The Roundup
Ed. 86
W/C 5 December
Head's Welcome | The Week Ahead | Key Term Dates | Noticeboard | Photo of the Week
Nursery & Junior | Senior & Sixth Form | Submit a Story

Happy New Year, and best wishes for 2026 to the wider St Chris community. I hope you have all had a restorative break with family and friends, and that the sharp shock of January and its temperature dip has been survivable.
For many of our older students, the return to school also marks the return of that ominous word: exams. Our V Group (Year 11) students sat their mocks before Christmas, and the Upper Sixth have come back straight into A Level mock examinations, trudging through frost and rain towards sports halls, exam desks and hard thinking.
It is tough. It matters. It still has value.
But as with so much in education and in the world beyond it, the context around examinations is shifting, and fast.
For my generation, and perhaps one or two before it, exams were the point. Results were the aim, the sorting mechanism and the ticket to opportunity. Secure the offer, earn the degree, enter the career lane, climb steadily, retire gently, preferably with a warm Horlicks at the end of it all. It was a brutally Darwinian system and, in truth, never particularly fair, but it was broadly understood.
That is no longer the case.
Examinations, degrees and universities remain important for the vast majority of young people. That has not disappeared. What has changed is the assumption that a degree alone guarantees progression, security, or social mobility.
Recently, the Vice-Chancellor of King’s College London described degrees not as passports, but as visas. A subtle but important shift. A visa gives you access. It does not guarantee where you will end up, how long you will stay, or what you will make of the opportunity. That, he argued, is now defined by what sits around the qualification rather than the qualification itself.
How young people communicate.
How they collaborate.
How they navigate complexity, uncertainty and people.
How broad their experiences are.
How curious they remain once the syllabus runs out.
The world still cares about what you know. Increasingly, it cares just as much about what you can do with it.
This does not make the process of revision, focus, discipline and exam pressure redundant. Sitting in a sports hall trying to recall formulas, dates, structures and definitions still reveals something important about resilience and commitment. But the question being asked by universities, employers and society is now wider. What surrounds that result? What else has shaped this young person?
Since its inception, St Chris has been clear that education is about the whole child. That is not a fashionable add-on; it is our foundation. And at moments like this, it feels quietly reassuring that what once looked progressive now looks simply realistic.
You can see it in the expansion of our Robotics programme and the extraordinary student leadership sustaining it (more on that in next week’s Roundup!). In those shortlisted for film festivals. In students volunteering in care homes, working with animals, representing their peers as Junior and Senior officials, or contemplating a month in Costa Rica to work in local communities next year via our co-curricular programme. You can see it in why we are running two Careers events this term, deliberately and unapologetically.
This is not accidental. It is cultural.
And it rests on something we have never pretended otherwise about. I do not believe that intelligence can be neatly captured by what a young person produces in a frenetic two-hour examination on a hot day in June. It never has been. Human understanding, creativity and problem-solving are far richer, messier and more interesting than that.
Victorian-era, time-bound examinations were designed for standardisation and sorting, not for recognising the full range of how people think, learn and contribute. They reward speed, recall and performance under pressure. Those things matter. But they are not the same as intelligence.
We know that young people make sense of the world in profoundly different ways. Some build. Some question. Some perform. Some design. Some lead quietly. Some think slowly and deeply. Some need time, context and purpose before they flourish. Education that ignores this does not create excellence. It narrows it.
So yes, degrees increasingly function as visas rather than passports. And yes, examinations still matter. But at St Chris we will continue to resist the lazy idea that a set of grades defines a person’s worth, potential or future.
What matters is who our young people are becoming alongside what they can demonstrate on paper. That has always been our position. It remains so.
If others are now arriving at the same conclusion, that is welcome.
We will keep going.

