Friday Flyer - 27th June 2025

Dear Michael Hall Community, 

Summer has arrived!

Last week we celebrated Midsummer on Solstice Day, 21^st June with the Lower School pageant, afternoon teas, old fashioned games, reunions of past scholars, exhibitions of work, art and crafts, with a spectacular performance of the musical Fiddler on the Roof JR by Classes 9 and 11, finishing with the Class 12 ceremony and fire including recitation and songs fit for an Italian basilica!

Another moment in the year to remind us of the wheel of time and the importance of celebrating festivals to build our community and anchor us into life and the cycle of the year.

This week you will see a lot of additional activity as we have the return of the Olympics shared by many Classes 5 from around the UK. This year’s opening ceremony will be on Saturday 28^th June with the usual early start!

I was once lucky enough to be at a small Steiner Waldorf School where we could jump over the embers of the fire. As each child and adult jumped the rest of us called out:

“Mrs C, Mrs C, jump over the fire and burn all your troubles away”

I have never forgotten this simple moment; a reminder to feel the healing aspects of midsummer and the blistering heat of the summer sun along with the warmth of the fire to warm my bones in the middle of winter!

Midsummer blessings to us all, in abundance with flames to take with you inwardly into the cool of mid-winter.

Introducing the Blossom Fund

At Michael Hall, we have long welcomed families who seek the richness of a Waldorf education for their children. We know — and see daily — how this education helps young people grow, flourish, and truly blossom. But we also know that, as an independent school, access to this experience is not financially possible for everyone.

That’s why we’re launching the Blossom Fund — a new initiative to help make Waldorf education accessible to more children who would otherwise be unable to afford it.

This new fund will run alongside our existing Fee Assistance programme, which the school already supports at a cap of 5% of turnover. This year alone, that means over £250,000 has been allocated to support families. Next year, we’ve already exceeded that cap — a testament to both the growing need and our commitment to inclusion.

In total, the school offers over £1 million in fee reductions each year — including sibling and staff concessions — and we want to do even more.  With support from our current families and cherished alumni, the Blossom Fund can help us extend this vital support even further.

How the Blossom Fund Works

All donations will be held in a separate account, entirely distinct from the school’s main operating funds, monitored by Senior Leadership, Trustees and the School’s auditors. These contributions will be released to top up the Fee Assistance programme once we exceed the 5% cap, helping ensure that no child is turned away purely due to finances. This can happen on a monthly, termly, or annual basis — depending on need.

Ways to Contribute

If you feel called to support the Blossom Fund, there are several ways you can give:

• One-off donations
• Standing orders
• Online contributions via our website
• Legacy gifts

Every gift, large or small, will directly help open the doors of a Waldorf education to more children.

Who Can Benefit?

The Blossom Fund is not a separate application process. Instead, it enhances our existing, means-tested Fee Assistance programme, which opens each December. It ensures we can support as many eligible families as possible — even beyond our usual funding limits.

If you would like to donate, or learn more about the Blossom Fund, please click here or contact us at: [email protected]

Together, let’s help more children blossom.

Colin Fullbrook
Head of Finance

Longest day run report

Thank you to everyone who supported me on my run either cheering me on or by making a donation to Papyrus, the national charity for prevention of young suicide. I ran 24 miles in 24 hours: one mile every hour on the hour. I started at 4am and didn't finish until the next day.

I completed all 24 miles on one of the hottest days of the year. Here I am, sweating, at the summer festival.

The biggest challenges were the heat and, at the end of the day, running alone in the dark. However, during and in the time between runs I was rewarded by sight of a lot of animals. 

• Deer in the woods behind the school (and large herds of them at night)

• Trout, a family of rats and a crayfish (like a small lobster)in the stream by Brambletye Inn

• Two fox cubs playing in the early morning on Worth Way

• Bats flying around my head, attracted by the moths that were attracted to my headtorch

• And a species I've never seen before, a glowworm by Forest way

I have raised £725 so far for Papyrus. If you would like to learn more about Papyrus or you'd like to make a donation please visit my justgiving page:

https://www.justgiving.com/page/james-kilfiger-1

Now here's a maths question:

Mr Kilfiger runs one mile every hour on the hour for a day. He starts running at 4am and runs for exactly one mile, taking the rest of the hour to rest.

• When will Mr Kilfiger start his final run?

• If his speed when running is 7.5 mph, how many minutes will each run take?

• What is his average speed over the whole day?

(answers: 3am,  8 minutes,  1 mph)

Simone Pritchard Goodbye and Thank you

So, that is it. Really?

A few weeks ago, the first child said to me: ”Frau Pritchard, I have heard you are leaving, but I didn’t believe it!” - I can’t believe it yet myself.

Michael Hall was for me for all these past 23 years far more than just a place to work. Here was, where my living happened, my learning, my singing and playing, my joy and my laughter. Learning? Yes, I learned at least as much from the children and students as they learned from me.

I have loved working with children and being a language teacher for all my life, starting at the age of 22 in Leipzig teaching Russian and German. After the Berlin wall came down ( I was there at the Monday demonstrations in Leipzig in 1989) I embarked for England and taught German in a state school for a few years.

And then on the first day of my daughter’s class one here in 2002, I started my journey as a German teacher in Michael Hall. And what a rich journey it has been! I have soaked in the beauty of all the plays, musicals, festivals and art over all these past years. The creativity I was allowed to unfold in my language lessons together with the children, with the culmination of the performances of our little or big plays in German, made me love my work and kept me fully engaged and inspired.

I am grateful that I had the opportunity to accompany many classes from class 1 or 2 up to GCSE, quite a few students up to A-level. The trust and mutual understanding one develops is amazing. To sail through a lesson together, where the enthusiasm carries the children and the teacher is such a wonderful experience.

What will I miss?

Going through the school grounds or corridors and hearing a happy voice calling “Frau Pritchard” or receiving a smile and a wave.

I want to say thank you to all of you wonderful children and students, to you dear parents for your support and appreciation and to you, my dear colleagues and friends.

I am full of gratitude for all the light and love I have received and will carry that in my heart into my new stage of life.

Thank you!

Simone Pritchard

OLYMPICS 28^th June 2025: 

Dear Parents, Family, and Friends, 

The Class 5 Greek Olympics is upon us.  This is the time of year when over 200 class 5 children gather from all over the country and abroad.  They unite under their city banner to compete and celebrate this golden age.  The children will get the opportunity to stretch themselves over the three days and share the fruits of their training on the Saturday. 

All are welcome to come and celebrate this wonderful display of beauty, grace and strength.  Many thanks to the class 6 parents who will be serving refreshments throughout the day.

The day starts with the lighting of the Olympic flame and the opening ceremony at 7.30am.  The closing ceremony will end at around 2pm.

ALL ARE VERY WELCOME

The Gym Dept