Message from Michele Marquet, Head of Junior School
Dear Parents and Carers,
We are very much looking forward to welcoming important males in the lives of our students to our Father’s Day Morning tomorrow at 7.45am.
Once again, the whole school has witnessed tremendous joy as we celebrated Spring Festival. The week has been filled with opportunities to see individuals and ensembles perform, exhibit, or display their work and learning across the breadth of Musical, Drama and Visual Arts offerings at Cranbrook. At the Junior School last Thursday afternoon, amazing musical performances were heard from 133 of our younger students who had diligently prepared their pieces on a wide variety of instruments.
From our youngest students to those almost ready to leave our gates for the last time, the breadth and quality of the dramatic and musical performances alongside the impressive range of artworks viewed, always reminds me of how our Cranbrook students truly live out the ideal of a liberal education. In a world that increasingly encourages us to specialise early, our students model the philosophy that a better preparation for whatever career you enter, or how to thrive no matter what life may bring, involves genuine breadth of engagement across all areas of learning. It also is the surest pathway to becoming a well-balanced, well-rounded and interesting human being.
And the celebration of the Arts continues as we anticipate next week’s performances of our JS Production, ‘James and the Giant Peach.’ These will take place in the Packer Theatre at the Senior School next Wednesday – Friday evenings.
New Uniform for 2026
One change which has been in progress for quite a while now is the roll out of a new academic uniform for our Pre-School – Year 12 students: and, finally, it is about to be available for purchase.
Much of the Cranbrook uniform has not been changed in well over 40 years, so a refresh was definitely in order, whilst keeping those elements that we love and associate so closely with our School, such as our beloved blazer and tie, our Junior School K-Y2 felt cap and the House T-shirts for K-Y6.
Developed with designer, Jonathan Ward, and refined through feedback from small groups of staff, students and parents, over the past 24 months, the uniform offers some flexible options with an emphasis on Cranbrook colours and clean lines. Our sports uniform, which was fully refreshed within the last ten years, will be remaining the same for our male students. New pieces for the Senior School female students and sports have been designed to complement the existing sports uniform.
One exciting change is the introduction of a new Pre-school – Year 2 play-based daily uniform for our younger students. It includes items that are made from fabrics that can move with our energetic students and allow them to play, engage in their PE lessons and other more physical activities whilst still looking smart. You can see the lookbook here.
The new academic uniform will come into effect from the start of next year, with a two-year transition period, during which students can still wear the old uniform in its entirety, if needed. New uniform items will be available for sale from this November 2025.
Our second-hand uniform shop, run by the CSPA, and open every Friday, has many current uniform items in multiple sizes for those wishing to manage the remainder of 2025 with some additional pieces of the old uniform until the new uniform becomes available for 2026. As we begin a new era as a coeducational school, it will be wonderful to have a fresh and distinctive look to mark the start of an exciting new journey in Cranbrook’s history.
We wish all of our families a joyful weekend celebrating the special males in our children’s lives.
Kind wishes,
Michele Marquet
Head of Junior School
