Huge congratulations to all the cast, crew and staff involved in this week’s production of ‘Grease’ at the Greenwich Theatre. We saw some wonderful singing, great comedy moments and lots of joy and energy. Well done particularly to the Year 7 chorus for their big moment; it is no small achievement to perform in a professional venue to a packed audience.

This week has marked International Women’s Day (IWD) and I am very proud to say we will be running our first Conference to mark IWD at the Senior School tomorrow. As befits a school with a strong ethos of equality and inclusivity, the conference focuses around the theme of #pressforprogress and is characterised by strong student involvement and leadership. We will be very pleased to welcome representatives from schools as diverse as City of London Schools for Boys and Girls, Deptford Green and Haberdashers’ Hatcham. There are some exciting and inspiring speakers, not least our own Ms Retallack, alongside David Brockway from the ‘Great Man’ project and Professor Jessica Ringrose from UCL. Our own Feminist Society will be leading a student panel and helping to lead workshops throughout the day. I hope this is the first of an annual tradition to mark such a significant national day for us as a school.

Next week sees us venture into all things scientific and artistic with our annual STEAM week. Having heard an inspiring talk from Dr Emily Grossman (GDST Alumna) last week on sexism in Science, girls across Senior and Junior School will enjoy an exciting array of opportunities. From ‘Citizen Science’ to ‘Skype a Scientist’, there is certainly something for everyone and I hope parents will enjoy our ‘Back to School’ evening on Monday. What other night out would include dissection and rock band in the same venue?

It has been a challenging fortnight for the school operationally with snow blizzards, burst and frozen waterpipes and other exciting obstacles to overcome. I am extremely grateful to all the staff, for being so resourceful in overcoming those challenges: finding ways to come in to teach despite their own children’s school being closed; making all our sites safe for the girls and continuing to work with professionalism and enthusiasm. I am sure you too have faced your own challenges, so many thanks indeed for battling on to ensure the girls could attend school and carry on as normal. Why not cheer yourself up by booking a ticket to the BHSA’s comedy night on 27 April. The event was a real success last year; great fun and a chance to just have a really good laugh. I suspect tickets will sell out quickly, so please do book early; all staff and parents welcome (not a child friendly event!).