Head's Newsletter

Aims with the boys in our first assemblies. In particular, I would emphasise that students never gain the most from the Tiffin education unless they engage with what is going on, and aspire and aim high, hence our strapline of engage ̴ aspire ̴ excel. Please do support and encourage your sons as they participate, commit and involve themselves in all that we do. That participation can be seen in many of the aspects of Tiffin life, even in the first week of term when we had our first rugby fixtures of the season against Wallington Boys’. I enjoyed watching the U15s away at Wallington’s grounds, notching up their first win; with 5 wins, a draw and 2 losses, it was a very good start to the season. In other events in the first week, the Year 7s and Year 12s have had some most enjoyable induction days, (with Year 12 down at Thames Young Mariners, team building by the Thames), and the choir were singing at the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall! More about this next time. Over the summer holidays, Tiffin was still extraordinarily active! Fantastic tours took place: the choir went to the Baltic States and St Petersburg; the senior rugby players went to Canada, and our senior actors were performing at the Edinburgh Fringe. Please do read about these below, and do follow the links to YouTube to watch the incredible choir performances. In addition, the holidays were used to carry out a lot of building work at the School, renovating a number of rooms and corridors, improving the toilet facilities in the Main Building, and completely re-surfacing the playground area in front of Elmfield.

This is looking fantastic, and provides greater space for the boys. It will be complemented by the replacement walnut trees which will soon be planted in the spaces set aside for them, and by the completion of new boundary walls and gates where the site adjoins the new flats being built next to the School. I would ask parents to please not park on the sandy coloured surfaces, but just use the tarmacked surfaces.

I hope that parents will also soon notice the investment in the kitchen facilities in the Harper Pavilion at Grist’s which will soon be complete, and will certainly improve the experience and facilities for the many students and guests who use the pavilion; this project would not have been possible without donations from TIPRA and the Tiffin Foundation, and we thank parents for their continued and vital support of the School which is so necessary for us to maintain the education we provide. Tiffin really is an extraordinary School, offering fantastic opportunities; we are delighted that one of the Government Education Ministers, Lord Nash, will be visiting the School on Monday 21 st September and we look forward to introducing him to Tiffin! The strength of the School lies in the dedication and commitment of the staff and governors, the support of the parents, and in the boys we are fortunate enough to work with. We look forward to a successful and exciting year.

Mike Gascoigne Headteacher