September 28th 2024
We were delighted to welcome Old Mole and Olympic Gold Medallist, Tom Digby back to Moulsford this week. Tom was a member of Great Britain’s winning rowing eight in Paris last month. Tom spoke with the children in Assembly in both the Prep school and the Pre-Prep giving plenty of them the very exciting opportunity to handle his Gold Medal – it was surprisingly heavy!
Tom’s journey from joining Moulsford in Year 3 to the podium is a wonderful story and so great for our children to hear. Tom, who left the School in 2011, loved his Moulsford days, and while he clearly did well with us, by his own admission did not excel in any particular area. His message to the children was threefold; first, passions and interests start when you are young – try your hand at everything and you will find something that clicks for you. Second, Tom’s path to success was incremental, not meteoric. Working hard, staying focussed and developing resilience have been key to his success. Third, Tom stressed the huge benefits gained by stepping out of your comfort zone and broadening your horizons. This allows you to meet all sorts of different people with diverse views, and have exposure to many experiences. Tom cited his decision to accept a place at Yale University, rather than going through the UK system, as transformative for him.
The Moulsford community is extremely proud to have an Olympic Gold Medallist in our midst. None more so than our Bobcats class who Tom joined on the carpet in a rendition of ‘Row, Row, Row your Boat’! Click here to see this and other highlights from his visit.
Yesterday Years 7 and 8 were on trips to the Watermill Theatre in Newbury and the Victoria Palace Theatre in London to see The King’s Speech and Hamilton respectively. Both year groups thoroughly enjoyed the shows, and the Year 7 and 8 staff reported that the children were completely engaged by the productions. After the shows, our pupils received many compliments from both the audience and indeed the actors on their behaviour and attentiveness, and this was followed up by the unexpected email below, received this morning from another theatre-goer:
Dear Mr Beardmore-Gray
This afternoon we attended the Watermill Theatre. We found ourselves sat next to a number of pupils from your school.
My wife and I are retired teachers and must admit that when we arrived in the theatre and saw 50 children our hearts sank. However, the behaviour of your pupils was excellent. In addition, they were all extremely polite in their contacts with us.
They showed an excellent level of concentration, especially as the play was adult orientated.
Your staff were extremely efficient and very quietly communicated with their pupils.
I wish you well in all that you and your staff do to assist these pupils in their personal development in a very challenging world.
