May 27th 2023
Being a witness to the wonderful progress the children make is one of the great joys of being a teacher. We are privileged to see their development on a weekly, monthly and termly basis, and this is such a rewarding part of our role. This is my ninth year as Head of Moulsford, and this summer term is particularly special as those children who started in Reception with me in 2014 will now leave the school, with their friends who have joined them at various stages along the way, absolutely ready for the exciting next stage. I will very shortly have seen a full cycle of boys through the school!
Boys and their families may naturally leave Moulsford, but they always remain part of the Old Moles community. Bumping into past pupils at local events such as at the Henley Festival or Regatta, often with beers in their hand, is always a pleasure, and they are without exception extremely polite, charming and seem genuinely pleased to see me – either that or they’re very good actors. Last Saturday I was at Marlborough College watching my son play cricket for Radley. Between the two teams, there were six Old Moles involved, all in the 6th Form, and it was so good to catch up with them and their parents and hear all their news. They were fantastic ambassadors not only for their current schools, but also for Moulsford.
Pictured above from left-to-right are Charlie H, Archie N, Jake B-G, Oscar P, Harry H and Teddy B. Having had years of training for Moulsford school photos, these Old Moles automatically knew how to arrange themselves in height order. It was a fabulous match, with Marlborough posting 166 in 20 overs. Radley won the game in the final over thanks to an explosive innings by Oscar P. This was a 3rd XI match of an extremely high standard, and it was very entertaining for the spectators.
These six boys will shortly be leaving their schools and graduating to higher education, after what I know will have been five very happy and productive years for all of them. For current Moulsford parents this may seem like a long way off for your children, but it will come round sooner than you imagine. The world is changing fast and while university remains an obvious and aspirational path for many beyond school, your children’s generation, more than any other, are likely to question whether a degree will set them up well for the world they will inherit. This episode of Bringing Up Britain, broadcast on Radio 4 last week explores this topic in detail.