At St Chris, we’re proud to empower our staff and families to support the mental health and wellbeing of young people through The Wellbeing Hub — an online platform offering expert guidance and practical resources.
Parents and guardians are warmly invited to register for access via the button below. Once signed up, you'll find a wide range of support at your fingertips — including podcasts, online courses, live events, and Q&A sessions with leading professionals in the field.
Podcast: Pornography, consent and online relationships with Dr Calli Tzani, Co-Director of the Cyberpsychology Research Network and Senior Lecturer in Investigative and Forensic Psychology and Professor Maria Ioannou, Professor of Investigative and Forensic Psychology.
We are preparing for our upcoming Careers Fair and are inviting alumni, families and the wider St Chris community to take part. Your insight can offer valuable guidance to our Senior School and Sixth Form students as they consider their future pathways.
We welcome parents, former St Chris students, friends of the school, universities and local employers from any sector. Participants may host a small information table, speak informally with students about their career journey, or offer advice on skills, qualifications and development.
Students from Year 7 through to the Sixth Form will visit throughout the morning.
If you would like to be involved, please email lizzie.hedderson@stchris.co.uk.
Thank you for supporting our community, and please feel free to share this invitation with anyone who may be interested.
As a school community, we are very grateful for the calm, considerate and respectful way in which parents and carers engage with one another and with staff each day. This positive atmosphere is an important part of what makes our campus a safe and welcoming place for everyone.
As a gentle reminder, we do have clear expectations around behaviour while on the school site. We ask that all interactions remain courteous and respectful, and that any behaviour which could feel intimidating or upsetting to others is avoided.
We would also like to remind parents to take particular care when driving on the approach roads and around the school, especially at busy pick-up and drop-off times. Please observe the speed limit and remain alert to other vehicles, as well as to children and pedestrians using the pavements.
Our Parent Code of Conduct sets out these expectations in full and can be found on our website here.
Thank you, as always, for your continued support in helping to maintain a safe, thoughtful and supportive environment for our whole community.
Welcome to Kristin Knight who joined us on Thursday 8 January in the Senior School as our new Learning Support Assistant (Maths).
In the Finance team, Cleo Headland returns from maternity leave in January. Clive Eggs continues with us until the end of February to support the transition.
Rosie Togher, Marketing and Communications Manager, will be going on maternity leave in February.
Joshua Samuel-Perry left the Grounds team in December.
Lastly, we are also currently recruiting for Exams Invigilators and a Visiting Music Teacher for Drums - please do feel free to share these vacancies with anyone who may be interested.
Thank you so much to everyone who contributed to the Thermomix Raffle at the end of last term. An incredible £1,096 was raised in memory of Oliver Lambie.
The funds will be donated to the Kingfisher Nature Reserve, where they are raising money to build Ollie’s Lookout - a wildlife viewing platform that will provide a peaceful space for reflection and to connect with nature.
Congratulations to the lucky winner who has been contacted. Thank you once again to everyone for your generosity and support.
School track bottoms are currently available at a special price of 2 for £10, with a good range of sizes in stock from the PE department.
While PE kit is usually ordered through our sports provider, we have a limited number of the traditional, thicker-fit track bottoms available on site. These are no longer sold online and offer a warm, hard-wearing option for the colder months.
Stocks are limited, so we encourage families to take advantage of this offer while supplies last. Students should let the PE team know if they would like to purchase any or contact Head of PE, Lyn
Barracudas holiday camps for 2026 are live and taking bookings. Families can take advantage of the Early Booking Offer, available until 31 January, with the best price guaranteed for next year.
In addition, we’re pleased to share an extra £20 discount for St Chris families when booking two days or more. Simply use the code SCHOOL20 at checkout.

After School Clubs begin in the Senior School and Sixth Form next week. See below booklet for the clubs that are running this term. Please sign up via Evolve. ​
Please see below PDF of calendar dates for the term to print and put on your fridge!
This week we launched our 2027 Summer Expedition to Costa Rica in partnership with Camps International which is open to students in III Group to V Group (Years 9-11). If you would like to hear more as a parent there is an online event next Wednesday 14 January.
Please see attached letter for details.

We are delighted to share that this year’s Junior School Production is Aladdin.
Students wishing to take part should please sign up for both the Tuesday and Thursday clubs. Rehearsals will be getting underway shortly, and we’re very much looking forward to sharing some behind-the-scenes moments with our community as the production takes shape.
We are delighted to be hosting this talk alongside the North Herts Mid Beds local Patoss group. Patoss is a professional association for teachers of students with Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD).
We’re inviting St Chris parents to join this exciting event planned on Tuesday 20 January at 7.00pm with the brilliant Jo Rees.
There is no charge for this event but booking is essential as numbers are limited.

