Norwich School Blog

HEAD'S END OF LENT TERM ADDRESS

The Head addressed pupils in the Cathedral on the last day of Lent Term. You can read his Address below:

"I have become much more aware in recent years of how weather affects mood, particularly as I have noticed how it affects our pupils and staff as a community. You only have to observe the gatherings on Upper Close Green, including the steady stream of 6th Formers enjoying ice creams (and perhaps some even going back for a second?), to see how much you have enjoyed the arrival of Spring in recent days. However, I also feel that there is a challenge to our collective productivity after the clocks go back and it gets darker after half-term in Michaelmas.

However the weather affects you, it seems clear that there has been a sense of happiness as we have come to the end of this busy Lent Term. It has been far from perfect and Covid absences for pupils and staff are still a factor, but it feels like we have made the most of being able to enjoy what has been the most normal term for a while. I have certainly had the benefit of the end of term spike in activity; as well as the joyfully sunny Cup Run on Tuesday, this week I have been able to enjoy the U3 musical, the Junior Play, a delightful inaugural Chamber Choir Concert at Thorpe Church and the sensational Senior Dance Show. This art form has been growing for a while at Norwich School, but Miss Hacking’s arrival has enabled it to blossom further. One of the highlights has been the formation of our Dance Company which took home gold in their first appearance at the Regional Finals of the Great Big Dance Off. Their piece is called The Queen’s Necklace and it conjures the tale of a heist of a rare jewel. 
Watching the Company perform not only demonstrates the ability to tell stories through movement, it also seems to me to provide a simple joy for the audience. Simply put - it is fun to watch. At a time when there is so much complexity and unhappiness in the wider world, reminding ourselves of things which provide joy and restore confidence in humanity is welcome. It may be something creative: a song, a poem, a book; or something locational: a place, a friend, a time of day; or something physical: running, dancing, a favourite snack. It is worth reflecting on the simple pleasures that help to centre us as individuals from time to time. For me, watching pupils commit to an activity and execute it well always reminds me how fortunate I am to work at this school.

However, this is not to say that we ignore the wider world or involve ourselves only with our immediate concerns. Even within the school setting, there is a balance between pursuing one’s own objectives and enjoying being part of the community. Each of us has our own blend of our gifts; as today’s reading says, “We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us”. Yet these individual gifts complement each other to form an even more powerful collective; to quote St Paul again, “we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others”.  

This relationship of individual with community seems to me to be emblematic of the school’s relationship with matters in the wider world: we need to have a clear sense of our own priorities and values, while also ensuring that they are relevant more broadly. I am certainly acutely aware of the school’s role in informing and guiding you appropriately. 

I came across a poem of how not to do it by over-protection. It is called The History Teacher by Billy Collins.  

Trying to protect his students’ innocence 
he told them the Ice Age was really just
the Chilly Age, a period of a million years
when everyone had to wear sweaters.
 
And the Stone Age became the Gravel Age,
named after the long driveways of the time. 
The Spanish Inquisition was nothing more
than an outbreak of questions such as
“How far is it from here to Madrid?”
“What do you call the matador’s hat?”
The War of the Roses took place in a garden,
and the Enola Gay dropped one tiny atom on Japan. 

The children would leave his classroom
for the playground to torment the weak
and the smart,
mussing up their hair and breaking their glasses, 
while he gathered up his notes and walked home
past flower beds and white picket fences,
wondering if they would believe that soldiers
in the Boer War told long, rambling stories
designed to make the enemy nod off. 

We have a responsibility to support you as you go through childhood, to help you make sense of your experiences and feelings, not least so that you are prepared for the life you are going to lead as adults. My colleagues and I take this very seriously, particularly at times of global instability such as this where the images and stories from the Ukraine are traumatic. We cannot and should not shield you from negative events, whether past or present, but we can set up a culture where we are all appropriately informed about such events and able to respond positively, both individually and together.

So, what are your responsibilities in this process? It is significant to recognise that the relationship between the individual and community goes two ways, whether at school level or with the wider world. After all, a culture is made of lots of individuals’ behaviour over an extended period of time. A school is not kind, compassionate or inclusive because we write that down or the Head says it is so. A school becomes such things because its pupils, parents and staff believe in the values behind these words and live them out via decisions every single day. So, please do make the most of the opportunities we offer and the community you are part of, but do so by actively contributing to it: living your values, shaping your culture, having your voice. 

Well done to everyone for getting to the end of this busy term and I wish you well for the upcoming holiday."