Today, we were treated to the wonderful occasion that is our Senior Inter-Set Solo Competition - a much-loved fixture in our calendar. As always, it offered a hugely rewarding experience for all who attended. To witness all of these boys stand before an audience – whether the first step into the world of performance or the practised display of a more seasoned artist – is like being witness to a time-lapse of musical growth at Pilgrims’. These performances are never only about pitch or precision. They are moments of courage, of joy, of effort. It is here that two of our central values - Heart and Excellence – are placed front and centre. To every boy who performed, our warmest congratulations. You brought light and life to the Hall this morning. 

Last Saturday, the Hall served a very different purpose. We hosted our most recent Pilgrims’ Parley, where senior educational leaders from Radley, Charterhouse, Churcher’s and Canford joined us to reflect on a topic that is travelling apace, though rather less so in the prep age range than in the senior: the role of AI in education. The conversation was wide-ranging, thought-provoking, and – importantly - hopeful. There were searching questions about what artificial intelligence might offer, and what it must never replace. The consensus was clear: the heartbeat of education remains human. There was powerful recognition of the challenges technology presents to emotional and social development in pupils, to the very skills that will promote learning, and of the responsibility schools have to preserve spaces for empathy, conversation, and connection. 

Digital literacy, it was agreed, must now embrace the crucial bedfellows of ethical reasoning and critical thinking. These are not technical skills, but moral ones, consciously used - habits of mind and soul. The word ‘intentionality’ was a central talking point. There was particular interest in the implications of AI for how we assess work, and the ways in which the job market our boys will enter is shifting beneath our feet. (Although, hasn’t it always since the Industrial Revolution?) And yet, despite these rapid currents of change, the conversation returned again and again to this anchoring principle: that technology must serve education’s values, not supplant them. 

For those of us in the room, it was a rich and rewarding exchange. I’m delighted to see how the Parley series is maturing into a platform for meaningful dialogue - one that brings our parent community into the deeper pools of educational thinking and life. As we often say in education, there is a time to be the “sage on the stage,” and a time to be the “guide on the side.” The Parleys invite us all to discern the time for each when talking with our boys, and in partnership as the adults in their lives. A link to the video of this most recent Parley can be found here:  
Pilgrims' Parley: What are the risks and opportunities of current digital evolution? 

I warmly invite those not there to settle down with a cup of tea and to take some time with it. 

Of course, no Headmaster’s week would be complete without its lighter, more earthy moments - and yesterday, our pre-prep boys delivered these in abundance. I had the simple delight of joining Year 1 as they rolled hoops around the school grounds in joyful pursuit of their fundraising goal for the RNLI (already exceeded - bravo, boys!). Later, I encountered two proud gardeners - Arthur and Arthur - bearing a trug overflowing with the fruits of their labours. I was offered a radish - fresh, crisp, straight out of the soil and pink with the good sort of pride. 

And perhaps that’s the point: in a world ever more contending with the virtual, let us not forget the true value of the real. Of soil on hands. Of sound vibrating through strings. Of ideas shared face-to-face. These are not nostalgic indulgences - they are, in fact, the things that will keep us whole. 

May I wish you all a happy and restorative half-term. 

Tim Butcher
Headmaster