Christmas in Wendover
12 December 2023 - Wendover
For this end of term blog post I thought that I would pinch some words from two of my favourite profound Christmas thinkers to explain what Christmas means and why it is such a special time for the Wendover Community.
“Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time.”
Laura Ingalls Wilder (Author of Little House on the Prairie)
Our last few days have been filled with Gingerbread decorating competitions, festive Christmas lunches, tree decorating, year group skits, plays, movies and carol singing. There are so many incredible moments for us to come together as a community, to enjoy each other’s company and to have lots of fun. It has been a joy to induct our LIV and three new girls into these traditions. To witness others, experience the playfulness of a Wendover Christmas for the first time has been one of the many highlights of my term.
We have had much success in recent competitions too. We came 3rd place in the House Ensemble competition where our group of 9, ranging from LIV to LVI played ‘A Million Dreams’ from The Greatest Showman and wowed the judges with their well-rehearsed piece. The girls have been instrumental in leading this success. Milly (LVI) must be congratulated for leading the House Ensemble with such dedication. I, on the other hand, can not be praised for my contribution to the inter-house cookie-off with my forgetting to tell the girls to include the sugar whilst they took charge of the baking and I read out the recipe. Luckily this did not hamper our success and we were given 3rd place for our healthier alternatives!
“My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that?”
Bob Hope (Entertainer)
There have also been a huge number of moments that have allowed me to feel fierce pride in our Wendover community too. In particular the girls have supported our whole school charities and other opportunities to spread love to others as they have arisen. This year our House dinner raised a remarkable £1116 to support Mary’s Meals and the Wycombe Refugee partnership and our bake sale added another £275.50 to these wonderful charities. Two sums of money that will go on to make a huge difference to some of those most in need on both a global and a local scale. I was again incredibly proud when the whole House voted a resounding ‘yes’ to creating packages of warm clothes, hats and scarfs for refugee children who are part of our High Wycombe community. We committed to 6 gift bundles, one for each year group and staff offering too. The girls ended up creating 19 packages. At a time that is immensely busy for all of our pupils I am proud to see that they have dedicated time and effort to thinking of others, what is also heart-warming is that they speak of how much they enjoyed having this opportunity. I would also like to say a huge thank you to Wendover parents, girls and staff who were immensely generous in their toilet roll donations for our local foodbank Christmas appeal. We will look to create lots more of these moments as the year progresses.
I would also like to thank the staff for all of their hard work and for going above and beyond in the busyness as we approach the Christmas holiday. They all do a wonderful job in looking after your daughters and I am proud to lead such a fantastic team.
We look forward to seeing you in 2024. Have the most wonderful holidays together- may they be peaceful and happy.