First day of CE over

Four exams have been done and all the candidates seem in pretty good spirits. Four more tomorrow and the back of Common Entrance is broken.

I have always advised the boys not to go through the questions with their friends after the exams as a sort of 'post mortem' but it is so hard to resist. I am sure it is a need for reassurance but inevitably the questions they talk about are the ones that they are least sure of and therefore the ones they are likely to have different answers for.

Still, they are on good form and ready for tomorrow.

Common Entrance starts today

All those weeks, months, years of preparation will be put to the test today and over the next four days as fourteen Sunningdale boys sit their exams for entry into their public school of choice.

They have worked so hard and all deserve success. They are certainly apprehensive but I hope that they now know exactly what to expect and I am sure that they will all do well.

Old Sunningdalians compete for Oaks

Old Sunningdalian Henry Cecil was not successful in the Oaks yesterday but another Old Boy, Ed Dunlop, did train the winner!

Good to see that Sunningdale is still at the top of the Sport of Kings!

Rocket photo

Here is the rocket from this morning!

Glorious day

I have had the most fantastic morning. The weather has been beautiful and I took the opportunity given to me by a cancelled meeting to walk around the school and simply observe.

PE lessons were going on outside and I saw two science lessons being taken on the grounds. In one of them boys in the senior half of the school were making rockets out of plastic bottles and foot pumps. They flew miles in the air! I wish that I had been able to do experiments like that at school.

The grounds were looking amazing and the smell coming from the trees and plants was heavenly. It brought back many happy memories of my own time at prep school. I remember distinctly the smell of the azaleas on the way down to the swimming pool.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if every day was like this!

Web safety

This morning all forms were shown a short film about internet safety and this was followed by a discussion.

I think that this is such an important topic. Communication is becoming easier and easier, as is information sharing and although this brings huge benefits, it also increases the risks we are all exposed to. This is particularly true of children who, as always, are the most vulnerable members of society. I have always felt that social networking sites such as Facebook, Bebo and Myspace put children at risk and I wish there was more that we could do to prevent children from being exposed to things that they are not ready for.

This morning's session was very useful and thought provoking and I hope that the boys will think carefully the next time they use the internet.

Lovely weather for cricket!

The sun is shining again and we are looking forward to matches this afternoon against St. George's, Windsor. Sadly the U11A match has been called off because of other commitments at their end but all other matches will go ahead.