The Roundup
Ed. 87
W/C 12 January
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It has been the usual busy week at St Chris. Sixth Form mocks are underway, parent consultations have filled diaries, mock results have landed for the V Group (Year 11) alongside relationship talks, Major Official election rounds, Junior School Aladdin rehearsals, Forest School compost collections and everything else that makes a school feel alive rather than tidy.
Amidst all that movement, I was grateful for a number of brilliant conversations with students this week.
I spent time with some Junior School pupils talking with total seriousness about their prowess at darts and how it was sharpening their maths and arithmetic. I had a thoughtful and challenging conversation with a student about what progressive schooling really means and where he felt we were getting it right and wrong. Another student explained, straight-faced, his future plans involving riding an ostrich. And I ended up in a long lunch discussion with a small group of Sixth Form students about Greenland, geopolitics and power imbalance. The central thesis was that meaningful negotiation is impossible when power is unequal and thus never true…. It was genuinely fascinating, and they had a point I thought.
The outcomes of these conversations were clear enough.
It got me thinking about their requests. Or more accurately….their bids.
I have been reading the work of John Gottman, an American psychologist who has spent decades studying relationships. Not the dramatic moments, but the quiet, everyday ones. Gottman analysed thousands of couples, some who stayed together and some who did not, and asked a deceptively simple question: what actually makes the difference?
His conclusion was not about grand gestures, compatibility, or happily ever after. It was actually about something he called “the bid”.
Gottman said a bid is any small attempt to connect.
“Can I show you something?”
“Can you help me?”
“Have you got a minute?”
When a bid is made, the other person has a choice. They can turn towards it or they can turn away. Turning towards a bid says: "I see you. You matter. You are worth my attention."
Turning away, especially when it becomes habitual, sends the opposite message. Often unintentionally. Often silently.
Gottman found that couples who stayed together responded positively to around 80% of each other’s bids. Those who separated responded to closer to 30%. Relationships, he argued, do not usually break in a single dramatic moment. They erode through small, repeated acts of inattention.
What struck me is how relevant this is to school life.
Students make bids constantly. Some are obvious and confident. Many are not. A question asked at the wrong moment. A story that is not very well formed. A challenge disguised as humour. A complaint that is really anxiety. A request that sounds unreasonable until you pause and listen to what sits underneath it.
Staff make bids too.
“Have you got a minute?”
“I am not sure this is working.”
We as parents make bids as well. Sometimes calmly, sometimes clumsily, sometimes wrapped in frustration or worry. Rarely because we do not care. Almost always because we care deeply.
A school like St Chris is built by how we respond to those bids.
Our values talk about openness, respect, individuality and care. But values only exist when they are practised in moments of pressure, distraction or fatigue. Turning towards a bid is one of the simplest and most powerful ways those values become real.
Turning towards does not mean always saying yes. It does not mean indulging every idea, fixing everything immediately, or agreeing with every viewpoint. Ostriches remain off the table.
What it does mean is this: we pause, we listen, we acknowledge the humanity of the person in front of us. We say, implicitly or explicitly: “I see you. I am taking you seriously. You matter here.”
Turning away, on the other hand, rarely looks dramatic. It looks like being too busy. Too distracted. Too quick to close a conversation down. A non-answer. A delayed response. A habitual deflection.
And just as Gottman found in relationships, the damage is rarely caused by one big moment. It is caused by patterns.
At St Chris, our job is not perfection. It is attention.
It is noticing the student who is hovering at the edge of a conversation.
It is staying curious when a question feels awkward or challenging.
When students feel that their bids are met, they take risks. They think more deeply. They challenge ideas. They feel safe enough to disagree, to fail, and to grow. When students feel seen, partnership becomes possible.
None of this is glamorous. None of it fits neatly into a policy document. But it is the daily work of a healthy, values-led school.
Ostriches, it turns out, are surprisingly expensive. And Niall Ferguson remains unavailable.
But buying a dart board might just be an option…

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.
Webinars:
28 January: Raising teens in the digital age: Friendship, bullying, and the online world
29 January: Managing harmful sexual behaviours and sexualised harassment at school
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.
