Begin Afresh
Published 28/02/24
Do you take any notice of nature? On your way here to the Abbey church what trees did you pass? Did you see any birds? Were there any plants?
Headmaster's Blog
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Read MoreThe Habit Of Excellence
Published 19/02/24A few things in the past few weeks have come together in my mind to form a very strong impression of what I can only call excellence at St Benedict’s.
Read MoreThe Road to Damascus
Published 25/01/24As well as many other aspects of the school which we are proud of, the racial and cultural diversity of St Benedict’s stands out very powerfully for me. It adds hugely to the richness of our community, as does our spirit of inclusion. So, when we see things happen in the world which attack this, we are all affected by this.
Read MoreThank God It's Christmas
Published 15/12/23Have you noticed that Christmas is coming? Of course you have.
I bet that any of you could recite pretty accurately the Christmas story: Mary visited by an angel; a census and a journey to Bethlehem; no room at the inn; a baby born in a stable and placed in a trough that animals eat from; shepherds visited by an angel and making their way to Bethlehem to pay homage to the baby; wise men following a star to the stable and giving the baby strange gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Read MoreGreeks bearing gifts?
Published 12/12/23Some of you may have heard the recent news about the debate over the Elgin Marbles - a set of ancient Greek marble sculptures that currently reside in the British Museum in London. These sculptures were originally part of the Parthenon temple in Athens, and were removed over 200 years ago in the early 1800s by a British nobleman named Lord Elgin.
The Parthenon in Athens 
Read MoreSmall Beginnings
Published 20/11/23How many bricks make a wall? One hundred? One thousand? Ten? Could one brick ever constitute a wall?
Read MoreQuintessence of Dust
Published 11/10/23If I mention the name Bennu, do you have any idea what I’m talking about? A clue: Bennu is 4.5 billion years old and parts of it, contained in a capsule, streaked through the atmosphere in a fireball and landed on target in Utah’s western desert last Sunday, after a 1.2 billion mile journey to Earth.
Read MoreVoting
Published 11/10/23At what age do you think people should be able to vote in a general election? In the UK the voting age is currently 18, and has been for a very long time. However, the Labour Party have decided that they will reduce the voting age to 16 if they win the next General Election, which will probably be in a year or so’s time. Doing so would enfranchise – which is what we call giving people the vote – 1.5 million British teenagers, including some of you, of course.
Read MoreRules
Published 11/10/23I wonder how you feel about rules? Do you believe that they are a necessary aspect of life, which ensure the smooth functioning of society, or on the contrary do you feel that they are a cruel infringement of your freedoms and human rights?