Friday assembly - National Anti-Bullying week

This week has been National Anti-Bullying Week. In fact, the whole month of November has been Anti-Bullying month.

 

In the student survey most of you completed, 60% of you said you have never been bullied here at School. And while that is a high number, it does mean that 40% of you have experienced bullying here. And that saddens me. What is interesting is that 91% of you say that you have never bullied someone. So either it's a very small number of you who are bullying the rest, or there is a difference of opinion about bullying. I think it is the latter; you have different opinions about what bullying is.

 

So, simply put, bullying is any behaviour that is intended to cause distress or harm. It can be physical, or mental. It can be subtle, or full on. It can be online, or whispers in the corner.

 

It is not disagreeing with someone else and having an argument or falling out over something.

 

Bullying is usually about power. It is when someone feels that they can make themselves feel better by making someone else feel worse.

 

When you have an argument with someone, or fall out over something, you can say nasty things, or even be physical towards them. This is not bullying. It is not good, and people get hurt when they fall out, but there is still the chance and willingness to put it right.

 

The thing about bullying is that it is one person having power over someone else. In the extreme, it is a bully physically threatening the victim & causing harm. Persistent, real, physical harm.

 

But it's also the more subtle control. Making someone feel small, or making them doubt themselves. Making their successes feel like nothing.

 

Or there's the bullying by excluding. Making someone feel like no-one wants to play with them or be with them.

 

You've all had many talks from different people about bullying, and yet it still goes on. A significant number of you have said that you feel like you are being bullied. And so it is going on.

 

There's three things I want to say about bullying. One thing aimed at anyone who has been bullied and two things to everyone.

 

To anyone who feels bullied:

It is hard to imagine it, but it can and will stop. You can make it stop. First of all, in the short term, a piece of advice:- No-one can make you feel small, inferior, without you letting them have that control over you. It is you and who you are, and you can choose how to respond.

Now, you may well say to yourself; what does he know? He's the head teacher - no-one bullies him. I know more than you realise. I was bullied at school, by a significant group of other students. I do know how you feel.

Also, you can take control. Don't lash out and fight the bully, because that will only get you into trouble as well. I know about that too - I did lash out once & got into a lot of trouble because of it.

Instead, tell someone. It will not make things worse. The bully wants you to believe that, so they can go on bullying you! Instead, tell someone. An adult.

 

In the same survey you took, a quarter of you said that you wouldn't speak to anyone if you were bullied. And I can appreciate that, but if you don't do something about it, nothing will change. And that is a horrible place to be, mentally.

 

Here in school, you can talk to any adult you trust and feel will listen. In an ideal world, you would tell your form tutor, Mrs Simpson if you are in year 8, or Ms Mooney if you are in year 7, but if they are not around, or you would rather talk to someone else, that's absolutely fine! We are also creating an email address, so you can report the fact that you are being bullied when you feel safe to do so, without seeming to go to talk to an adult. And you can come and talk to me at any time too.

 

To everyone else:

First of all, you all have the potential to be a bully. Anyone can find someone weaker than themselves & use that person to make them self feel better. But how sad is it to rely on putting someone else down to make yourself feel better?! Do you really value yourself so little that you have to make someone else feel bad in order to feel ok yourself?

 

We've had a few instances this week of behaviour that falls below what I expect of you and that saddens me. It's not always been bullying, but aggressive, hurtful behaviour is never acceptable. And it's not just the physical that saddens me either - there has been a number of occasions where some of you have really upset others by what you've said, or how you've behaved.

 

Sometimes it can be hard, because you get frustrated with someone else, but that's what it's all about - being tolerant and understanding that some people see things differently to you. It is important to be humble enough to accept someone else for who they are. Even when (no, especially when) they are annoying you with how they are.

 

If you want to be 'big' or impress others, do it by showing how tolerant and accepting you can be of others. That's the really impressive thing.

 

And finally, to all of you, we are a community. That means we all accept responsibility for everyone else. Not one of you can look me in the eye and say that the bullying is nothing to do with you. If any of you allow someone else to hurt another member of the community, you are no better than the bully yourself. That may sound harsh, but it is true. We all need to look out for each other.

 

Founders day speech 2012

Founders day was an amazing success! Thank you to everyone who turned out at 3pm to see Graham Evans, MP perform the official opening ceremony and unveil a commemorative plaque.

The dining hall has full to bursting to hear the Chair of Governor's report & the Headteacher's report! Then everyone enjoyed the tour of the school, the amazing travelling zoo and finally the fireworks. Sandymoor school is well and truly open...

