Both the Year 7 and Year 8 Athletics Teams started the season in style by claiming victory in the Level 2 Sportshall Athletics Meet (Hamstead Partnership). Against a talented field, the competition saw many individuals making their debut performances for the school. A fantastic effort by everyone involved. Their win means that both teams have qualified for the county finals on the 30^th March 2022.

Our Year 11 and 13 students have recently completed their mock exams, having spent part of the Christmas holiday revising and consolidating their knowledge. Some of this knowledge will remain in their short-term or working memory, whilst repetition, practice and application will also have enabled them to commit other aspects to long-term memory.

Knowledge is good: the more we know, the easier it becomes to learn more, to make connections between different aspects of our learning, to develop our minds and to retrieve that knowledge when faced with novel situations. This is especially important at A level, where the application of knowledge and prior learning are especially tested, and where synoptic assessment gauges understanding of different strands and links within a subject. From an educational point of view, the ‘Matthew Effect’ means that, in reading, in gaining knowledge and in understanding (as in other areas of life), the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer.

So much of the information which comes our way is ‘chunked’ and readily available via Google. We are not therefore encouraged to learn, to make connections and to think deeply. We are told that concentration-spans have shortened and our ability to focus on one thing for any length of time is diminished.

This need not be so if we educate our children to be curious, to persist with their learning, to have a wide and diverse range of interests, to acquire cultural capital and to wonder at the world around them. And it is a wonderful world, albeit tainted by some shameful and horrific evils. Last Thursday was Holocaust Memorial Day and it is very hard to credit, let alone understand how such immense suffering could have been inflicted on humans by their fellow humans. We cannot begin to do so without asking difficult questions and attempting to fathom challenging answers.

Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, a Jewish cellist who was born in Germany and survived the Holocaust, is clear in this respect:

“Educating children about the Holocaust and Jewish history is so important, but don’t tell me I need to go on TikTok and do it in a 30-second video because that’s how long young people’s attention span is — that’s ridiculous. They should learn to sit down for an hour, and develop an attention span,” she told the Radio Times. “We witnesses won’t be around for ever: I’m 96, and none of the other survivors is much younger. So, soon, no one will be able to hear what the Holocaust was like from people who were there.”

Preparing pupils thoroughly for examinations is one thing. Yet we should resist ‘teaching to the test’, for the best learning and understanding often happen beyond the syllabus.

Stay well and safe.

Be kind to yourself and others.

Best wishes,

Dr Bird

No – not the type of broken record you might be thinking about! But the English department have broken a record. Our of a total of 116 entries we submitted for the Young Writers Competition, 105 are being published! This is an excellent achievement, congratulations to all involved.

It has been lovely to be treated to some beautiful, crisp winter days this week, with some glorious sunrises – quite a contrast to the gloomy yet unseasonably mild days of December. Such brightness certainly lifts our spirits, especially when most of us leave and return home in the dark!

This time last year we were, of course, in second lockdown and mostly confined to our homes, coping with remote schooling (again) and isolated from one another. It felt for many like a pretty dark place and it certainly tested our resilience.

The bright days and the cosiness of our homes are somehow accentuated by the dark and the cold, and the same is true of our human interactions. We are all grateful for the light that others shine into our lives when we are perhaps not on top form, as well as for the warmth of friendship and the love of our families.

You may have heard of the Radio programme ‘In the Psychiatrist’s Chair’. Dr Anthony Clare interviews famous people about their lives, their wishes, their foibles, their weaknesses, their health. After many years of presenting the programme, Dr Clare identified what he believed were the seven great secrets of happiness. They were the following: cultivating a passion; being part of something bigger than ourselves; avoiding introspection; accepting change; living in the moment; auditing our happiness; acting happy – that alone can effect change. I would very much encourage us all to reflect on these seven secrets this term and to try to bring them into all our lives; as we progress through January, this time of long dark nights and short cold days, we need to keep our eyes fixed firmly on the horizon and the hope that Spring brings us. In addition, we need to reflect on those things that make us happy.

You also may have heard of the simple ‘10/5’ or ‘Zone of hospitality’ rule, widely practised in the hospitality industry. Staff are taught that they should make eye contact and smile warmly when a guest comes within ten feet, cheerfully greeting anyone who comes within five feet. Aspects of that are currently a bit more difficult with face coverings, but smiles and greetings between students and between students and staff certainly make a massive difference to the warmth of the HGS community.

At the same time, there are so many ways in which our students can shine a light into others’ lives. Daily acts of kindness and courtesy at school and at home often breed reciprocity. Prefects, Mental Health Ambassadors or just caring, timely words of encouragement shared by a friend or a teacher can do much to influence our mood. One of the greatest compliments I can read in a school report is when the tutor says of a student that they “light up the room” when they enter in the morning; we all appreciate such positive people who will often sow smiles and laughter in their paths.

Our leading lights in the school encourage others to follow them by example – whether as Prefects, on the sports field, in house events, in club activities or charity fundraising. Our students are a Force for Good in so many different ways and in so many different areas – testament to the fact that learning and development takes place inside and outside the classroom at HGS.

So, as the days gradually lengthen, I wish you ample moments of brightness and warmth over the weeks ahead.

Stay well and safe.

Be kind to yourself and others.

Best wishes,

Dr Bird