Message from the Head of Secondary

Students whom you will have seen in the Hajar mountains completing their adventurous journey as part of their Duke of Edinburgh award, cannot attain the award without serving others - that service may not be as visible as a photo op on a mountain, but it is every bit as important as the resilience students need to conquer the trails.  

Our return to Tanzania is another example of our students serving others, in this case in Arusha where they spent time building school classrooms and supporting the community there with the sweat from their brow.  We have seen service to others this week too in school, with students taking the lead during World Book Day and supporting our PE team as they host the BSME Under 11s games.  We’ve also been trying to encourage our students to be a little more ‘daring’ when it comes to service.

And a group of Year 12 students have certainly taken up that challenge.  A small group of our amazing student body came to us after a recent whole school event with the notion that, whilst the event had been a great success from a community point of view, there were other points of view to be considered.  How much waste had we created that day?  How much plastic had we used?  Were the cups we were drinking from recyclable?  Had we considered the sustainability of our event…?

We shuffled our feet nervously and were forced to admit that perhaps we grown ups could have done better…
And then we did what the grown ups need to do a little more perhaps – we gave all the power to the young people.  We have a day in our calendar for another community event…’’Why don’t you run it?’’

So that little group of Year 12 students has become a bigger group, with a goal, a vision and a big idea.  To run a super event for our school community without the waste, an educational event to remind us all that sustainability isn’t something to ‘do’, it is something to ‘live’, it is an idea that should pervade every aspect of our actions.  If humans are really going to change the way we treat the natural world, we have to start now, we have to change the way we plan and the way we think.  

Our students have a blank canvas on which to paint a new picture of the way our school operates.  One People, One Planet.  That’s their idea.  Let’s let them live it.

I’ve said before in this newsletter, that if you want something doing well in this school, ask the students to do it.  They are looking forward to welcoming you on the 20th March.  

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