Head Master's Weekly Notes - 27th June

And it seems this month is a wash out, and not only am I referring to the weather (will we see the summer this year?) but to the summer of sport which promised so much. It hasn’t been a great week for British sport – England were eliminated from the world Cup – play two, lost two and drew one , thus finishing bottom of the group with one consolatory point. It seems that England added nothing to Brazil 2014 – the campaign was most similar to USA ’94 when England weren’t actually there to be humiliated and we turned our support to Jack Charlton’s Republic of Ireland who did manage to get through to the knock out stage. Today we see the likes of Algeria and Greece qualify for the KO stage – it does beg the question ‘Where is English football going?’ Next up, was England’s rugby players who completed a 3-0 series loss to New Zealand. Although the first two tests were closely contested they still will go down in the history books as losses and Stuart Lancaster, like Roy Hodgson, needs some serious thinking to do. I personally think that English sporting teams don’t travel too well – the recent dreaded Ashes tour to Australia springs to mind. Closer to home, Cpt Alistair Cook is coming under pressure after losing the test series to a rampant Sri Lankan team. He now has to get ready for the Indians next month – at least this is on home soil. And of course, we have Wimbledon this week and a number of Brits have already fallen by the wayside and we haven’t even got to round three! And so it goes on. It’s been a terrible week and you wonder why we bother. And yet we do bother because sport has that power – it has that unique capacity for hope, for belief, for endurance and for suffering. Already we are thinking of Ashes revenge next summer, the Rugby World Cup in 2015 and the Euros in 2016. There is an irrational belief that no matter how bad things are, they will improve. There is always the next time. My summer is pinned on the 1st XV RUGBY tour to Sweden
which leaves next Monday for a series of matches culminating in Sexey’s playing the U18 National side – I do hope we travel well and I wish the tour party the very best in their endeavours next week. Do follow their international campaign on Twitter @SexeysSchool.

It’s the end of June and it’s still raining which can only mean two things  – Wimbledon and Glastonbury. This small corner of Somerset is now under the global media spotlight and having watched it in the comfort of my dry home in London I don’t think I have quite appreciated just how big this event is. The biggest music festival in the world and its right on our doorstep and like sport, Glastonbury too wields a lot of power and influence - so much so the school is closed Friday through to Monday (extended three quarter term) to allow students and their families to attend and enjoy the festival. We are keen to support such cultural events and I hope it doesn’t rain too much or I will have to get my wellies out for Sunday as I wade through the mud at Worthy Farm!