SPEECH FOR PARENTS DAYHint-After saying hello and welcoming them mention how pleased the students are to be able to share aspects of their school work and classroom. Also say thank you on behalf of the other students for taking the time to come and also thanks for all the support they give you at home. Then finish with saying you hope they enjoy the day. 

Miss Ashleigh Ball, Reverend Fathers, Trustees, distinguished guests, parents and pupils, good afternoon. Welcome to our Speech Day.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our guest speaker Miss Ashleigh Ball for agreeing to be with us today. What better motivation and inspiration can there be than to have a former student of the school address us. I know that so many of the school community followed her progress avidly in the 2012 Olympics, and those fortunate enough to have tickets, shouted loudly their support in the crowd and those at home, probably screamed at their televisions! Therefore, it is a particular delight to welcome Ashleigh back to St Edwards, thank you. It is indeed our pleasure to have all of you with us today.

I would like to think that over the last term, I have been able to convey to the staff here and to the students (and to parents also) something of my educational philosophy; what I believe is important for a school and my expectations and emphasis. I realise that there has probably been much talk in the staff common room about my speech today. Sadly though, I suspect not about its content, but more about its length! We have to bear in mind that, even after a term, to an extent, I am still an unknown quantity when it comes to length of speeches!

I have had a number of subtle questions asked of me by staff over the last few weeks; ‘How’s the speech writing coming on?

To which I have answered, ‘Haven’t started yet!’

‘Oh!’ Some years it’s been really long you know.........and it’s rained’ to which I reply,

‘Oh!’ ............ then, they say ‘Mind you, children get fidgety, they can’t sit for too long.’

‘True’ I respond.

In exasperation or is it desperation; finally out it comes, ‘The staff will have a book running on how long your speech is, you know!’

‘Gosh’ ........and so it goes on.

Well that preamble was really there to add a little interest to the book, because stopwatches you need to start ..........in a moment!

I have to say that it is my absolute pleasure and an honour to be standing here and giving an overview of the many achievements of St Edward’s over the course of this academic year. At the same time, I feel privileged, because I am the person who has the opportunity to report on this, but have joined the journey for the last leg and can take no credit for delivering a winning team.

My greatest fear is that I may have overlooked a highlight and the only excuse I can use is to say, sorry, I am new, but faced with an almost impossible task of reviewing the highlights of the year and keeping my address short, to prevent the ‘children’ from fidgeting, I will do my very best to do justice to all areas of school and along the way; convey a little more of what we feel is important and look forward to some plans for the next academic year. I have decided not to use PowerPoint, but hope you have enjoyed looking at the slides which capture much of what I will be saying.

So a good place to start is to say that I believe a school should be all about the pupils and their learning and that the teaching just supports this. So what influences learning?

It is all about developing the right attitude to ‘strive to do your best’ which as you will know is our school motto Quantum potes aude. How do we achieve that at St Edward’s? Well, in a school where groupings are deliberately small, no child can become lost or overlooked; our pupils are given time and attention.

We remind students that they are individuals; each has special gifts and talents unique to them. We want our pupils to recognise their worth and that of others in our community. We seek to provide a wealth of opportunities and experiences for our students with teachers who are always encouraging and committed to getting the best from the students. Efforts are rewarded.

Examination results at GCSE and A Level in 2012 yielded very good positive Value Added; at GCSE, students again achieved higher grades than would have been expected according to standardised baseline assessments.

Our Value Added score for all qualifications at A Level indicated that performance can be attributed, with confidence, to the teaching and learning process and placed St Edward’s School in the top 10% of the national cohort of Schools according to the CEM Centre based at Durham University. That is excellent. On your behalf, I would like to thank all of the teachers for their contribution to this achievement.

Learning is linked to motivation and effort. Our students are reminded that what is most important is that they strive to do their personal best in everything. It shouldn’t matter what others are doing or achieving, it’s about them. Are they doing the very best that they can do? It is here that St Edward’s excels in meeting the needs of the individual.

