Dear Parents,

This Lent term has been short, but full of activity. The weekend of February 2nd and 3rd was not untypical. 19 Hockey games were played against Marlborough and a very competitive 1st XI set the example to the whole club with another win. There were also 7 games of soccer against Haberdasher's and Marlborough and the Real Tennis National Schools Championship took place at the Oratory. A few hours later senior boys enjoyed a genial evening of Scottish reels at Cheltenham Ladies College whilst the Shells had a Party at Wycombe Abbey. The next day some 60 musicians gave a preview of their successful Berlin and Leipzig tour to parents who couldn't join them on the half term trip; what was remarkable was the versatility of the boys, their ability to multi-task at a high level in both choral and instrumental groups. Then the Monday was marked by Charles Hastings' last Declamations. He has preserved a unique Radley tradition through his palpable enthusiasm for the competition; poet laureates, famous poets and writers, headmasters and others have judged it across the years, and this year Arthur House O.R., who left Radley in 2000 having given one of the great Declamations performances himself, did the honours. The whole morning was memorable, but the final session – 6.2 – was of a uniformly excellent standard and ranged from Bennett to Larkin. The winners were Alex Rose, 6.2; Hugo Walker, 6.1; Alex Murison, 5; Alex Donger, R; Tommy Siman, S.

There has been a focus on the boys' written word this term as well. 'The Radley Chronicle' continues under new editorship and has interested other schools as a model for pupil journalism. To help creative writing Christopher Ellot invited in a Poet in Residence, Michael Laskey, who stayed at Radley and gave a series of classes and tutorials to our budding writers which they much appreciated.

The second half of term inevitably has its own distinctive character. It is dominated by Mocks for 6.2 and Fifth Form. After more chivvying by the Sub Warden than either of us can remember, 6.2 are slowly beginning to focus on the importance of these A levels in the summer, and some of them showed encouraging form in the Mocks. But there is a long way to go for others, and my dearest wish would be for a dull, uneventful but purposeful Easter holidays so that a circadian rhythm of revision can become engrained in them. To a lesser extent the same applies to the Fifth Form; their GCSE grades are crucial to their success – or otherwise – in university applications in 2009/10.

Late February also saw an inspection of the school by ISI Inspectors. The inspectors in their feedback to us verbally noted Radley's outstanding range of educational opportunities, the excellence of the boys' attitude to their learning, the quality of the teaching, the respect of boys for their dons, the excellence of pastoral care for the boys and the outstanding experience of boarding at Radley – among many other things. Verbal feedback was couched in superlatives which may be toned down by ISI editors, but what cannot be gainsaid was this, that the boys came over to the inspectors as polite, friendly, open and considerate, and that you, the parents, had been markedly supportive and enthusiastic with an overwhelming (and for an experienced lead inspector, unprecedented) endorsement of Radley in the questionnaire. This was really heartening to us; thank you very much for your support. The final report should be ready for circulation to all parents in the first half of next term.

The Inspectors noted the extent and quality of the buildings at Radley and the next tranche are advancing apace. J and K Socials are on track and are going to be beautiful, spacious and striking buildings setting us standards for boarding accommodation across Radley. We start the process of upgrading the older socials in the summer holidays. J and K are also nearly full for September; many of your sons have shown a desire to be pioneers in the new communities. The one year group where there remain gaps in both is that of our present Shells, next September's Remove year. It is entirely understandable that Shell boys settling to a new school and establishing themselves in a social should be reluctant to move, but perhaps Shell parents, particularly those with boys in B, E and G where numbers should ideally reduce for the next academic year, could be aware of the possibilities for next September.

I mentioned music at the start of this letter. We are beginning to take for granted the excellence of the Chapel Choir which each Sunday sings in the Eucharist Service with real quality, never more so than in a packed Confirmation Service last week. The quality was evident instrumentally in the Gunn Cup at the start of March won by Rory Robinson (Woodwind) and Andrew Savill (Brass); their outstanding playing vanquished a number of other fine performances. In addition, some 70 pianists performed in the 'Piano Extravaganza'. Back in January the Removes put on 'The Scarlet Pimpernel' in the New Theatre, expertly directed by George May; it was full of lively performances, colour and clever staging and was – in all – thoroughly entertaining.

A feature of Radley which struck the Inspectors even if we ourselves have become habituated to it is the wealth and frequency of academic society meetings after Prep. They have ranged from Perplexed's [the Science Society] 'The Chemistry of Drugs' to the Classical Society's 'Classics and Heavy Metal' [Iain Campbell's particular area of expertise, I understand]. Not only do dons and boys present papers; visiting speakers have talked on topics ranging from 'Post-1945 drama', through Peel and Reform, to American Universities. Every week, in addition, there have been exhibitions of Radley archives with highlights from the collection of letters and artefacts.

That weekend with which I started my letter was wholly typical in the amount of sporting activity, except that it didn't mention rowing. Much of the club has been involved in preparing for and competing in Heads of the River in the last part of the term and the results have been promising; if boys can keep themselves fit and develop technically we could have a set of good results in the Summer's regattas. It is good, as well, to have real competition for places in the top crews, especially in the senior and J15 age groups.

It has, again, been a good year for Hockey. The JC and Midgets teams have won most of their games and played delightfully skilful Hockey; the Colts, without a couple of players who have moved up to the 1st XI, have found life a little more difficult but have played well. At the top of the Club the 1st XI has done very well under Charlie Wood's captaincy and beaten Charterhouse, Cheltenham, Marlborough, Bradfield, Harrow, St Edward’s and Abingdon. Against Cheltenham, Bradfield and St Edward’s only one match was lost throughout the Hockey Club on each occasion, a pleasing reflection of Hockey's strength in depth. Colts and Junior Colts Soccer teams have done very well, losing very few games. The 1st XI after a slow start has started to win games and has put together a cup run to the semi finals in the Crusader Cup. There have been some good performances, too, on the Rackets Court and our professional Mark Hubbard won the British Professionals Championship, an outstanding achievement. This time next year we will be able to host our own Real Tennis matches; the new court is nearing completion and will be a major enhancement of our facilities. Having won the National Schools Championships this year the prospects look bright.

Gaudy, this year is – as you know – an evening event. We try to ensure every boy experiences at some time in his Radley career an evening Gaudy, and we have traditionally tied the event to something of moment being celebrated at Radley, the 150th anniversary (1997), the retirement of a Warden, Richard Morgan (2000) or a Sub Warden, Hamish Aird (2003). This year's Firework Concert marks the retirement not only of a distinguished Bursar, Richard Beauchamp, but also of 3 senior Radley dons, John Wylie, Richard Pollard and Charlie Milward who have given long and loyal service to the College.

For parents of leavers the events officially start with the Leavers' Service in Chapel at 5pm; for Prize winner's parents, Prize Giving takes place at 5.45pm in the New Theatre; and for all Parents, Tutors' parties start at 6.30pm. The festivities continue on Pups' Field; families picnic from 7.45pm onwards, to the accompaniment of Music from Alex Hawkins and the Jenny Miller Band, and the evening culminates with a spectacular Fireworks display at 10pm. We hope for decent weather to make for a memorable night.

The vagaries of the Easter calendar have played havoc this year with report writing as indicated in my last letter and I have perforce been limited to writing reports just on the Fifth and 6.2 year groups. This will be no such problem in the summer!

Liz joins me in wishing you a very happy Easter. Spare a thought for us on Sunday 6th April – spring in Paris ruined by participation in their marathon!

Yours sincerely,

Angus McPhail