February 13th 2021
As we enter Half-Term, I would like to express my thanks to the whole Moulsford community for the outstanding efforts of the past six weeks. At very short notice in early January, boys, parents and staff pivoted to make a very swift transition to virtual learning and the collective spirit of all has enabled us to make the best out of a less than ideal situation.
An enormous ‘well done’ to the boys, who have consistently demonstrated creativity and resilience in spades, as well as keeping a sense of humour which is so important in these times. Thank you to all the parents who have been on hand to support your boys and the school throughout this time, and we recognise that the level of parent support required for Pre-Prep age boys is generally more significant. The Moulsford staff have been utterly brilliant in delivering the virtual curriculum and, as ever, it is a privilege to work with such a dynamic, forward-thinking and strong team.
Virtual Moulsford will continue on the boys’ return on Monday 22nd February, and the Prime Minister is due to make an announcement that day about a possible return for schools from 8th March. Government announcements on this topic are normally followed by detailed written guidance from the Department for Education, which gives more substance to the principles outlined verbally by ministers. The school will need to study this guidance and take a little time to plan any possible return for the boys, and so our aim will be to confirm these plans to parents by Friday 26th February.
On a different note, I can imagine that many of you are finding this a particularly difficult time to be a prospective parent as you undertake your research on senior schools for your boys. We have been busy updating our video content to give prospective Moulsford parents a good feel for the school in the absence of a visit to our wonderful site. In creating these mini-movies, we have been working with limited up-to-date video content so please be aware of the following when viewing, in relation to the ‘cut-away’ or action shots:
- With no possibility to film the boys since pre-Covid in March 2020, we are very limited on recent footage and particularly the updated uniform and sports kit
- As a result, there is some repetition of the ‘cut-away’ or action footage in the different films, but we’ve tried to keep this to a minimum
- We have had to re-use some older footage, including boys who left the school some time ago
- We have had to use some still images to help fill the gaps until we can shoot new footage
- The boarding video is the unchanged 2017 version (other than updated graphics to match the others), as the interview remains relevant and we don’t have sufficient new boarding action footage to replace it
- When restrictions are lifted and we are able to plan more filming with the boys, new footage will be planned and edited to replace action shots as necessary
Parents can view the latest videos by clicking on the links below.
And finally, we are holding our next Virtual Open Day on Saturday 27th February; please tell your friends! We have this week launched a social media campaign to promote the event, and we thought you’d like to see this short video clip which will be on our usual channels with full details - we hope you agree that it encapsulates Moulsford for those that don’t know us.
Enjoy the break over Half Term.