We support our most able students and there are some notable successes of which we are particularly proud; Jacqui Uren’s excellent achievement in receiving an offer from St Hugh’s Oxford to read French and Spanish and Hannah and Tabitha Noble who have both been accepted to Brigham Young University, a prestigious university in America with Scholarships, Hannah one year early to read Mathematics and Tabitha to major in Illustration.

Whilst all three have done exceptionally well in very competitive circumstances, we have to pass on thanks to their teachers who have supported them in their study and preparation.

Of course we are equally very proud also of all our Year 13 students who are either heading to university or to some other purposeful activity; a number of them are currently holding offers from Russell Group universities. What a lovely group of students we have in Year 13; they have enriched St Edward’s so much as leaders of our school community. They provide the motivation for us, as teachers; and how easily we can see in Year 13, many of the characteristics that we wish to see manifest in our younger pupil before we launch them into the outside world. We wish our Year 13 every success in the future.

Learning is influenced by a clear sense of purpose, whether within the routine of lessons or on the many trips and visits which take learning outside of the classroom; and there have been many such trips and visits that have extended the learning environment, too many to mention, but students have benefited hugely.

The Art Department has had a very successful and productive year with some exceptional work created in coursework and examination submissions. Trips, including for example, a visit to the refurbished Ashmolean Museum and the Natural History Museum; all provided students with a valuable bank of photographs, drawings, art history and contextual material as starting points for their coursework.

Students have been immersed in awe inspiring landscape studies on the St Briavel’s trip, where Year 10 stayed in a real medieval castle, which set the backdrop for practical art sessions in Tintern Abbey, Chepstow Castle, and other locations in the Royal Forest of Dean.

The Textiles department were inspired by a trip to the Knitting and Stitching show at the Alexandra Palace, which provided many new ideas and unusual approaches to this discipline, from stitching in car doors, to using mouse skulls in embroidery.

The learning experience has been complemented with a large number of excellent theatre trips this year provided by the English and Drama Departments enabling students to experience a wide range of performances, such as The 39 Steps, and The Woman in Black, which provided much to inspire and influence the students’ own work. And in English: performances, from the sublime of Richard III at the Globe theatre (for Sixth Form) to the deliberately ridiculous of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Christmas show as a treat for Year 7.

For a relatively small community, we are incredibly ambitious; with opportunities linked to all subject areas. As well as visits, s tudents have attended lectures delivered by university experts on topics such as Ancient Women, and Virgil’s Aeneid as part of Gloucestershire Classical Association.

Talks on a Classical theme were also enjoyed by the department at this year’s Cheltenham Literature Festival. Some of our Gifted and Talented students attended a conference in Oxford, where they heard lectures on such diverse topics as ‘Does a snail have consciousness?’ and ‘Hendrix meets Einstein: rock in 11 dimensions’. In April, Year 10 mathematicians attended a day of lectures at Gloucestershire University to encourage a further study of Mathematics. The Year 12 Physicists visited Cardiff University for the annual Sixth Form Physics conference – subjects included Dark Matter, magnetism, Higgs Boson and the history of the universe.

Learning is effective when students are interested. In b ringing learning to life and seeing subjects in context, we have experienced a visit from a Roman Soldier; a cooking task for Year 7 to prepare a typical Roman menu (I didn’t realise how much I liked dates until then!). Year 11 students heard presentations at the Maths Inspiration Show about the Maths behind the bouncing bomb used by the Dambusters in the Second World War. The Maths behind gambling and juggling were considered too! Purely to show an application of Mathematics, I have been assured!! Year 12 Psychologists used a practical approach to learning when students conducted experiments to test whether males are better at jigsaw puzzles than females (they weren’t) and designed questionnaires to test levels of obedience. I would be interested to see the results to that one, too!

Learning modern languages is made more enjoyable by being immersed in the culture of the country. Valencia was the destination for the GCSE and A Level students in the autumn half term. A group took part in the German exchange, staying with host families and experiencing life as a German teenager in Berlin. The Barcelona trip for

the lower school finally went in July after bad weather prevented its departure at Easter. In October, Years 8 and 9 pupils went to Italy on a Geography trip.