This morning’s Major Officials 2025 Final Talk was a moment to pause, reflect and celebrate a year of commitment and collaboration. It gave the team the chance to share just how much they have achieved together, and the breadth of impact they have made across our community and beyond.
Throughout the year, Major Officials led and delivered an impressive programme of fundraising and events. From a Masquerade Ball and an Inside Out movie night, to bake sales supporting Place2Be and Comic Relief, and collections of pre-loved toys and children’s books for Noah Children’s Charity, their work was thoughtful and purposeful. Easter egg donations were made to Lister Hospital, while a 24-hour run raised £1,490 for Sports in Mind and £1,646 for Tracks Autism. Christmas parties for Years 7, 8 and 10 raised a further £245, and the Tuck Shop collected £271.06 for Letchworth Foodbank and akt.
The team also successfully brought about meaningful change within school life. Motions were passed for larger cups in the lunch hall, more sports equipment, additional clocks, new gym equipment, a new water fountain and the resurfacing of the astroturf. New leadership roles were introduced, including Heads of Food, Events and Fundraising, and Interhouse. Alongside this, the Chair of Be Green led important conversations and action around climate change, recycling and sustainability, while the Chair of EDI championed inclusion through events such as Culture Day and St Patrick’s Day.
It was a powerful reminder of what can be achieved when pupils are trusted, supported and given a voice, and a fitting close to a year of thoughtful leadership and service.
A huge thank you to the Major Officials 2025 team: Stella Anderson, Archie Oaten, Archie McGee, Abi Plaut, Charlie Cramond, Thomas Robb, Jonah Fitchew, Daniel da Silva, Sorcha Lucioli, Aubert Seysses, Claudia Hawtin, Art Quelch, Daniel Dew and Eliza Joseph.

Over the past year, our senior Robotics students have shown remarkable commitment and leadership. During the 2024–25 season, they competed as a team with great success, reaching both the National and World stages and adding further awards to our growing trophy cabinet.
This year, the team made the difficult decision to step back from competition in the 2025–26 season in order to focus on A Levels and mentoring others. In doing so, they have played a central role in developing our first VEX IQ team (Years 7–9), who competed for the first time before Christmas and are keen to continue progressing. They have also been mentoring our VEX V5 team, who are hoping to qualify for Nationals later this year.
Beyond competition, the boys have helped establish and develop our new Innovation Hub, creating a safer and more appropriate space for robotics work. They run after-school Robotics clubs every Monday and Thursday, regularly give up lunchtimes to support younger pupils, manage the Robotics budget and administration, and have built strong links with the global robotics community. Several have also qualified as VEX Referees and now officiate at events across the country.
In 2025, they launched, organised and ran the Garden City Gambit, hosting 24 teams from across the UK. This year’s event, the Garden City Gambit 2026, is already underway and will welcome 56 teams from the UK and overseas. It will be recognised as the largest VEX Robotics competition in the UK outside of the National Championships, with universities attending to promote STEM pathways.
With the Robotics season still ongoing and the National Finals taking place in March, we would like to extend our sincere thanks to the students for their exceptional commitment, generosity and hard work, and for the positive impact they continue to have on Robotics at St Chris.
Senior Robotics Students: Aubert Seysses, Daniel Da Silva, Thomas Robb, Daniel Dew and Jonah Fitchew.
BookingBarracudas 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.
As we look forward to the Seniro School and Sixth Form St Chris Literary Festival running from Monday 2 March - Friday 6 March, we wanted to send out a special reminder regarding one of the week's most anticipated highlights.
World Book Day Fancy Dress – A Little Reminder!
On Thursday 5 March, we will be celebrating World Book Day. We are looking forward to seeing everyone’s wonderful costumes again this year, and we are especially eager to see high engagement across the Secondary School.
Students are warmly invited to come to school in optional fancy dress as their favorite book characters. Whether you choose a classic protagonist or a more contemporary figure, we can’t wait to see the creativity and imagination on display. Let’s show the whole school how much spirit the secondary years can bring to this celebration!
Don't Miss Out on Other Festival Events:
We look forward to a fantastic week of celebrating literacy together.
During Literary Week, we will be hosting a Pre-Loved Book Fair. Every book will be available for £1, with all proceeds going to charity. We would love your support in collecting books for the fair.
