It is, finally, the end of term and the last day of the year.
Today I am using this space to say thank you to everyone who has contributed to such a successful year at OHS. We have come such a long way when we look back to September. We had recovered from the Centre Assessed Grades from the year before but we were still uncertain about whether exams were going to take place, swathes of pupils and staff were out of school with Covid 19 and labour shortages were rife. Our community was working hard to find the new ‘normal’, to establish what Oxford High School looked like as we emerged from a pandemic and what the expectations were for our staff, our pupils and everyone in our community.
I look back now and am so proud of how far we have come. We have put on two extraordinary musicals, concerts galore, plays, recitals, exhibitions, celebrations of achievement, Sports Days and speakers, seminars, webinars and parental events to welcome back our wider community. We have raised lots of money and goods for charity including, of course, the Ukraine and our pupils have spearheaded so many of our new initiatives and events, including six student-led conferences on topics from US Foreign Policy to Sustainable Fashion. We have also welcomed twelve year groups of alumnae back to the school and embraced (there is no other word!) Miriam Margolyes and her extraordinary storytelling magic in a spellbinding session back in December. And our pupils have experienced the rites of passage they deserve. Our Year 7s and 8s have been on their residentials, Year 9s have been on DofE and will have their assessment expedition in September and over 97 students have gained their Duke of Edinburgh qualification this year. And we have held our mock and final exams and our pupils have risen to the challenges with grace and fortitude. I am so in awe of their courage and proud of the community which has enabled them.
In August, prior to the start of term I will, of course, write to you with all the information you need on our joining staff and the arrangements for the start of term but today is about those who leave us. Our Year 13 students who are nearly over the threshold to their next stages, the numerous families whose departure from OHS represents not just a seven year partnership but in some cases years of hand in hand parenting of their daughters as two or three have been through the school, as well as those staff who are finding new horizons to explore. To every one of you please do not be strangers. Our gratitude and thanks for all you have done, given and lived in our community goes with you and we wish you every happiness for the next episode in your own series.
And finally, please take the time over the summer to rest, recuperate and enjoy the threads of exploration where opportunities present.
With warmest wishes to you all,
Marina Gardiner Legge
Headmistress