A hands-on approach to learning for the Year 12 Biologists improved their understanding of ecology by field-based tuition during a Residential Field Course to Devon. GCSE Geographers experienced field days around Gloucester Quays and the Cathedral, collecting data for a study on Tourism and the changing urban environment. Year 9 Geographers carried out a study of the tourist opportunities at Cheddar Gorge and presented their findings and suggestions to their peers and in front of visiting judges from Cheddar Gorge.

We love competitions; and we are successful. In the spring term the Junior Latin Reading Competition, for Years 8 and 9, helped to bring the language to life. Ryan McAlary and Eleanor Findlay represented the school in the Gloucestershire final and came third in what was a very strong field.

Sixty one students in Years 9 and 10 entered a national Biology Challenge involving 31,000 students from 538 schools. The results were impressive with students in Year 10 winning Gold, Silver and Bronze awards.

The Mathematics Department entered t he Regional Final of the Junior Team Challenge in which our team, competing against 30 other schools, had their efforts rewarded by being placed 5 th overall in the competition, our best ever result!

Similarly impressive achievement from students as part of the UK Maths challenges; in particular, Chris Uren in Year 9 was awarded a certificate of Merit for his efforts by securing a superb result, placing him in the top 2% of entrants. Tom Ford in Year 8 also qualified for the Junior Maths Olympiad following his outstanding score in the Challenge round.

Experiences and opportunities have been available in all Year groups. The History Department took Year 7 to Goodrich Castle. Year 8 visited Harvington Hall to admire the ingenuity of Nicholas Owen, who designed and constructed the priests’ hiding places in the house – in the late 16th century, to be a Catholic priest in England was high treason. Perhaps we should build one here to capture Fr Basil and prevent his departure?

We have witnessed many great learning opportunities with our ambitious school productions. The Drama Department began the year with the Lower School Production in November - The Roses of Eyam. With our thanks to Fr. Basil who directed the production. This historical drama had a cast of forty-six Key Stage 3 students who produced a performance of incredible maturity.

In February, the Upper School production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth was directed by Mr. Strachan. A cast and crew of over fifty Key Stage 4 & 5 students combined to produce assured and energetically engaging performances.

The English Department too, initiated a fully staged-production of one of the A Level set texts. Where learning by doing was the key driver. Every Sixth Form English student was involved in the production of The White Devil; turning the Drama Studio into a dysfunctional Machiavellian world for two nights in November.

I must thank the Stage Crew under the leadership of Mike Robson (Lower VIth) for an excellent service to the school through productions and numerous assemblies and other events.

We want our pupils to love learning. Developing a love of language and reading is an integral part. To celebrate World Book Day, we held our first House LitQuiz, with an added dimension of dressing up as characters from books to support the charity Book Aid International.

This year we launched a Reading Challenge for Years 7, 8 and 9 to encourage a wider range of reading materials, which has been successful. The Carnegie Shadowing Group saw nine students from Years 7 to 10 enjoying reading and reviewing the shortlist for the 2013 Carnegie book award.

Our wide ranging extra-curricular activities programme continues to thrive with good participation at all ages. The Environmental Science club entered 12 students for the GCSE this summer and the Year 7 Globetrotters Club made connections worldwide and flat Stanley has been seen in schools in Alaska, Thailand and Malawi!

Music making continues to flourish. This year marking the 25 th Anniversary of the School, there was a special Mass in Tewkesbury Abbey on St Edward’s Day. A wonderful celebration for the school; with music for the Mass written especially by Mr Bryant and Mrs Taylor. Tewkesbury Abbey was also the setting for the School Carol Service in which the choirs led our annual celebration of carols and readings.

The year has been punctuated with a number of other quality musical events – Our Chamber Choir was invited to perform again alongside some of Cheltenham’s finest musicians in the Joy of Christmas concert in the town hall.

