Dear Parents and Guardians,
Towards the end of August, the Management Team spent some time away from campus to look beyond the immediate demands of the term and to consider where we are going as a school. We reflected on our strategic imperatives, our priorities for the year ahead and, more broadly, the direction we would like Somerset House to take in the years ahead. The recent OISESA process provided a particularly useful backdrop to these conversations, helping us to reflect honestly on both our strengths and the areas in which we can continue to grow.
One of the strongest themes to emerge from our discussions was that of balance.
Balance is sometimes misunderstood as finding a comfortable middle ground between competing priorities. I think it is something more demanding than that. It is about recognising that a good school needs to hold a number of important things together, even when they pull us in different directions.
We want academic excellence, but we do not want a purely academic education at the expense of all else. We want pupils who are physically confident and competitive, who understand the value of sport and who learn how to win and lose well. We want music, drama, art and cultural experiences that allow children to discover talents and interests that might otherwise remain hidden. Above all, we aim to develop pupils of sound character, who ascribe to a set of healthy core values. Academic, sporting, and cultural pursuits, alongside the development of sound character, are not competing versions of the school experience; each experience is a thread which, when woven together, forms the rich tapestry of a Somerset House education.
This is one of the reasons our school can sometimes feel busy. There are rehearsals, practices, matches, concerts, productions, academic commitments, tours, camps and a host of other opportunities competing for space in the calendar. It would be easy to conclude that we should simplify, reduce and do less.
While this may be an expedient solution, I convinced that this is not the answer.
There is an important distinction between being “busy” and being “purposefully engaged”. Participation matters. Children need to try things, to put themselves forward, to discover what they enjoy and, sometimes, to discover that they are capable of far more than they imagined. Excellence rarely appears fully formed. It is usually found through participation, practice, persistence and the willingness to keep going.
We therefore need both participation and excellence.
If we want our pupils to achieve at a high level, we need to create an environment in which they are given the opportunity to participate widely and then, where passion and aptitude emerge, to combine these in the pursuit of excellence. Not every child will become an outstanding musician, athlete or academic, but every child should have the opportunity to discover where they might excel. Participation opens the door to excellence.
This is important because our ultimate ambition is not simply to produce competent pupils, or even successful ones. We want to help young people discover how they can make a meaningful contribution to the world around them. Beyond competence lies excellence, and beyond excellence lies significance.
And finding significance requires balance.
It requires us to protect breadth while pursuing depth; to encourage participation while supporting excellence; to value achievement while remembering that character matters; and to look beyond the immediate demands of the school year while remaining attentive to the children in front of us today.
Our strategy, therefore, is not about choosing between these things. It is about creating the conditions in which they can coexist, reinforce and support one another.
The time spent in reflection and forward planning gave us valuable space to reflect on this. It reminded us that good planning is not simply about deciding what we will do next. It is about being clear about who we are, what we value and what we believe matters most. Taking time away from school is not stepping away from our responsibility to it. In many ways, it is the opposite: it gives us the opportunity to lift our eyes above the immediate and make deliberate choices about the type of school that we are building.
JOHN HUGGETT – HEADMASTER
23 September 2026
