School That Matters: A Welcome for All, and a Goodbye
- Jun 19
- 2 min read
This week we have celebrated Refugee Week, you can read more about the story behind this elsewhere in the newsletter. We mark this week each year especially because a number of our pupils and staff have refugee heritage and we want to highlight both the diversity of nationalities and cultures in the school as well as bringing attention to the plight of refugees, migrants and asylum seekers. The message of Refugee Week is one of unconditional welcome and a reminder of the person of Christ who fled as an infant refugee and was turned away.
Just as our theme this week has been one of welcome, the end of last week was all about goodbye as our Year 11s left. This week may have marked the definitive end of their time with us as the exam timetable concluded, but the special assembly, shirt signing, ice cream and leavers’ photos were very much the emotional conclusion. Mr Irwin managed to get through the assembly without shedding a tear (he was just about the only one), while Mrs Pollard gave a very moving speech reflecting on her first twelve months as a Year Manager. A creative, touching and very amusing video summarised the pupils’ five years with us and then it was out down the corridor for the last time, through the now-traditional Year 7 line-up of cheering faces (many of whom might have been thinking forward to their own future exit from the school). The rain held off and we spent a couple of very happy hours signing shirts, taking pictures and looking back on the time these wonderful pupils have spent with us.
Leavers’ Day is a very special one for all sorts of reasons. The way we do it now emerged from COVID and has become a fixture in our calendar. More than the prom, it is a genuine gathering of the kind of family Year 11 have become, with all of their intertwining histories. It is a time of generosity and gratitude (the staff are always deeply touched by the gifts and cards) as well as one of reflection and sadness. It is the moment when we say to Year 11, it’s your time now to leave us and go and live our mission in your way, but remember, you are always part of our school.
Ben Davis,
Headteacher
