St Edmund's

Welcome back!

It has been a busy summer at St Edmund’s.

During the holidays, we have run successful CCF and Duke of Edinburgh expeditions and enjoyed some very strong GCSE and A-level results. As I write, some of our former Upper Sixth have already headed off to university, others are about to start and a few have exciting international gap years planned. They were a terrific group of young people and we will miss them!

The magnificent new Adar Poonawalla Academic Hub is now open. It houses our school reception along with the English, Geography and Business & Economics departments. There are also some new offices and a very smart staff room. It is a great addition to our teaching and learning facilities.

We have also converted some areas of the school to create a new Sixth Form Work Room, a Safeguarding Office in Main School and a new meeting/lecture space in the Allan Grant Room.

We also welcome 17 new members of staff to the St Edmund’s team and wish them every happiness in their careers at the school.

The pupils have returned in high spirits and have started term in a constructive, good humoured and engaging manner. I have been “out and about” and have been impressed by the purposeful momentum in academic lessons and the quiet focus already displayed by students in the school library.

Pre-season training went well and the sports department are looking forward confidently to this term’s fixtures. Rehearsals are underway for Assassins by Sondheim and The Canterbury Tales (which will be the showpiece of our summer 2025 Festival).

In today’s assembly, I talked about Canterbury and the colourful history of our beautiful city. We covered Julius Caesar, the bubonic plague, the Crab & Winkle Line, murdered archbishops and the Baedeker Raid.

So here we go! Michaelmas 2024 has begun and we have much to look forward to.

Enjoy!