Over 90 pupils involved in the choirs, orchestra, concert band, brass group, percussion ensemble, wind ensemble and guitar group performed in the annual Pump Room concert to showcase the work of the department and also the solo talent of Dan Lewis and Oli Pickering; superb guitarists from Year 13. More recently, the Chamber Choir

with the choir from the Junior School performed Karl Jenkins’ Requiem at Clifton Cathedral in ‘The Big Sing’ as part of its 40 th anniversary celebrations. A magical experience to hear such beautiful choral singing and witness our children from Year 3 to Year 13 from the two Schools perform in front of a live orchestra. It was so incredibly moving.

At School we are learning all of the time and it is great fun; have I convinced you yet? Is it any wonder that St Edward’s is such a happy place? We believe that children will learn best when they are happy and feel safe. Our community is very important to us and one of the great ways of building community is through the House system. The imagination shown by teachers in thinking up ideas for competitions is staggering; varied in their approach, they have united the school community, sparked the creativity and the initiative of our pupils; as seen for example in the recent Mousetrap cars event, where pupils built a car using a mousetrap as the power source and raced them at assembly. The Science, Tech and Mathematics Quiz which saw about a third of the school and many staff fight it out. Competition was fierce for the prizes of the coveted glow in the dark rubber ducks.

Learning is influenced by getting students to take responsibility and so we develop their leadership skills. We are educating our young people to be leaders in society, in their communities, in whatever capacity. Part of being a good leader is the ability to communicate effectively and with confidence in public. The English Department continues to advocate the benefits of debating by fielding teams in competitions both local and national. We have achieved notable successes in the English Speaking Union Public Speaking Competition in which our Year 10 team progressed to the Branch Final in February, and then narrowly missed first place by 1 mark! The girls eventually emerged triumphant winning the Cheltenham Professional and Business Women’s Cup when they competed at the Cheltenham Festival of Performing Arts.

In Private Speech and Drama classes, during the year, thirty five students entered forty-two LAMDA examinations including achieving seventeen passes with Distinction, Seventeen with Merit.

Leadership skills have been honed through t he Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme. This year, 36 new participants in Year 9 joined the existing 75 pupils registered from Year 10 and above working at Bronze, Silver and Gold levels. A sense of responsibility and organisational skills are instilled as the participants take ownership of their activities in each of the sections: Our thanks to Karl Hayter, Dave Ruck, Grant McIntosh, Jenny Mayes and external assessors who assist in this.

Students have certainly been given many opportunities to develop their leadership skills and self-awareness within our very active CCF under the leadership of Flight Lt

Ruck with his staff officers Captain Hayter, Captain Lythgoe and student NCOs in support.

Last Summer, 30 cadets and 5 members of staff went on camp to Barry Buddon in Dundee facing a wide range of activities, including a 36 hour exercise and live firing on a variety of weapon systems. The trust instilled in the cadets is vital and everyone worked hard and enjoyed themselves immensely. Their efforts were rewarded as the Contingent were Awarded a Silver Salver for participation, dedication and spirit throughout the week. During the year, the CCF had a very successful Biennial Inspection, a Ski trip to the Tyrol region, Flying and Gliding opportunities.

F acing the challenge of military skills, navigation, skill at arms, first aid and leadership – all with very little sleep (which seems almost a pre-requisite) - were a team of ten cadets from Year 11 to 13 who took part in the Cadet Cambrian Patrol Competition which the School entered for the first time; it was a long and arduous weekend, but they rose to the challenge. The CCF continues to go from strength to strength with a healthy number of cadets. In the Autumn term the ranks swelled as 18 new Year 9 cadets started and 16 Year 11 cadets began the Method of Instruction Cadre, learning how to become the next instructors. The joy of seeing cadets engaged in activities and talking about them is immense; they simply love it!

Another key area of enjoyment and much success is in the variety of sporting achievement. St Edward’s continues to punch well above its weight for a small school competing in a large sporting arena. An amazing total of forty five pupils have represented the County or above in sports as diverse as Athletics and Archery; Power Lifting and Squash; Equestrian, Cycling and Water Polo as well as in the major sports of Cricket, Hockey, Rugby, Swimming and Tennis.

