Our congratulations to Adnaan Ilyas who has received an offer to read History and Politics at King’s College, Cambridge for September 2021. This is a wonderful achievement and is a real testament to Adnaan and his teachers who have all worked extremely hard in these very different times.
Well done!
Suffering and compassion
However hard we try to remain positive and full of hope, we cannot pretend that life is a bundle of laughs currently. Whereas many of us knew few people who had tested positive last spring, the situation has changed enormously and most of us will now know either someone who has sadly died or who has lost a loved one to this horrid disease. Many of the individual tales that lie behind the statistics are heart breaking and we are aware of the trauma and the tragedy to which ITU medical staff are exposed to on a daily basis. We probably have friends and family working in ITU and/or Covid Wards and these tales are real and devastating. My sister-in-law works as a Consultant at New Cross Hospital and the burden is a heavy one for her and her colleagues.
We cannot simply turn off the news and ignore the suffering, nor can we suggest to our children that everything is OK – because we know it isn’t. Wednesday marked Holocaust Memorial Day when we remembered the unspeakable suffering and slaughter of millions. This year’s theme is ‘Be the light in the darkness’. It encourages us to reflect not only on the depths to which humanity can sink, but also on the ways in which individuals and communities resisted that darkness to ‘be the light’ before, during and after genocide. World events currently may leave us feeling helpless, but we have also witnessed the very best of which humanity is capable in many acts of compassion and kindness.
We marked Holocaust Memorial Day through our online assembly and on our own in a moment of silence and of reflection, remembering the suffering of those who have been killed and of those who have survived. Even better, we can find time to educate ourselves more about the stories of those who suffered perhaps by visiting the Holocaust Memorial Day website www.hmd.org.uk. Or we could read a book about other similar experiences like Morris Gleitzman’s ‘Once’ or Anne Frank’s Diary or Tom Palmers ‘After the War’. We can make ourselves aware of the kind of ‘hate- speech’ that still exists today. The type of language designed to make us think of other people as different, or a threat, or as aliens. Being alert to it can help us all to recognise it, to reject it, to challenge it, and to confront it. However, most of all we must never forget. In the words of the Holocaust survivor and poet Elie Wiesel, “If we forget the dead will be killed a second time”.
We are determined that our young people should not only feel a sense of togetherness and belonging despite being separated, but that we also become a kinder and more considerate community – looking after each other and caring for those less fortunate than ourselves. We have often spoken as a society about learning lessons from this nightmare and it is vital that those positive lessons become embedded after the pandemic in the values and actions of our school. We want to ensure that diversity is celebrated and that all our students feel fully included and valued.
As we remain confined to our homes, juggling the demands of work and school with limited opportunities for many of our leisure pursuits, let there be ample kindness and light in your family this weekend.
Stay well and safe. Be kind to yourself and each other.
Dr Bird
Please see the following recent article on the BBC News website:
British Asian celebrities unite for video to dispel Covid vaccine myths – BBC News
“The only thing we have is one another. The only competitive advantage we have is the culture and values of the company. Anyone can open up a coffee store. We have no technology, we have no patent. All we have is the relationship around the values of the company and what we bring to the customer every day. And we all have to own it.”
Howard Schultz, CEO, Starbucks
I am not about to suggest that a school is like a coffee shop! Yet the words
‘culture…values…relationship’ certainly resonate, and perhaps more so than ever in current times. I don’t talk much about exam results when I address prospective parents at Open day events; they can find them on our website, where they speak for themselves. But I do focus on culture and values, for they are what underpin the success and happiness of our school. Understanding the culture and sharing the values of our school strengthens our community and all it stands for. It informs our behaviour and results in consistent messages and expectations – both within the school and facing outwards:
“And we all have to own it.”
We may have excellent grounds, fine buildings and modern facilities, but it is the members of our community – our students, staff and parents who lend it its strength and character. People and the quality of our relationships matter more than anything else.
When we lose a much-loved member of our community, as we have done during the pandemic, we know how important those relationships are to our daily lives and to our daily happiness. The stronger the relationships, the greater the joy they bring, and the deeper the pain we feel at their loss. But, we also draw mutual comfort and support by standing together: “The only thing we have is one another.”
It has been a challenging term and indeed year both for the school and for many of our families, and I have been very impressed by the positive commitment of our students, and by the diligence and care of the staff. Huge progress has been made in so many areas and often in the face of considerable obstacles. We can look forward with optimism to brighter days ahead.
I watched Joe Biden’s inauguration with interest and was hugely impressed and humbled by the 22 year-old poet Amanda Gorman who said in her poem “The Hill We Climb”:
When day comes, we ask ourselves where can we find light in this never-ending shade? The loss we carry, a sea we must wade.
We’ve braved the belly of the beast.
We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace, For there is always light,
if only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.
So during this turbulent time be kind to one another, hold onto hope, look up and be the light we all need in our lives.
Stay well and safe.
Be kind to yourself and each other. Dr Bird
We have recently updated our Remote Learning Guidance and Support. Please see the Remote Learning Guidance area by following the “Curriculum” menu on our website, then navigating to “Remote Learning Guidance” for more details.
Stay safe and well.
Start where you are
We are pleased to ‘see’ our students back in lessons and have been impressed in the first weeks of this Lockdown by their levels of engagement. The ability now afforded to us by Teams to see whole classes on screen and to send students into break-out rooms to collaborate makes a substantial difference to the interactive nature and enjoyment of their learning. Such features are an additional support to our teaching, adding further life to the virtual classroom.
We hope that the commitment to a timetable of Remote Learning which incorporates live lessons gives our students a sense of purpose, progress and stability when so much seems uncertain. It is hard to see far into the future currently, and I know it helps me every morning to focus on what there is to achieve and look forward to in the day ahead. Many of us will be accustomed to being far more in control of our lives, yet we have had to learn to walk on shifting sands!
In such a climate we can only ask our children to do their best, day-to-day, in the faith that all those small yet achievable steps will eventually add up to something much bigger.
Some of you will remember Arthur Ashe, the first African American male tennis-player to win Wimbledon (in 1975) and to be ranked No. 1 in the world. He was quite an inspirational figure, whose words and activism extended well beyond sport.
“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”
This provides a simple set of principles, which could serve our children (and indeed all of us) well in the days to come.
Stay safe and well.
Be kind to yourself and each other.
Dr Bird
We have just heard that our Ex Head Boy, Hasnain Sumar has secured a place at Mansfield College, Oxford University to read Theology and religion. We are delighted for him and send him our very best wishes and congratulations.
This is a thoroughly well deserved academic success and Hasnain has displayed great resilience and fortitude in the face of adversity throughout the last six months. He deserves to be over the moon and enjoy the fruits of his labour – well done Hasnain.
