Every storm runs out of rain

‘Every storm runs out of rain’

Dear Parents

After seven weeks of remote learning, Handcross Park will be opening next Monday! It is so exciting for our community and we cannot wait to welcome your children back to school.

I know that wellbeing has been a major focus over the past year and I must say a huge thank you to the generosity of the parents who have kindly donated their fee rebate to the new ‘wellbeing garden’ that we are creating near the Art and Design building. This will make a huge difference to our community in the weeks and months ahead.

I was watching the recent ‘Middle School Showcase’ and how proud I was of all the performances especially as it showed the creative commitment that is instilled in the pupils at Handcross Park; a huge thank you to all the parents for all their support. The Year 3/4 play video was also a wonderful example of what can be achieved with some enthusiasm and energy from all those involved. It is always such a pleasure to watch children being creative, be it musical, dramatic or in the art room – a skill that has become even more important in our modern world and must be encouraged.

The creative arts, in many ways, have been the most hit by the pandemic, not least in schools and I am ever hopeful that face-to-face music and drama lessons can take place next term and that we can do some more ‘live’ performances in the future. You may remember that I mentioned a Music and Art school on the remote island of Rapa Nui (or Easter island) https://tokirapanui.org/en/ in the Autumn term. This school was set up by the now world famous pianist, Mahani Teave, who was seen playing on a rickety piano, as a child on the island, and a generous benefactor supported her in realising her dream. She then decided to set up this Music and Art school that offered subsidised music lessons to the children on the island as well as a focus on sustainability and the continued education of the island’s culture. Due to the pandemic, tourism on the island has been reduced and therefore the school is now struggling to offer the education that it was set out to do. This will be one of the charities, over the next term, that we aim to support – focussing on raising funds for musical instruments and monies to ensure the children can continue to learn to play music and be creative. I hope that this will hold some resonance with you.

Finally, as Maya Angelou once said, ‘every storm runs out of rain’, and I hope that we can now begin to return to a school that can look to the future, embrace learning and creativity and give the children an environment that will allow them to explore, grow and be safe. We will need to be careful but I sense exciting times ahead.

Richard Brown

Headmaster