Our sports teams are District Rounders Champions at U12 and U13, District Hockey Champions at U12 and U13, National ISA Hockey Champions at U15 and Runners Up at U13 and U14. We are Tri-Schools Winners at Golf, and our most recent outstanding Golfing achievement to date, which we won only on Wednesday, is that St Edward’s are now the National English Schools Golf Team Champions, thanks to Luis Arteaga, Tom Hage and Alex Robinson! Well done to them and to Mr Bate!

We are ISA National U18 Rugby 7s Runners Up as well as Shield Winners at Kingham Hill and Quarter Finalist at Sibford. Indeed, St Edward’s is developing an enviable reputation beyond our region for hosting well-organised National ISA sporting events in both Hockey and Rugby with a new National Tri-Athlon competition soon to join them.

Our teams have been on tour representing the school in Rounders and Netball for the Junior girls, with the boys heading off on their tour in Football and Rugby in February. Our pupils and families have hosted visiting Cricket and Hockey teams from Australia and our own Senior teams enjoyed a truly memorable experience when they were on tour in South Africa last summer. Sport is enjoyed at many levels at St Edward’s and we are indebted to all those pupils who have competed for their House, the School, the District, the County and beyond. Congratulations to the PE Department, to the other teachers and coaches who help out, of course to the students and also to the many parents who come along to support. I do hope this impetus of success can be carried through to next school year.

The School has certainly gained momentum throughout the year culminating in what has certainly been a great year with much to celebrate. Before we look forward to the next academic year, we say farewell to a few members of staff. Covering maternity leave for Mrs Pozzi in English we thank Mr Linney and Mrs Robbins, Mrs Green for covering during Mrs Jones’s maternity leave in Languages.

Providing additional teaching, Mrs Holdaway from Mathematics and Mr Quibell-Smith from Individual Learning. We also say good bye to Mrs Walker, Head of Individual Learning, who is moving, to a School closer to home. Fr Basil, our Chaplain who is leaving after six years and is taking a sabbatical, during which he will embark on the Medieval Pilgrim route to Santiago De Compostela, walking over 1400 kilometres which he will hope to complete in about 10 weeks beginning in September, the trade mark sandals forming part of his kit, no doubt! Mrs Wright, Head of Psychology who introduced this now well-established subject to the school, who is retiring (early, of course), we wish her well in the future. Lastly Miss Godwin who is also taking early retirement having been at St Edward’s for over 34 years as a teacher and a pupil of Charlton Park before that! During this time she has been Head of Girls PE and also been a member of the Mathematics Department. Miss Godwin we thank you for your service to St Edward’s and wish you a happy retirement.

This school values its traditions, but we are not afraid of change and learning can be very much stimulated by well-managed change. Even Mr Scarborough, after many years teaching 17th century English History, is leaping forward and adopting 20th century Britain as his new course topic at A Level. He says he will miss King Charles I and the Puritans, but is looking forward to getting to grips with the giants of modern British History like Winston Churchill and Mrs Thatcher!

However, I do not believe in change for changes sake. Of course there will be change, I think the phrase is evolution rather than revolution, because you have to protect what is good and there is plenty that is good about this School. The School has had to get

used to having a Headmistress as opposed to a Headmaster, and that has been quite entertaining, as there are still some who call me Headmaster!

St Edward’s has a big heart and the importance of helping others is stressed. Not only do we punch above our weight in the sporting arena, we have high aspirations in terms of the experiences and opportunities available to our students. This summer, we have 22 students travelling to Borneo for a month to take part in volunteer community work as well as having the opportunity to explore a beautiful part of our world.

Next Easter we shall be returning to the battlefields of Flanders and France dating from the First World War. There will be the CCF Ski trip, a trip to Rome run by Classics and RE Departments; the Geography Department will return to Iceland in October, and the Languages Department will be off to France and there will be residential trips within this country all to enrich the landscape of 2013-2014.

We will continue our preparations for the ambitious Multi Sports tour to Dubai in October 2014 which has generated such enthusiasm. We are hugely excited about our Musical production of the Wizard of Oz in the early part of the Spring term for which casting has already started. There is so much to look forward to.