If you have any pre-loved books you could donate, please could students bring them to E1 at school, where they will be stored safely until the week of the fair.

After School Clubs have begun the Senior School and Sixth Form this week but there's still time sign up. 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!
See the PE team or contact Head of PE, Lyn to buy.
We are currently recruiting a Lifeguard (casual contract) to support our swimming provision. This is a valuable opportunity to play a key role in ensuring a safe and positive environment for our students.
The closing date for applications is 5.00pm on Wednesday 21 January.
We warmly encourage interested candidates to apply.
g Successful Dyslexics;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.
| 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 V Group (Year 111) GCSE Drama Practical Exam |
| 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) Parent Event for Safer Internet Day |
| 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 16 below. If you have any further questions about Career Related Learning at St Chris, please contact Lizzie Hedderson.
| Nursery |
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This week in Nursery, students have been immersing themselves in the colourful world of Eric Carle, with a special focus on The Very Hungry Caterpillar. They created a caterpillar collage, experimented with potato-printed caterpillars, explored colour mixing through butterfly artwork, practised counting with caterpillars, and discovered the fascinating life cycle of a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly. |
| K Group (Reception) |
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Reception students have begun their new topic, Where are we?, developing an early understanding of place and location. They explored an atlas and used Google Earth to learn more about where the school is in the wider world. Inspired by this, students painted their own worlds, with their artwork now proudly displayed on the classroom ‘Wow Wall’. |
| J Group (Year 1) |
| Continuing with their Toy topic and links to comics, Year 1 students have been exploring Pop Art. In class, they created dotted backgrounds using bubble wrap, showing great focus as they resisted the temptation to pop it! Later in the week, students began designing their very own toy museums, drawing and labelling characters and sharing their stories with one another. In Maths, they started learning about number bonds to 20, enjoying plenty of discussion and collaborative problem-solving. |
| H Group (Year 2) |
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In PSHE this week, Year 2 students engaged in an important discussion about staying safe with medicines. Through role-play, they practised a range of scenarios to reinforce their learning and to ensure they can share these vital safety tips with others. The class showed real understanding and responsibility in these discussions. |
| G Group (Year 3) |
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Year 3 have been busy with persuasive writing in English and subtracting three-digit numbers in Maths. In History, they explored the clothing and jewellery of the Celts, beginning to make clay torcs. Their curiosity and thoughtful questions about historical evidence demonstrated impressive historian thinking and engagement with the past. |
| F Group (Year 4) |
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This week, Year 4 students made the most of the dry weather in Forest School by weaving willow crowns and decorating them with foliage. Back in the classroom, they have been exploring the five groups of vertebrates: mammals, fish, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. They have been learning the characteristics of each group and discussing which are warm-blooded and cold-blooded, and what these terms mean. The students’ crowns were a beautiful creative outcome of the week’s activities. |
| D Group (Year 6) |
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In History this week, Year 6 students focused on detecting clues in written sources to correctly place different eras of British history on a timeline. They showed impressive attention to detail and justified their reasoning, engaging in lively debates about what defines an era. In Science, the class investigated animal adaptations as part of their Evolution and Inheritance unit. They recreated beak types to explore Charles Darwin’s observations of finches in the Galapagos Islands, recording their findings in preparation for next week’s write-up. |
Our III & IV Group (Years 9 & 10) rugby team played in a highly competitive home fixture against Knights Templar on Tuesday afternoon. Despite a slow start against a strong opposition side packed with club players, the team produced a brilliant second half performance, scoring four tries.
A huge well done to all involved, with a special shout-out to our captain Archie F for his leadership, and to the other try scorers Henry and Gabriel. We look forward to building on this performance in the games to come.
Our senior football players played in a fiery encounter on Wednesday evening. Despite losing some key players to injury and lots of players playing out of position we held our own against a well organised Knights Templar team. We look forward to our next fixture vs Sherrardswood.
Last weekend, the boarders visited Bhaktivedanta Manor in Watford, where they enjoyed a guided tour of the temple, explored the peaceful grounds, and fed the resident cows. The visit was rounded off with a shared Indian lunch, offering a chance to relax and reflect on a memorable day together.