I would like, on behalf of the school community, to say a big thank you to our Board of Governors who put in so many unheralded, unpaid and largely unrecognised hours on behalf of the pupils and the school. A particular thank you goes to our Chair, Richard Thompson, who is a huge support to the school. Thanks also go to the school’s exceptional senior leadership team. However, it goes without saying, we are a whole school community in which all the staff work tirelessly to provide a top-class education and top class facilities for the pupils, and for that I am incredibly grateful. Thank you.
Throughout the school there is a genuine desire that we provide the best for your boys and girls and as educators, our overriding aim is to prepare our pupils for a life of learning; to instil in them a thirst and desire for knowledge. From our youngest to our oldest children, we watch them buzz and bubble with excitement as learning is presented in an array of interesting and challenging ways, as we know that Mahatma Ghandi couldn’t be more right, ‘The future depends on what you do today’. Mrs Mitchell and I make no apology for the length of our Reflections. To make it any shorter, we would not be able to do justice to the hive of daily activity that contributes to an academic year at St. Hilary’s.
As I walk around the school pupils clamber around me, eagerly sharing their ideas and work, or simply ignore me - too engrossed to notice my presence. The older pupils certainly like to talk as they walk and chat about this, whilst the youngest children twirl my necklace or twiddle my hem line. And it is this hive of activity and buzz that I absolutely love and have missed so much during the Lockdowns. Thank goodness they are slowly beginning to feel like a distant memory.
Throughout all this daily buzz and excitement, our ethos remains the same and our core values underpin everything we do. Our school motto, ‘Non Tibi Sed Omnibus’ (Not for oneself but for all), reinforcing St Hilary’s high expectations for our pupils in becoming responsible, valued citizens of tomorrow’s world. Long gone are the days where prep schools’ sole responsibility was to prepare pupils for their senior school. Needless to say, it is a considerable responsibility preparing our pupils to live and work in an uncertain, fast paced world and at St Hilary’s, we do not stand still. We continue to instil soft skills, values and beliefs, as well as the academic and wider curriculum.
Of course,
Good, better, best Never let it rest
Until our good gets better and our better gets best.
Has always been an important theme for us.
The children are at the heart of everything we do at school, just as they are in your home. School days are supposed to be the happiest of your life and as educationalists we know that happy children learn. However, in reality, life is not plain sailing for our children just as it is not for adults. No-one can be happy all the time. A good education should enable a child to lose, be frustrated and occasionally be unhappy. It helps to prepare them for the real world, build resilience and to deal with disappointment proportionately. The Japanese proverb, I fall down 7 times and stand up 8, springs to mind.
Without doubt, our boys and girls need to be given opportunities to develop resilience. Whilst we should never underestimate the capabilities of our children, by putting them on a pedestal they have further to fall, and yet they are not sufficiently emotionally mature to deal with the crash landing that entails. It goes without saying, outstanding pastoral care has never been so important, providing children with a safe scaffold and the Nest, our new Wellbeing Centre has become a very useful resource. Thank you to FOSH, to the Chair, Mrs Gardiner and especially to Mrs Wilson, mother to Isabella, Year 5 and Lexi, Year 3 for designing the space for us and making it so warm and welcoming.
Our expectations are rightly high and the pupils learn at a measured pace with a sense of urgency. However, the boys and girls need to learn to be kind, another school value, and not to be too hard on themselves, so that improvement does not become a burden. For many their schedules are busy, too busy for some as they cram in a myriad of activities before, during and after school and then in the holidays as well.
Aspiration is so important and what better role model do we have than in Paul Jameson, our Guest speaker, who unfortunately can’t be with us this evening. In the heart of Lockdown, he inspired us all so much and took us to new dizzy heights as we virtually climbed Kilimanjaro raising an amazing £11,000 for MND in the process. Just as importantly he helped us to bring together the School community at one of the most challenging times we have all known. Thank you.
We all have aspiration for our children, but we need to allow our children to aspirate, in medical terms to literally draw breath. Paul, in his own real climb (not virtual!), needed to take breath at the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro and so may have some empathy with my next comments. It is difficult to believe that our oldest children, and I say children, are only eleven years old when they leave us and they benefit hugely from time to relax and – play. However, as I have mentioned before, as we approach the summer holidays, remember it is good for the boys and girls to be bored at times and plan their own quieter schedule. It is then they will be at their most creative.
Indeed, it is worth bearing in mind the old adage that patience is a virtue and remains so despite the fact we now live in such an instantaneous, urgent world, with Google at our finger tips and Alexa always ready to listen, with children tapping and swiping devices from an early age. Of course, technology is a wonderful thing if managed appropriately and there are other things I could have used as a reference point. Patience is now a school value as the children tend to expect everything …… right now. In this country we are renowned for queuing and maybe patience will come in useful as we approach the holiday season!
Our Awards Ceremony is a chance to reflect on a year of endeavour, pleasing aspiration and impressive achievement. The prize winners are a representation of everything that we stand for at our school. These articulate young people are an asset to our school, a credit to their families and an inspiration to us all. I am very impressed with the achievements of everyone here today, but you will not be surprised that I am especially in awe of those of you who will be rewarded for effort.
As I bring this speech to a close, I would like a moment to return to Mrs Mitchell and extend my personal thanks. An outstanding Deputy Head, she plays a pivotal role in the daily life of the staff, children, their families and wider school community. Thank you for your professionalism, Mrs Mitchell, your friendship and support.
The end of the academic year also marks the end of an immediate association with the school by our Year 6 girls. We wish them all the very best as they move on to their senior schools, well done on all you have achieved in your time at our school and for making the most of all the opportunities on offer. I remember many of you girls, or should I say young ladies, when you were as young as 2 years old: girls who have endeavoured, aspired and achieved in so many areas of their lives already. And of course, it is the end of an era for many of our parents who have dropped off at the school gate for many years and for some who will soon no longer have a school run to do at all!
To all our leavers today, make sure you reach high, full of aspiration, work hard and always find time to play. Remember Albert Einstein’s wise words, ‘Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow’. And remember Christopher Robin’s equally wise words, ‘You’re braver than you believe and stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.’