Over the coming academic year, we will continue our collaboration with the Junior School. We want to build on the success that Mr Lythgoe has had working with the Junior School on the Green Goblin electric car project and involve Senior School students in working with the younger children to build and race a new car next year. Our Scholars will have opportunities to extend and share their talents and expertise to the benefit of our School community. We want continue to cultivate a love of learning as students journey through St Edward’s.

We will continue to move forward and to look out with pride rather than looking in with too much introspection. Pupils have achieved so much this year and rightly you, as parents and we as teachers, should be congratulating them all on the commitment and tenacity they have shown and the progress they have made.

It has been a great year and it is a joint effort. Thank you to the Trustees who give their time freely. To my predecessor, Paul Harvey, the Senior Management Team who have been superb in supporting me over the last term in particular and who have provided loyal support to Mr Harvey. Our Bursar, Bob O’Hara and Stuart Jeal and the fantastic support staff, administration and housekeeping; to Richard Norris who keeps the grounds looking stunning. Tony Berry and the catering team who provide a superb service with their delicious menus and healthy portions to sustain us during our very busy days.

My thanks to Philippa Gammond, my PA who has basically sorted me out! For all of these people, nothing is ever too much trouble. To John Lewis and Pat Hemming who have done so much of the organisation for today’s event and the team who have supported them.

To my husband for his patience and understanding, and for taking on most, if not all, of the domestic chores (I wonder how long I can keep that going!) To our PTA, under the chairmanship of Mr Weaver, who willingly give their time in supporting school functions, arranging social events as well as fundraising opportunities from which all of the students benefit and another parent, Mrs Dowie for looking after the second-hand uniform shop. Please do continue to support them in their roles. To you, parents for entrusting your children to us and for your support of the School.

I cannot believe that in reviewing the highlights of the year, I haven’t mentioned Morfa Bay! In all my years of teaching, I have never known a School trip be held in such affectionate terms as this one. It is not just the activities; I think students really enjoy discovering who they are and learning what it means to belong to St Edward’s School; this special community. The friendships formed with the Sixth Form who attend are sustained beyond the week and you know it’s got to be special, when you can’t tell who is more excited, the Sixth Form helpers or the new Year 7s. How lovely is that?

I am conscious of time and someone said to me the other day, ‘Pat you have to keep remembering that when you stop speaking, people can go on holiday for 8 weeks!’

So I won’t delay your holidays much more other than to say:

This school is all about learning and setting the foundations for the future. It is the responsibility of us all, and certainly of a good School, to introduce children to a range of possibilities so that their minds are open and receptive to learning. And at St Edward’s we certainly do that!

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Welcome to you all. I think that most of you know me, but for those of you who do not, I am Dominic Randolph, the Head of School. I am appreciative of working here with great colleagues, marvelous students and wonderful families. I wish you all the best for this new school year.

As I got to know Riverdale during my first year here, I came to understand what a strong school community we are, but felt that we needed to be clearer where we stand on things. As we have moved forward with a strategic thinking process, we have also come to clarify what we stand for as an intellectual community. I would like to share some of those ideas and principles with you in a different way than I might have in the past. I will start that by reading a poem sent to me by a former student of mine, Hovig Vartan, who remembered my love of “Ozymandias” a poem by Shelley, and sent along this poem by Geoffrey Brock that refers to the Shelley poem.

1st Day of SchoolI was a math major—fond of all things rational.It was the first day of my first poetry class.The prof, with the air of a priest at latin mass,told us that we could “make great poetry personal,”could own it, since poetry we memorize singsinside us always. By way of illustrationhe began reciting Shelley with real passion,but stopped at “Ozymandias, king of Kings;

Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!”-because, with that last plosive, his top denturepopped from his mouth and bounced of an empty chair.

He blinked, then offered, as a postscript to his lecture,a promise so splendid it made me give up math:“More thingth like that will happen in thith class.”

