Dear Mr. Powis,
Many thanks to you and your staff for another full and rewarding year for our children. At a time of intense development for them, your team came through with dedication and engagement.
For our daughter, what has stood out most is the strong bond she felt from the first with Mrs. Everist, and Mrs. Everist’s thoughtful concern for her growth and well being — social, as well as intellectual. She has also gotten a good base of French with Mrs. Hawtin and enjoyed life skills and PE.
Mrs. Shepherd’s violin instruction has been everything we could wish for — rigorous, supportive, and varied, she has managed to foster both enjoyment and progress.
Our daughter has loved her Saturday clubs (and we’ve appreciated the baked goods) and her progress in swimming has opened new opportunities to her. We can’t wait to see what new interests she takes on board next year.
Our son leaves Vinehall full of fire about his next school, and we are so grateful to Paul Borrows for identifying the Battle Abbey scholarship as an achievable but worthy challenge for him. Our son has gained a tremendous amount through the process, got a needed boost in self confidence, and for him, the prize adds sparkle to the prospect of Year 9.
Emily Platt’s encouragement shifted his sense of his potential as a writer and has given him a strong base to build on next year, and Jane Austen ignited an enthusiasm for French that he looks forward to testing in Brittany this summer. We are delighted by his shift in attitude about both subjects. He leaves Vinehall stronger, more confident, and more able than when he arrived, and we believe that sending him here was the best possible choice for him at that stage.
We are acutely aware of extra time and energy invested in our kids by Paul Smith, Edward Gilsenan, Louise Payne and Nick Butcher, as well as Dr. Kossuth, who kindly scheduled extra Saturday fencing training when our swordsman was preparing for an important competition. The V-12 & V-24 team offered maximum flexibility, at the expense of their own convenience, to help me with the working motherhood juggling act.
Finally, thank you to Mary Alderson and Emily Bidwell for their enthusiastic collaboration when I visited to lead a creative writing workshop with the Year 2s.
Seeing our son move on is bittersweet, though exciting. The adventure continues … Coming soon, to a Year 4 classroom near you.
Which is all the more reason to wish you and your staff an enjoyable, replenishing summer break.