The Headteacher's report is reproduced below:

They say in politics that you judge a government by the first 100 days. Well, interestingly, counting back 100 days and we get to the 1st August! So what has happened since then?

Well, by the 1st August, it was the summer holidays. I had already visited over 30 potential parents in their homes, attended numerous meetings and events, and was looking forward to spending the summer getting ready to open the school. 

The site was still an empty field, although it did have temporary security fencing around it (which had been up since early July and the Summer Fair. I don't think I had ever been more excited by fencing than seeing the fencing that surrounded our site...

But all our staff had been appointed and everything was still on schedule. Although the weather was not kind, things were still progressing. During the summer, we had training days with all the staff and further planning meetings. Dave Guest from the BBC did some filming in preparation for their 'features' on the school. 

And then on the 21st August, the buildings arrived on site. With just two weeks to go, it was all hands on deck & at times the building site looked like something from Challenge Anica, with up to 60 workmen on the site at some points!

Monday, 3rd September and we open! I can now confess to being incredibly nervous that morning, after a completely sleepless night, standing at the school gate, waiting for our first students to arrive. The first student walking towards the school, in the Sandymoor uniform .... what an amazing sight!!

And it's been non-stop since then. We opened with no mains electricity (running on generators), water from a temporary supply and mobile phones our only communications. With 19 students when we started, we are now at 37, with a maximum capacity of 45 this year. Our intake is truly comprehensive, with a significantly greater percentage of Free School Meal students and students with special educational needs than Halton's average. 

On our open events, we had over 150 different families come and visit the school and we have high expectations of being full for September 2013. Sandymoor School is most definitely going from strength to strength!

One good milestone to see, just in the last couple of days, is work beginning on Wharford Lane, where the site for the new school is. To quote from the building company's brief:

"To enable the delivery of Sandymoor Free School".

This first Founders' day has been a true celebration of an enormous amount of hard work and determination by a lot of people. We would not be where we are today without a group of five ordinary people, like you and me. Like your parents. They decided to say that they wanted to make a difference & start a school here, in Sandymoor. Because they wanted to provide more choice for the people in this part of Runcorn. 

And I am so excited to be leading such an inspirational team of people in making a difference. It has been an incredibly tough journey for every member of staff here, and I want to publicly thank them for all the hard work they have put in to helping me make the vision a reality. They all inspire me. Thank you.

It is about you, however. This is all about you. Our students. Everything about us, and all the planning, long nights and heart-aches, it's all about you. 

This is all about giving you the best possible opportunity we can give to help you become the very best you can be. That is what education should always be about and it's a shame that it sometimes isn't, because politics or personal ambition gets in the way. But I promise you here and now that here, at Sandymoor, that is what it is all about. You. And helping you become the very best you can be.

First Founders' Day Assembly

It has been a long time since my last post, but things have been a little busy recently! Anyhow, like buses, you wait for ages, then two turn up in short succession ....

Today, 9th November, 2012, Sandymoor School celebrates it's opening with it's first Founders' Day. There's lots of exciting things going on during the day and the official opening is at 3pm, with speeches, food, drink & fireworks.

And there is a lot to celebrate. Two posts today, the first being the Assembly I gave this morning to the school. I will follow this later with my official speech for the opening ceremony.


Today is a special day. Why? Why not!

But today we celebrate the founding of the school. Today we celebrate what we have here and what we have achieved.

 

Why today? Again, I say why not! We chose today for a lot of reasons, none of them, in themselves, special. Today is the first Friday after 1/2 term. It was the date a VIP said they could make. That's about it.

 

It's a birthday for some people. In fact, around the world, for quite a lot of people! Apart from Jess, here, it's the birthday of a hero of mine: Carl Sagan. He actually died in 1996, but if he was still alive today, he would be celebrating his 78th birthday today. Carl Sagan was sort of the Brian Cox of my youth. When I was your age, he had written a book which was turned into a TV series called Cosmos & it blew my mind away! It was one of the things that made me want to go into Science. He recalls a similar experience. To quote from him:

 

I went to the librarian and asked for a book about stars ...And the answer was stunning. It was that the Sun was a star but really close. The stars were suns, but so far away they were just little points of light ...The scale of the universe suddenly opened up to me. It was a kind of religious experience. There was a magnificence to it, a grandeur, a scale which has never left me. Never ever left me.

 

For all his life, Science was a passion, that excited him and inspired him to do his best.

 

The truth may be puzzling. It may take some work to grapple with. It may be counter-intuitive. It may contradict deeply held prejudices. It may not be consonant with what we desperately want to be true. But or preferences (our wants) do not change or determine what is true.

