Farewells and Merry Christmas

It has been a hectic few days following the disruption caused by the snow and ice earlier in the week. Thank you once more for the patience of our families on Monday and Tuesday when we were forced to close. Miss Harrison sent work home on Monday and Tuesday and one option was to take part in a winter creative competition. We had some lovely poems, stories, paintings and models. Winners in each year group received a prize and a Head’s commend and all entries gained a commend.

Katya – Year 8 Winner

On Wednesday we squeezed three Christmas events into one day. Although we had to change the venue, owing to dangerous icy conditions on the pavement on the way to St Paul’s Church, the Lower School Carol Service went ahead in the Jubilee Hall. The children were just brilliant and their singing made everyone feel full of festive cheer.

The Upper School Concert was equally spectacular and I was blown away with the beauty and complexity of Mr Warren’s Christmas composition. The Chamber choir and instrumentalists were superb and well supported by the voices of Mrs McRill, Mr Clement and Mr Ince (who sang a solo). I’d like to say a huge thank you to Mrs Perrin and Mr Warren who have worked so hard on numerous musical events over the last few weeks.

Today in final assembly we supported the Save the Children – Christmas Jumper Day.

We said goodbye to some staff. Miss Hayman who is moving to a job closer to where she lives in Bedford. Mr Wright is going travelling before returning to family in Australia and Miss Sevani is following a new path doing charity work and running her own business. I wish them all the very best for the future and thank them for the huge contribution they have made to Belmontians over the years.

We also said goodbye to Liz Montgomery in final assembly. Liz has worked at Belmont as part of the catering team for 31 years and is retiring. She always has a smile on her face and our whole community are very fond of her. Liz had her moment in assembly when she got all the children to sing in a Scottish song about a red yo-yo that she’d learnt as a child. She left the hall with a standing ovation with Queen’s ‘We will Rock You’ blasting out. She had a well-deserved send off.

Although it seems a long time ago Winter Wonderland was only last Saturday. The atmosphere was fantastic and it was a hugely successful event that raised a breath-taking £18,200. Thank you to everyone involved, whether sponsoring, decorating the rooms or donating prizes you all helped to make WWL 2017 one of the most successful of all time. Huge thanks to Lucy Kaye, Dani Scott and Seema Shah as FOB Co-Chairs for masterminding the event. Finally Elli Kavadas also played a key role but I wanted to give Eli a special mention as she is stepping down after 2 years and a term as FOB Co-Chair. Eli has made a huge contribution to the FOB and we are very grateful for all of her hard work on behalf of the school.

The Quad on Saturday…

The Quad on Sunday…

After a very busy term I wish everyone a peaceful and joyful holiday with friends and family. On behalf of all the teachers, thank you for all your cards and incredibly generous gifts.

Have a Merry Christmas and we’ll see you all in 2018.