It has been a real pleasure to see all of our pupils and families happily getting back into the swing of school after the Christmas holidays. A very warm welcome also to the new pupils and their families who have started at TPS this term – we are delighted that you have come to join us!
It is our Spring Term Open Morning on Saturday 1st February and it is very good to report that we continue to experience a large level of interest in places. Looking towards next September, the two forms in our current Year 4 will become three forms, and the two forms in our current Year 5 will also become three forms. In our current Year 6, we are planning for our three forms to become four forms for the start of their Year 7. Such is the demand for places in one or two of our year groups that families approaching us now are having to go onto a waiting list, at least until September. If you have friends who are considering joining the school in any year group, please do encourage them to come along to the Open Morning or to make contact with our Admissions Manager, Mrs Harvey.
For parents in our current Year 6, please do not forget that you are very welcome to attend the information morning tomorrow morning regarding the years which our pupils spend in the Senior School (Year 9 upwards). Tours of the facilities and classrooms of the Senior School will be available and please do contact the School Office if you would like more information.
Our Year 8 pupils have been out today at Buckfast Abbey, enjoying one of their curriculum trips, and I am delighted that we have such an inspiring and engaging programme of trips for all of our year groups. Looking at last term, we had trips ranging from surfing on a beach in Devon (Year 7), visiting the Golden Hind (Year 4) and seeing the Tutankhamen Exhibition (Year 6) to name just a few. I know that there are plenty of inspiring visits to look forward to during the rest of the year for all of our pupils.
On the subject of enriching experiences, our Saturday Morning Enrichment programme for pupils in Years 3 to 6 starts again tomorrow. Please do consider the terrific activities on offer if you have not already done so, and remember that pupils attending other schools are very welcome to join. For more information, please do contact Mr Rowse on tpssaturdayenrichment@tauntonschool.co.uk
Finally today, on the subject of sport, our boys from Years 5 to 8 enjoyed some tremendous tussles with another very good hockey school, Clifton College, last Wednesday with the spoils shared across the age groups. On the netball court, our Under 12 girls again showed how much they have developed over the last couple of years, finishing 3rd and 4th respectively in the A and B tournaments last Saturday. Then on Wednesday, we came out comprehensively on top against the netball teams from Queen’s. We have an impressively large number of eleven boys and girls from Years 7 and 8 who qualified to run in tomorrow’s County Cross-Country Championships at Yeovil and we wish them well.
Meanwhile, our Under 13 and Under 11 boys’ table tennis teams will be playing in Plymouth as Somerset County champions in the regional finals of the National Schools’ Table Tennis Championships. The standard is really high and I am sure it will be an exciting day!
I wish you all a very happy and rewarding Spring term.
Mr Andrew Edwards,
Headmaster
