I imagine you were as struck as I was by the down-to-earth charm of 18-year-old Emma Raducanu. She was as incredulous as the rest of us over her spectacular and unprecedented rise to fame in the US Open, and equally remarkable was her natural poise in front of the camera. She comes across as a thoroughly nice person and I very much hope that she will not have her head turned by her sudden riches and all the media attention. She has the very real potential to be a fantastic role model for hundreds if not thousands of young tennis players not just here in the UK but globally. A real leader and example to others.

There can be a fine line between natural self-confidence and arrogance, and I am pleased to say that at HGS our students are often commended for the former. This perhaps stems partly from the healthy challenges which we set down on their path, and partly from our encouragement to get involved in activities outside the classroom, to try out new things and to learn from the experience. Some will still waver in their self-esteem and at times need to be convinced of their abilities and their potential. Some also need to be reminded of their many personal qualities and to understand that an element of self-doubt is actually quite normal and helps us to become stronger as human beings. And those who appear outwardly the most sure of themselves will undoubtedly have their own insecurities too.

Leadership in a school takes many forms. It can be the moment that a Year 9 student offers a helping hand to a Year 8 student who has fallen in the playground. It can be the time when a team Captain encourages his or her players to dig deep and score the winning goal against an equally matched opposition. It can be using one’s initiative and looking to invite outside speakers to the school. It can be deciding to go the other direction on a Duke of Edinburgh expedition as the rain beats against you and other members of the team have becoming exhausted.

Within the community, everyone has an opportunity to lead at various times. One of the greatest strengths of HGS is the variety of activities that we offer in addition to those related to the subjects studied. Our teachers, working with their Heads of Department, will plan a variety of trips and activities that are designed to augment student’s learning. Students may find themselves being inspired by the Ski Trip team up a mountain, on the Football pitch, at Whitemoor Lakes or in Paris or Berlin (when we can travel abroad once more).

In all these situations, students will often be required to lead, as well as required to follow. And it is the job of teachers here to guide them in how to lead effectively, with compassion, and with respect. Leadership is not shouting to get the person in front of you to do what you want. Leadership is not being arrogant and abusing a position of authority or preferment of prestige.

No. Leadership is about caring for those around you, and making decisions in their best interest, sometimes having to do so knowing it won’t always be popular, but always communicating with those who you support. Over the course of a student’s career at school, we will encourage them to lead, and guide, we will support and coach them.

The culmination of their time at HGS may see them take on leadership roles in their house or year. It may see them as sports captains for example Cricket or Football. Schools will each year appoint leaders of the entire community. At HGS, these are called Senior Prefects. We will expect our Senior Prefects to lead with compassion, kindness and respect. We will expect them to have to speak truths in an uncomfortable circumstance. We will expect them to hold up the rules and expectations of our school. But ultimately, we want them to be here for their fellow students.

It is absolutely right that we should encourage our children to be proud of their achievements, yet never to be boastful. Indeed, humility is one of the finest qualities we could hope for in them and one to respect and admire in others, wherever they appear in any hierarchy.

 “Well rounded individuals, confident but not arrogant, such a good reflection on the school.”

This is feedback we have regularly received in the past about our students. I will finish where I started and that is talking about Emma Raducanu. She has all the hallmarks of a great leader and is someone to look up to following her win in New York. The individuals who leave us are our finest ambassadors: a great credit to the school and also to their parents.

Stay well and safe.

Be kind to yourself and others.

Best wishes,

Dr Bird

Please click here to take a virtual tour of our school.

This is a work in progress and more content will be added over the coming year.

Those of you who had an eye on the news over the past few weeks may have followed the progress
of Hurricane Ida, the latest mega-storm to hit the United States. You will know that it caused
widespread destruction and a tragic number of deaths as it tore up the country in ten days of chaos.
Ida came ashore in Louisiana and rampaged all the way up the Eastern states, even claiming lives in
New York. There was no escape.

The problem with hurricanes, especially those huge ones that strike Central and North America
every year in late Summer, is that it isn’t easy to move out of their way. They go where they want to
go and, although you might be able to evacuate yourself beforehand, you can do nothing to keep
your livelihood, your house or business or farm or possessions, from being hit. If you live on land
that is in a hurricane’s path, you have few options.

