Ian Wilmshurst, Headmaster, reflects on a successful Easter Term

March 27th 2025

I always have loved sport, and in my youth I was fortunate to attend some memorable sporting events. I was present at Old Trafford when Ian Botham scored an amazing 118 in the 1981 Ashes series, while I shared my schoolboy enclosure seat with two Welshmen in 1975 as part of 104,000 Murrayfield crowd when Scotland denied Wales, Gareth Edwards et al, a Triple Crown (you can get an idea of the crowd size on YouTube). I was also lucky to follow the great Jack Nicklaus around Muirfield golf course in the 1980 Open for the third round on the Saturday, the moving day. In golf tournaments the penultimate day, (normally the Saturday), is called ‘the moving day’ as this is when players get in position to try and win the tournament on the Sunday. Despite my support, Nicklaus didn't win at Muirfield but came close in tied 4^th place.

I have always regarded the Easter Term as our academic ‘moving term’ as this is when pupils put in the hard work and preparation to push for the best possible results in their GCSEs, BTECs and A Levels in the summer. The Easter Term is always incredibly busy and there never seems enough time to pack in the myriad of activities that make a King’s holistic education so special. Yet, as the weather improves and the evenings get lighter, pupils and teachers inevitably start focusing increasingly on the upcoming academic exams. The 6^th Form Centre gets busier and even more focused, as do the many the academic workshops.

As we come to the end of this ‘moving term’ I must thank all the staff and pupils for ensuring that it has been so busy and so successful, and I wish all our exam pupils the very best as they finalise their academic preparations for the Summer Term after Easter. Above all, I wish our Geographers a wonderful Azores trip and every member of the King’s community a safe and enjoyable Easter holiday.

Ian Wilmshurst - Headmaster