500 years is a very special birthday. It is easy for us to forget how very many of the schools founded in England in the late medieval and early Renaissance period failed over the years, and just how few have sustained an extraordinary reputation for excellence for all those years. All good birthdays need a party, and you are warmly invited to our Open Day and Gala Concert on Saturday 23rd May, as well as to all the other events detailed on this website. As for presents, we hope our 500th anniversary merchandise collection will be attractive as gifts for you, your family and friends. We hope 2009 will see a marvellous drawing together of the vibrant and 500 years-young community that is St Paul's - pupils, parents, staff, Old Paulines, governors, members of the Mercers' Company and friends of the School. I do hope you will feel able to join with us in celebrating the quincentenary of this rather special place.

Dr Martin Stephen