 

But back to today, here, and now. Today is a celebration of what we have achieved. What we have done, together. And it's no small thing.

 

18 months ago, a group of ordinary people decided to have a go. They had a desire to do something big, something grand, something special. They didn't think that at the time (& probably don't to this day), but that is what they did. A group of five ordinary people, like you and me. Like your parents. They decided to say that they wanted to make a difference & start a school here, in Sandymoor. Because they wanted to provide more choice for the people in this part of Runcorn.

 

Now, starting a school is not a simple task! They had to pass a huge number of tests set by government, to ensure that the school is fit for purpose. And that, in itself, is good, because we don't want anyone opening up a school.

 

After all, you are the future of this country. Of this planet! And your experience in school will shape how you go on into adulthood.

 

And so these parents, just like your parents, with busy lives, things to do, jobs, kids, and everything else, took on another task. Founding Sandymoor School.

 

Countless meetings long into the night, sometimes overnight, many long trecks to Sheffield, Leeds and London to meet with officials, and here we now are.

 

I've said this before, but it is worth saying it again. These five ordinary people, through determination and persistence, have achieved something extra-ordinary. And as an inspiration for a school, I could not wish for better. It proves that any of you could, in fact should aim to, go on and do something extra-ordinary!

 

But we have also had to turn the dream, the idea, into reality. I know a lot of you were looking at this site during August and wondering how the school would be ready! But as you know, it was. We were running off generators to start with, with water in a temporary supply (in fact that is only being sorted today), and only mobile phones, but we opened.

 

And to me that also tells us something; it's not about fancy buildings or things like that, but people who make a difference.

 

And I am so excited to be leading such an inspirational team of people in making a difference. It has been an incredibly tough journey for every member of staff here, and I want to publicly thank them for all the hard work they have put in to helping me make the vision a reality. They all inspire me. Thank you.

 

It is about you, however. This is all about you. Our students. Everything about us, and all the planning, long nights and heart-aches, it's all about you.

 

This is all about giving you the best possible opportunity we can give to help you become the very best you can be. That is what education should always be about and it's a shame that it sometimes isn't, because politics or personal ambition gets in the way. But I promise you here and now that here, at Sandymoor, that is what it is all about. You. And helping you become the very best you can be.

 

And now I am going to apuse and read a poem. One of my favorites, by a poet called Louise MacNeice and it is called 'Prayer Before Birth'.

 

I am not yet born; O hear me.

Let not the bloodsucking bat or the rat or the stoat or the

club-footed ghoul come near me.




I am not yet born, console me.

I fear that the human race may with tall walls wall me,

with strong drugs dope me, with wise lies lure me,

on black racks rack me, in blood-baths roll me.




I am not yet born; provide me

With water to dandle me, grass to grow for me, trees to talk

to me, sky to sing to me, birds and a white light

in the back of my mind to guide me.




I am not yet born; forgive me

For the sins that in me the world shall commit, my words

when they speak me, my thoughts when they think me,

my treason engendered by traitors beyond me,

my life when they murder by means of my

hands, my death when they live me.




I am not yet born; rehearse me

In the parts I must play and the cues I must take when

old men lecture me, bureaucrats hector me, mountains

frown at me, lovers laugh at me, the white

waves call me to folly and the desert calls

me to doom and the beggar refuses

my gift and my children curse me.




I am not yet born; O hear me,

Let not the man who is beast or who thinks he is God

come near me.




I am not yet born; O fill me

With strength against those who would freeze my

humanity, would dragoon me into a lethal automaton,

would make me a cog in a machine, a thing with

one face, a thing, and against all those

who would dissipate my entirety, would

blow me like thistledown hither and

thither or hither and thither

like water held in the

hands would spill me.




Let them not make me a stone and let them not spill me.

Otherwise kill me.

 

A prayer, or a cry out, for us to do everything we can to make this world a safe place, a good place, for all children.

 

Which leads me to another reason why today is special. Or at least Sunday. Because Sunday is the 11th November. The 11th of the 11th. In most of the world also known as Remembrance Sunday. The day where we remember those people who have lost their lives in conflicts around the world from the first world war up to today and soldiers losing their lives in Afghanistan. It's not about glorifying war, but remembering those people who paid the ultimate sacrifice for just what that poem by Louis MacNeice is all about - trying to keep the man who is beast or who thinks he is god come near innocent children.

 

And so I would like to end with a traditional act or remembrance. I am going to say a short poem and then I would appreciate it if we could then hold a minute's silence in honour of everyone who has died in conflict or war:

 

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

(Silence)

Thank you. Now, let's have fun today!