| Tuesday 20 January |
IV Group (Year 10) Basketball vs JHN (Home) J Group (Year 1) Toy Workshop |
| Wednesday 21 January |
Senior School Film and Philosophy Screening V Group (Year 11) Parents' Consultation |
| Thursday 22 January |
Junior School Open House III Group (Year 9) Basketball vs Fearnhill (Away) |
| Friday 23 January | U11 Football Match v Pixmore |
| Saturday 24 January | Garden City Gambit Robotics Competition |
| Monday 26 January | Major Officials Training Day |
| Tuesday 27 January | Senior School Creative Careers Evening |
| Wednesday 28 January | III Group (Year 9) Spoken Word Power Live |
| Thursday 29 January | Senior Basketball vs Fearnhill (Away) |
| Friday 30 January |
I Group (Year 7) Trip to British Museum V Group (Year 11) History trip to The Globe |
| Saturday 31 January | LVI (Year 12) Gold DofE Training Day |
| Monday 2 February |
I & II Group (Years 7 & 8) Swimming Gala IV & V Group (Years 10 & 11) World Challenge Training Day Senior School Assessment/Taster Week |
| Tuesday 3 February |
Senior School Assessment/Taster Week Sixth Form (Years 12 & 13) Parents' Consultation |
| Wednesday 4 February |
Senior School Assessment/Taster Week III Group (Year 9) Football vs Marriotts (away) Full Governing Board Committee |
| Thursday 5 February |
Senior School Assessment/Taster Week IV Group (Year 10) Football vs JHN (Home) II Group (Year 8) Football vs Barnwell (Home) |
| Friday 6 February | Senior School Assessment/Taster Week |
| Saturday 7 February | Garden City Gambit Robotics Competition |
| Monday 9 February | Stay & Play Session for Nursery Parents |
| Tuesday 10 February | Safer Internet Day |
| Thursday 12 February |
D Group (Year 6) Transition Morning II Group (Year 8) Football vs Nobel (Home) Stay & Play Session for Nursery Parents (Forest School) |
| Friday 13 February |
Senior School Ski Trip departs Half Term |
Our weekly Careers Newsletter has a different theme and excellent links to further information to help students explore careers they might be interested in. It features up-to-date Labour Market Information, an Employer Spotlight and a University Spotlight. We encourage you to explore this resource with your child to help spark careers conversations at home.
Please see Edition 15 below. If you have any further questions about Career Related Learning at St Chris, please contact Lizzie Hedderson.
| Nursery |
|---|
|
We began the spring term with a Forest School winter walk to Arunwood, home to many of our animals. The icy conditions gave us the chance to explore just how cold it was, noticing numbers painted along the path and stopping to play number games on the way. The duck pond was frozen over, though James had thoughtfully made a hole so the ducks could drink. We also visited the pigs, turkeys, chickens, alpacas and goats, who were happily munching on Christmas tree branches. |
| K Group (Reception) |
|
Our spring term started with a Forest School visit to the animals. On the walk to Arunwood, Jonah spotted some litter and responsibly put it in the recycling. We collected berries for the birds, visited the ducks and listened carefully for bees, who were still asleep. Snowdrops lined our route to the turkeys and chickens, and the ice on the alpacas’ water trough was impressively thick. We finished by visiting the pigs and goats before heading back to class – a refreshing way to begin the year. |
| J Group (Year 1) |
|
Forest School sessions this term began with making toys from natural materials. The children bent willow into circles and wove them into rings, then enjoyed games of noughts and crosses on the lawn before exploring the very muddy orchard. Along the way, gems were awarded for tenacity, kindness, helpfulness and careful listening. The children also investigated ice in many different shapes, in the orchard and the pond, and even discovered logs frozen to the ground. |
| H Group (Year 2) |
|
In Computing, the children have started learning how to create avatars using the Keynote app. They enjoyed experimenting with shapes, colours and layering before designing avatars with a partner, ready to develop their project further next week. |
| G Group (Year 3) |
|
The new term began with great enthusiasm, as the children were delighted to see one another and full of thoughtful questions. In History, we launched our topic on The Celts, using a walking timeline to explore the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages and placing these periods into chronological order. We also discussed how we learn about the past, introducing concepts such as evidence and archaeology. In Forest School, the children tried their hand at birch broom making, showing real perseverance, teamwork and problem-solving throughout the session. |
| F Group (Year 4) |
|
Year 4 have started their new topic, China, with great curiosity. The children shared prior knowledge, posed thoughtful questions and used atlases to begin their research. They explored the Chinese flag, the country’s geography, its provinces and regions, and discussed China’s land area and population in comparison with other countries. A strong and engaging start to the topic. |
We are thrilled to announce that one of our LVI pupils, Maggie Michell, has been short-listed for The Moving Image Awards, run by WJEC and the BFI, for her GCSE Film Studies coursework short film, "The Lost Child".
The brief was to create a short extract of a horror film, either the opening or a narrative moment where a new character was introduced. The pupils' films needed to show excellent understanding of the genre conventions, as well as skilful application of film techniques such as shot choices, camera movement, costume, sound and editing. Maggie chose to do an opening, and has created an extract that exploits the growing tension of a worried mother, a missing child, and a supernatural threat. Congratulations, Maggie!
On Saturday 13 December, our new VEX IQ Robotics Team took part in their first competition. The boys have been on a significant learning journey with robotics and approached the day with real determination, resilience and positivity.
It was an encouraging first experience, and we look forward to seeing how their skills and confidence continue to grow in future competitions.
