We have been delighted this week as a school to be featured in this study: www.agile-initiative.ox.ac.uk/nature-based-programmes-case-studies/

It’s a great read and a tribute to the work which has been led by Ms Ladbrook over recent years and which has brought something special and distinctive to our school. However, in some ways it is just the early steps as we develop our approach to climate, sustainability and horticulture at Wallingford School.

Families will be aware of the development at the Pat Granados Biodiversity Area adjacent to the Walter Bigg Car Park in St George’s Road in recent years and the brand new potting shed is now ready for action as spring comes. This has been a great addition to our school. We also have a significant development coming next week with the removal of an old shipping container which has been used for storage for many years and which is blocking a former nature garden close to the Bullcroft border with the school. This will open up the area to be refreshed and reused again both in lessons and beyond and is a really exciting development – much more to follow on this in the coming months.

All of these things bring a different dimension to life at Wallingford School and would not happen without support from the Merchant Taylors’ Company, the Walter Bigg Foundation, an organisation called Mend the Gap and the vision, drive and commitment of Ms Ladbrook herself – we owe them all a sincere thankyou.

The final week of term has seen House assemblies which are always full of energy, enthusiasm and the spirit of competition. The Bigg/Matilda rivalry is particularly strong and I have reminded the Heads of those Houses that there are two other Houses that they also have to try to beat. A highlight of the past couple of weeks has been the Sixth Form Traitors competition but perhaps the highlight for me is just seeing students from Years 7 to 13 coming together in those assemblies and enjoying the awards, the updated standings and the occasional very bad jokes. The spirit of the Houses runs through the core of our school with a lot more activities coming up after the half-term break and we all thrive on it.