attended service that they have in their annual calendar. Given that Gad’s is a significantly smaller school, compared to the vast majority of those in the Medway towns, the fact that our attendance is so high is something which we can all be justifiably proud.

I was also delighted to see a huge number of parents and supporters at our annual House cross-country competition on Friday, 11th December. What is particularly pleasing about this occasion is the genuinely friendly competitive atmosphere which prevails. All the children were incredibly enthusiastic, there were very few non-runners. Well done to Kamuran Gullu and Holly Black who won the Senior race and Lewis Drysdale and Isabelle Lane who won the Junior race.

I apologise to those of you who came along to the House cross-country and suffered at the lack of car parking. Things were exacerbated by the school using the top rugby field, which would normally be our overflow car park but which is part of the cross-country course. We will look at trying to make things a little easier for parents next year and redesign and reorganise our annual House cross-country competition to cope with the large number of spectators who now come along. This event indeed, like many of our events, started off on a much smaller scale a few years ago and because of the school and the event’s success it has grown enormously over the years to the extent that we need to redesign the logistical arrangements. That said, there is no reason why many of those issues such as car parking and the need for a PA system for the presentation of prizes cannot be overcome and we will endeavour to ensure that the event runs a little more smoothly next year. That said, the atmosphere was terrific, the children thoroughly enjoyed themselves and (car parking aside) the parents and spectators clearly enjoyed the occasion also.

Finally; on the afternoon of Friday, 11th December the school choir performed at Hempstead Valley Shopping Centre near Gillingham. This was another splendid musical performance under the Director of Music Mr Stone and once again I would like to thank the choir and especially Mr Stone for all their hard work and effort over the last few weeks.

It has been very evident to me over the last few weeks in working with our children in putting on these major events and performances what a splendid collection of children we have here at Gad’s. I have always believed that if children enjoy school they are so much more likely to put more effort into everything whether it is their work or their activities. It is very evident that our children enjoy their time at Gad’s Hill School and at times I feel very privileged to be able to work with them.

I hope that you all have a wonderful, restful and very enjoyable Christmas and New Year and I look forward to seeing you all again at the start of the Spring term on Tuesday, 5th January 2010.

Yours sincerely