Celebrate all that is excellent

All employers, pre-or post-university, look for candidates who have a range of characteristics which include: resilience; the ability to communicate effectively; an excellent work ethic; the ability to provide solutions to problems; the ability to work effectively in a team and to have a track record of success.  An excellent attendance rate, punctuality and presentation are essential and should never be underestimated.  Indeed, no employer will want an employee whose attendance is infrequent, who is frequently late and cannot be relied upon to complete tasks effectively.  I believe that these skills are essential for success in every ‘walk’ of life and at every stage.  Our role as a College is to ensure that we are outstanding role models in the development of these skills.

“Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself”,                
Chinese proverb

Many of you will have certain goals that you want to achieve, some of you may even have certain resolutions for the New Year.  Our family have started the “30 Day Song Challenge” where each of you has to think of a song which you link to certain memories (good and bad) and with certain titles, for example, a song that makes you sad, a song that moves you forward, a song that breaks your heart… This has been a very revealing exercise and meant that I have listened to songs that I have never heard before: “Boy from School”, Grizzly Bear or “Chi Mai”, by Ennio Morricone; “Halfway Round the World”, Aurora or “She moves in her way”, Kooks…..

The term has started well and it was wonderful to meet up with last year’s leavers on the Awards Evening.  So many students returned to collect their awards and I couldn’t help thinking how they have changed in such a short time period.  The whole evening made me realise what a fantastic College we have and I felt incredibly proud of the amazing achievements.  Of course, none of this would be possible without the hard work that is necessary to make this happen and long may that continue.  I particularly enjoyed the performance of our musicians and dancers who demonstrated the extremely high standards that they have been set.

“The dance is a poem of which each movement is a word”,
Mata Hari

I would like to congratulate our 1st XI football team who were selected by the Hull Daily Mail as the Team of the Year last week.  What an honour and my thanks to Nick and Puj for all that they did last year. 

There is a great line from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry:

“Experience shows us that love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking together in the same direction”.

I believe that this is what we all need to do to look together in the same direction and celebrate all that is excellent about our College:

• The record number of offers (11) that you have from Oxford and Cambridge Universities;
• That over 600 of you have submitted your UCAS applications;
• You continue to excel in sports, music, the arts and academic achievement;
• Many of you will be travelling to New York, Washington, Berlin, Thailand, Iceland, South Africa….
• The wonderful mentoring work that many of you engaged in with Year 10 and Year 11 at the Boulevard Academy;
• Your impending visit to the London Universities;
• Our first ever trip to Poland at Easter;
• Our Rag Week in March and the monies that we will raise for MIND;
• Our hosting of and participation in the Youth Speaks Competition;
• Our cross-College production of Grease (first performed 30 years ago at Wyke), in February.

There is so much going on but we must remain ‘grounded’.  As DH Lawrence said:

“The fairest thing in nature, a flower, still has its roots in earth and manure”.

Being grounded at our College means that all of us must work very hard for a common purpose, take control of our fate and talk to each other rather than on relying on hearsay and gossip.  Vincent Lombardi in “The Chase” said:

“It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get up”.

We have to learn to be resilient.  My beloved Leeds have had a bad run of late (again) but as ever, I remain optimistic and continue to “draw” lessons from their fate:

“The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning”, Pele.

So aim for the best and push yourself to strive.  Leeds have certainly made it difficult for themselves but their eventual success will be all the sweeter.

“You are never really playing an opponent.  You are playing yourself, your own high standards, and when you reach your limits, that is real joy”,
Arthur Ashe

In aiming to do so well, it is your high standards that you have to reach.
As the racing driver, Mario Andretti, said:

“If everything is under control, you’re not going fast enough”.

Enjoy the remainder of this term and the start of spring, it will come and go in a flash.

“A lifetime of training for just 10 seconds”.
Jesse Owen

Jay Trivedy
Principal