Our Year 6 Leavers Assembly took place yesterday. It was a fantastic day of celebration, as parents, family and friends joined us to recognise our Year 6 Leavers’ achievements and to look ahead to their bright futures.

While it was emotional as we bid our Leavers a fond and sad farewell, it was also a very happy and joyful time as various staff, including Miss Joakim, Deputy Head of Prep, who taught many of the girls in Year 2 and Mrs Millard, Head of Performing Arts, shared their wonderful memories of the girls; marvelling at their hard work, commitment and commenting on how lovely it has been watching them grow and flourish over the years. What was clear was whether they joined the school in Nursery, Reception or later, the girls will take with them lots of happy memories and friendships.

Mrs Lilley, Head of Prep, gave a heartfelt speech congratulating the Leavers and added her own spin - a truly delightful and entertaining poem dedicated to the girls featuring many memorable highlights! Our Head, Mrs Reynolds, also added her congratulations praising the Year 6 pupils on each having “made their mark in their own way and learning without limits”, and hoped they would “continue to live their lives without limits”.

The two Year 6 teachers were understandably very emotional; Mr Rushworth quoted Dr Seuss, telling the girls: “Today you’re off to great places!” and “Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is you-er than you”, while Miss Redpath congratulated them on a “golden year” during which they “told stories, asked big questions, worked hard and had loads of fun”. She also encouraged them to “keep being yourself, keep asking for help when you need it, keep developing your gifts and bring these to the world.” Both teachers said how it had been a privilege and honour teaching this amazing group of girls.

A very special highlight was the Year 6 pupils themselves taking to the stage to share their own reflections of the Prep School. They each spoke about their time at school and shared their favourite memories. It was really lovely to hear so many talk about the warm welcomes they received from classmates, their favourite lessons and the many funny, joyous moments they shared with staff and friends.

The event also included ‘showpieces’ performed by the girls themselves including an emotional rendition of the song ‘Leaving on a high’, a fantastic medley of ‘Positivity songs’ they had written themselves and at the end, they were joined by the Year 5s for a very lively medley of our end-of-year production, ‘Seussical’, complete with actions.

All our Year 6 Leavers received a personalised certificate celebrating their special successes and individidual qualities. Additional awards were given for Academic Excellence, The Arts, Sporting Achievement, as well as The Hope House Shield for Endeavour and Commitment to the RHS, as well as a Shield for the student who best embodied our RHSB Learner Qualities.

It was a very special day indeed and we were delighted to have so many family, friends, staff and students join us in celebrating the girls’ endeavours and achievements.

To view more photos, check out our Flickr album.