As any of my staff, current pupils and Alumni know, I do love a good school assembly. This Monday (19 January), I had the distinct pleasure of leading a school assembly for our Senior Girls that combined the historical intrigue of the “History of the Pub” with the modern, artistic phenomenon known as the “Pub Choir”. This presentation, which concluded with a first practice sing-along to Coldplay’s “Yellow,” served as the foundation for our upcoming Charity Week 2026. My goal is to bring the entire school together via live-streaming for a collective choir, creating a unique moment of school history—#CCHistory—that we intend to broadcast “over the wireless” so that our wider community can join in.

This initiative is a deliberate attempt to debunk the myth of “Blue Monday,” a day that is not, and has never been, “real”. Originally conceived as a 2005 marketing headline by Sky Travel to encourage holiday bookings, the term has “suckered” many into a false sense of post-holiday gloom. In an age where we are often in thrall to the “false truths of AI” and news gatherers who profit from reporting “bad” news, it is easy to feel overwhelmed. While international headlines focus on tragedies—ranging from landslides in New Zealand to train crashes in Spain—history shows us that the world has always navigated “huge shocks,” such as the death of Queen Victoria during this same week in 1901. 

However, we should instead focus on the warm and optimistic “Yellow” landscape currently unfolding. Locally, we see the opening of the Westcott Space Hub in Buckinghamshire, while globally, NASA is preparing the Artemis II rocket for a lunar flyby early next month. Even within our school gates, the mornings are beginning to brighten as we move into the second week of the Spring term. Whether in the mud of a Berkshire County championship cross-country, the wet of the river, lake, astro or tarmac, just being able to get out to ‘play’ reminds us that there is no such thing as bad weather but unsuitable clothing! See last week’s post.

On a personal level, I find a deep connection to the music of Coldplay, as it has soundtracked my own sons’ academic journey from their GCSEs through to their degree graduations. There is no greater privilege in life than “fledging the birds so they can fly” and watching children transition into independent adults. Chris Martin’s songwriting, born from intuitive creativity, offers simple, uplifting hooks that remind us to “look at the stars and how they shine for us”. Ultimately, yellow is a much more optimistic colour than the manufactured blue of January; with the worst now behind us, we can look forward to the brighter days ahead.

“Look at the stars, Look how they shine for you, And all the things that you do”

Yeah, I love “Yellow”