from the Headmaster Welcome

The Summer Term of 2022 concludes with Dacre Day and Field Week, featuring over a week of trips and co-curricular events for pupils of all ages. May and June saw the return to public exams for the first time in two years and, since Easter, we are back to full strength with pupils able to enjoy the full range of opportunities at Emanuel. I am delighted to be able to write this, as there have been times when school life has ceased to exist in the ways we all most naturally enjoy and benefit from.

During these most challenging of ‘pandemic’ times, however, we have learnt a great deal of good about ourselves. We have truly acted as a community, caring for each other, working as one and supporting those beyond our school. Not only have the bonds between all school colleagues, pupils and parents been tightened, but we have also been awarded national prizes for our outreach and partnership programmes, with many initiatives now embedded in our school’s schedule. I would like to say how pleased I am to see our work with local primary pupils, and now families from Ukraine, thriving.

Our pupils have also gained greater confidence in their studies during this testing time. Despite some of their teaching being conducted remotely, each pupil has shown themselves how well they can cope with adversity.They have learnt personal approaches that work best for them, and they have returned to the ‘new normal’ school life with a greater sense of confidence. I suspect there is also a sense that each of them has realised that almost all aspects of school life were missed: friendships, groups, teachers, moments of fun, collective experience — a powerful lesson to learn at a young age.

This sense of renewal and return is evident in many areas of Emanuel. In September 2022, we launched the school’s ‘Sixth Form Award’ — a diploma programme that will mean that, alongside A Levels studied, our pupils will all be involved in creative programmes, altruistic campaigns, mentoring and experiences of leadership. We will also ensure that they receive outstanding career and higher education guidance, making the most of the wider Emanuel network. This will all build on the breadth of opportunity seen in weekly lessons in the Lower and Middle School.

We have been really glad to see our lower school lessons in coding; robotic and design going well, alongside moral and ethical debate and oracy (ETHOS); and our latest collaborative lessons in social entrepreneurship.

Beyond the classroom, music, drama, art and sports have all flourished. The Music department has presented a range of events at school and off-site, culminating in ‘A Night at the Musicals’ at the Clapham Grand in June, a very different, but no less exciting and impressive experience than that at the Ministry of Sound for young DJs, who played there earlier this year — the first school to ever do this! As ever, the Drama department’s standards have remained exceptionally high and this year’s musical, School of Rock, was a great success. The summer term has seen two Art shows for the GCSE and A Level pupils, both of great quality, talent and imagination. Girls’ and boys’ cricket keeps growing and we have been pleased to achieve so many victories against other leading London co-ed schools. Our rowing continues to be very popular and we have competed across a range of prestigious events. Beyond traditional sports, we continue to offer new ones, with this year seeing a successful start to our water polo and swimming fixtures, for example.

Renewal and change have been seen beyond the curriculum and co-curriculum. Emanuel’s critical build plan is underway, with an enlarged Sixth Form building now completed. The next stage is to redevelop our off-site sports facilities at Blagdons in Raynes Park, making sure we have a site that provides every opportunity to the girls and boys. Next year will also see us focus on our plans for a new refectory and specialist classroom building, benefiting arts, as well as science teaching in the coming years and making sure Emanuel continues to thrive.

Perhaps we might have to accept that in a post-pandemic world, we may never quite achieve a ‘new normal’, more a state of ‘never normal’. But maybe this is no bad thing, and perhaps better reflects the exceptional aims of the school and the talent of the people within it.

Mr R Milne (Headmaster)