On 10 July, there will be a very special Making Musicians concert in the Cley Church as part of the Five Churches Festival in North Norfolk. This concert will feature the Norfolk Young Musician 2025, Tristan McCardel (ON), and Norwich School music scholar, Benjamin Griffiths. Tristan will perform avel’s virtuoso masterpiece Tzigane and the beautiful Romance no.2 by Beethoven. Benjamin will then be performing the haunting song-cycle by Butterworth, A Shropshire Lad, alongside hits from the world of musical theatre. Additionally, L5 Music Scholar, Isaac Schaad, will be performing in the Festival's Finale on Sunday 13 July. Isaac's composition Divertimento for Strings will be performed by the Chaos Collective Strings Ensemble under the direction of Stephen Threlfall in the Festival Finale. Isaac will also perform in the ensemble himself. To find out more click here!

On Friday 20 June, Assistant Head, Mr Grant, addressed assembly on the theme of pilgrimages and recounted his own experiences of following in a pilgrim's footsteps. Read a transcript of the assembly below... ‘To be a pilgrim’. What on earth does it mean ‘to be a pilgrim’ in 2025? Well, last summer, I decided to find out by making a pilgrimage of my own. The words in the hymn we have just sung were written by the 17 th -century writer John Bunyan who describes a Christian’s journey through the difficulties of life to salvation. However, it was a different literary figure that I had in mind: Geoffrey Chaucer’s 14 th century poem, the Canterbury Tales, imagines a disparate group of pilgrims setting out from a tavern in London on a journey to Canterbury Cathedral; the most notable site of pilgrimage in medieval England where Christians would visit the site of Saint Thomas Becket, the Archbishop and martyr who, as you may recall from L4 History, had been murdered on the authority of King Henry II. As they travel, Chaucer imagines his pilgrims telling stories to one another to pass the time, some are comical, some are satirical, some are deeply serious and they reflect the range of medieval society and human behaviour. I’d studied Chaucer as part of my English A Level and it was this journey that I hoped to complete on foot, following the one hundred miles of the old pilgrimage route over six days from central London to Canterbury. In this eccentric endeavour, I was joined by two heroic colleagues: Dr Cornell and Revd Child and, one morning in late July, we set off on our journey. Beyond a lot of walking, what did I expect? Pilgrimage is an important feature in many of the world’s religious traditions. Hindus travel to Benares to bathe in the sacred waters of the Ganges, Muslims are obliged to travel on pilgrimage to Mecca once in their lives, and Jews travel to the Western Wall in Jerusalem to pray. Throughout the centuries, Christians have gone on pilgrimage to holy sites such as Canterbury, Walsingham or Rome. Yet, is arriving at the destination the most important aspect of a pilgrimage? When I finally arrived at Canterbury, despite the beauty of attending Evensong in the cathedral, I confess that my overriding concern after six days of walking was to sit down in a café and eat an enormous chocolate brownie. Which I did. Indeed, it isn’t the arrival in Canterbury that sticks in my memory. In Christianity, the New Testament tells of travels in which it is the journey itself rather than the destination that is important. God is found, not in a sacred place, but literally on the road. As we have just heard from our reading, it is whilst walking on the road to Emmaus that two men encounter the risen Christ as they walk and talk together, their hearts burning within them. They return immediately to Jerusalem, where they started and don’t loiter in Emmaus at all. Famously, it is on the road to Damascus – rather than in Damascus itself – that Saul – later St Paul – is struck blind and is transformed from being a persecutor of Christians to one of the greatest apostles. I won’t claim our journey was nearly as significant as these but, on a pilgrimage, perhaps the end of it is not the main point. We certainly faced some difficulties on our journey. Whilst we encountered neither hobgoblin, nor foul fiend, we did endure some desolate parts of south-east London, bruised and blistered feet, and an irritating Dutchman who ran an overpriced pub near Maidstone. Unlike Chaucer’s pilgrims, we did not tell particularly notable stories. Indeed, Dr Cornell and Revd Child had to listen to my moaning about my sore feet and my varying opinions on the efficacy of blister plasters. Yet, what a delight it was to experience the beauty of the English countryside in high summer. The chalk downs, the deep woods and the vineyards and orchards of Kent. We live in a beautiful country and it is always good to be reacquainted with that. Simple things: the welcome shade of an oak tree on a hot day, the first sip of a well-earned drink, removing walking boots after 26 miles. A particular joy for the three of us was the extensive breakfast menu (and very reasonable prices) at the Wetherspoons on Dartford High Street. Returning to London took less than an hour on England’s only high-speed rail line. Back in the centre of the city, we rejoined the fast pace and busyness of life. In 2025 we are used to everything being quick and instantaneous: fast travel, immediate information, rapid communication, instant coffee. We live in an impatient age, always rushing to get… where exactly? Walking: slowly, deliberately, we can force ourselves to encounter life at a more reasonable pace. We can be more alert to our experience in the present. For Christians – for John Bunyan - life itself can be seen as a pilgrimage: a journey of faith and potential transformation through which we can understand ourselves, our lives and God. So, to be a pilgrim today? Well, try it – in your own way: slow down, reflect, notice, keep going through uncertainty and discomfort, walk alongside others and listen as you go on your way. Those men on the road to Emmaus returned – transformed - to their starting point, Jerusalem. Perhaps, as another poet, TS Eliot, puts it, ‘the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we began and to know the place for the first time.’

On Sunday 22 June, Thomas Irvine (L6) will compete in a triathlon to raise money for cancer research! To celebrate this incredible challenge, we asked him a few questions... How long have you been training for this triathlon? I’ve been training since the beginning of the year but I’d say I’ve been really focusing on it since the end of the hockey season 3 months ago as I was very busy with hockey before. What's been the biggest challenge for you? The biggest challenge for me has been the swimming training. Before entering the triathlon I had never swam competitively before so getting my swimming to the required level has been by far the greatest challenge. Have you ever done anything like this before? I have been a fan of running for a while but I have never competed in any sort of triathlon before so this will definitely be a new experience. How are you feeling about the event? I would say I am feeling confident for the event and feel I have prepared sufficiently. I have had 2 open water sessions this week in Whitlingham lake to get used to open water series and am now feeling better prepared for the swim. What are your hopes for this fundraiser? I really just want to make the biggest difference I can to help prevent cancer. I am hoping to raise as much money as possible for Cancer Research UK as cancer is an important issue currently affecting my family. I have set a target of £1000 but it would mean the world if we were able to exceed it as it would be great to be able to make a significant contribution towards the amazing research Cancer Research UK are doing. If there is any opportunity to contribute towards finding a cure for this disease, I am a firm believer we should take it. To find out more click here!