Clichéd as it may be, my early memories of Kingswood House (as a pupil) are led by the smell of freshly mown grass at the beginning of summer term, which signalled the promise of warm days and freedom. More specifically, it heralded various changes in school life: Science lessons around the pond by The Cricketers pub at the bottom of the hill (thanks to the inimitable Mr Ellis Jones); the marking out of the 200 metre running track that extended from the Cricket Pavilion to half-way down the field, with its punishing uphill last straight; dips in the outdoor swimming pool after athletics or cricket. There was also a grass tennis court, roughly where the Peter Brooks building is now. I think I was allowed to play on it once only! I was the middle of three brothers at the school and my parents were fully involved with the Kingswood House Parents' Association throughout our time here; in particular, Dad was instrumental in the building of the Cricket Pavilion – now the home of DT. In my final year at KHS, I won the cricket bat, but not because I was any good at batting; very simply, we had an unusually weak side that year and our best batter was the captain who could not award the bat to himself - my top score: 28 runs! The sporting theme continued into the holidays with the Summer School of Sport, a precursor to today's Kingswood Active, which culminated in a 'run, shoot and swim' triathlon.

Earlier this year, a former classmate (whom I saw last when we both left the school in 1984) emailed me out of the blue, having seen my name on the school website, asking if he might visit us for a look around and a catch-up; there was, of course, mention of his 'carved brick' in the email, which, he recalled, was somewhere to the left of 'what was the laundry room'. The things we remember!

It's always wonderful to see former pupils come back to us to say hello and it says much about the school that many of them don't see a need to contact us in advance – they just turn up. Recently, we saw the return of several pupils who were unable to engrave bricks in their last days here as pupils. They were not last summer's leavers; they belonged to the 2023 cohort and for them, completing their bricks was sufficiently important to warrant a return to KHS two years after they had left. Just a week ago, three of this year's leavers returned to see us. When I enquired how one was getting on in his new school, he replied 'Great – but it's not Kingswood House'. Another followed up with 'It's in the name - Kingswood House – it's like home.' No-one else, in my forty-seven year association with the school, has captured it more perfectly than that.

James March, December 2025