It is a bit different if you are at sea though. In the days before Ida struck the American coast, the
massive storm was forming out over the Gulf of Mexico. Sucking up energy from the ocean, and
driving huge waves and gale force winds ahead of it.

There were plenty of people in its path there as well, but the difference was, they could move. The
Gulf of Mexico was peppered with boats of every size and shape last month. Pleasure craft, cruise
liners, container ships, yachts, super yachts, oil tankers, even oil rigs. Yet they all heard the early
warning alerts and scrambled to get out of the way. Seized the chance to up-anchor and make for a
place of safety. Usually, headed for a port. A safe harbour, in which they could drop their sails,
power off their engines, batten down the hatches. Whatever their purpose had been out at sea,
their priority shifted to protecting their crew as the storm passed. Sensible. My question for you
though, is this: Where are those boats now?
Because thousands of boats avoiding Hurricane Ida is not a bad analogy for how we have all
responded to the ravages of the pandemic. Wherever you may have been over the past 18 months,
in your own homes in the UK or in any other country, you and your family have hunkered down in
your own safe harbour. Sheltered in place.

Just like that flotilla of vessels in the Gulf of Mexico, we were all lucky enough to get some advance
warning of the impending storm that COVID brought, and we took cover. You all scattered ahead of
the waves of the virus, taking shelter in the sanctuary of your homes. The School was no different.
Like a fully laden oil tanker, we are a large operation and we had lots of momentum when the first
lockdown loomed. Yet we did well to change our course as fast as we could and moved,
metaphorically, to a place of safety.

And there we have stayed, relatively untouched. Safe behind our own breakwater, made up of
masks and sanitiser stations, bubbles and social distancing, Teams and mass testing. And although I
know some of you have contracted the virus and others have struggled with being so isolated for so
long, by and large, we have all weathered the COVID storm.

More than weathered it, in fact. We slowed down as a School, but we did not sink, and we did not
stop. Although you have missed an awful lot over the past 18 months, the one thing that did not
suffer is your academic education. Your teachers did a superb job in maintaining your studies and
you responded brilliantly. That should give you great confidence as you start this new year.
The pandemic is not completely over, of course, and we should spare a thought for those who are
still struggling with it. But here in the UK at least, the worst appears to be behind us, and the clouds
are breaking.
But back to my question: where are all those boats that fled the Gulf of Mexico today? When I was
undertaking some Army training many years ago, there was a quote we referred to. It said:

“A ship in the harbour is safe,
but that is not what ships are built for.”

Those words were meant as a daily challenge to test ourselves, our bodies and our minds. A
reminder that we were designed to live life, not hide from it. Encouragement to have confidence to
strike out from the comfort of those barracks every morning and seize the day.

I believe that same sentiment is equally applicable here, now. For each of you and for the School as a
whole. We have sheltered safely from the pandemic over the past 18 months. Scaled back our
operation, set anchors, lowered our sails a little. In the pandemic harbour we created, HGS has
indeed been safe. But that is not what we were built for. Not what you are here for. Nor the talented
people that make up our team of staff.

HGS has a reputation that stretches back over a century and a half. A reputation for excellence and
energy in everything we do. A tradition of aspiration and applying ourselves to all that is offered.
Academic study, sport, service, performance. Any of it and all of it. We are known for our sense of
purpose, a culture of enthusiastic engagement. And it is time we lifted our anchors, hoisted our sails,
and got back on that course once more.

Not recklessly. The COVID seas are still a little choppy and we will continue to be careful. But we
were not built to sit at anchor any longer. We owe you all the School career that you came here
seeking. The education, the experiences, the chances to excel. And that has all restarted with
aplomb.

“A ship in the harbour is safe,
but that is not what ships are built for.”

We have set sail once more. So, as the School heads out of its COVID harbour and builds up a head
of steam once again, I wish you all the best possible start. Just remember, protection from the virus
may come from a jab of vaccine in the arm, but protection from the impact of the pandemic on your
lives will only come through a daily injection of determination on your part.

Stay well and safe.
Be kind to yourself and others.
Best wishes,

Dr Bird

Please click on the link below to read a research article on engaging with evidence to inform a school reading culture by Mr Dubay:

https://researchschool.org.uk/stmatthews/news/engaging-with-evidence-to-inform-a-school-reading-culture