Copyright © The Poetry Foundation

Learning is fun; it is remarkable; it is extraordinary, as the poem recounts. I hope that as you follow your sons and daughters through this year that you will find yourself learning with them—and that they, in the routine of life that we all lead, find the magnificent wonder of learning something deeply. I was sitting with some 9th graders at lunch yesterday and we were so happy to be learning the name of world capitals, of Antananarivo and Ulan Bator. They were happy, laughing and learning. We believe

that learning should be challenging but fun and engaging.The delivery of lessons is important but what is in the lesson is also so important. Thus, we also put a premium on trying to develop minds

and believe that young people have to work at becoming better thinkers, they need to learn to think for themselves. As we know from cognitive science, good thinking is developed by deliberative practice in different domains—students have to become scientists, historians, mathematicians and literary critics. You become better at thinking by doing more of it with good rich content. Our teachers know their disciplines and know how to inspire good thinking. This means that, as Jeffrey Toobin of the New Yorker and CNN told our High School students on Wednesday, they need to be “educated media consumers”. What he meant is that the words, the images that we all perceive every day are linked in often abstruse ways with reality that need decoding and deciphering in an informed way. Just as George Orwell so ably put it in his essay “On the Politics and the English Language”, we need to equip our students to become autonomous thinkers who can make their own decisions both in school and their lived lives using precise and clear language to communicate their thoughts. Support us in helping us prod and push at times your sons and daughters to do the hard work on their own of thinking through things.

Along with developing the mind, we ensure that students understand that the process of thinking is not divorced from real life. Good thinking makes for a significantly better life. At times, universities and educational institutions give the impression that thinking or intellectual activity is an amoral activity. We believe that is not at all the case. Work in every arena at the school is a moral enterprise and involves grappling with community values. We hope that our students do not just learn, they learn to live well. Constructing America—our interdisciplinary English and history course in the 11th grade asks students to explicitly connect historical events to current issues. We demand a high level of sportsmanship in our student athletes. We ask older students to demonstrate the empathy it requires to help younger students in our PAL advising program. We ask students to offer their hard work to make life better for Botswanan children in Maun. We build character in our students.

Tim Morehouse of the Riverdale class of 1996 returned to the school this week to talk to the Middle School students about his winning a silver medal in fencing. Tim talked about fencing, about Beijing, about the thrill of victory. But most importantly he talked about committing to goals, to persevering with tenacity and playing to one’s individual unique strengths. This message is so important. It is great to see a young person work for 17 years to achieve their dreams of participating in the Olympics and winning a medal. As Tim said, in his first year at Riverdale as a 7th grader, he got C-‘s in all his courses during the first quarter. Tim found a way of believing himself and of committing firmly to his goals. While committing to his goals in fencing, his academic results improved. We try and help students commit in such significant ways to some activity that they love, whether it be a playing an instrument, writing a novel, participating in a sport,

getting excited about a class project or getting involved in community service. Support your sons and daughters in their interests, in their enthusiasm for some endeavor. We believe that

igniting interest and engagement in students is part of our brief here.What is the atmosphere or personality of this community like? Well, I was expecting to have difficulties understanding the New York mentality, given my non-NYC background and my previous inability to support any American athletic team. While living in New Jersey, I just could not understand the rabid commitment of NY fans to the various teams in the city. I have now come to understand the error of my ways, and have mended my past folly through my current active support of the Yankees and the Giants. Most importantly, though, I have come to understand the type of mindset we prize at the school which is a reflection of this wonderful city we all live in. When we are at our best, we offer young

people and adults alike an atmosphere of high challenge and low stress. We believe that people should have to support their opinions and beliefs with good evidence. We believe that asking questions is a good thing. We believe that reaching for dreams is a great thing. We are skeptical of easy solutions and easy answers. And yet, we want our children and adults that comprise this community to be happy and satisfied. We want to have a relaxed atmosphere here—there is humor in much of what we do. We understand that life can get stressful, but we seek to try and diminish anxiety by supporting each other through difficult times. We are a demanding but supportive community. However, of the aims stated above, this last point regarding a community of high challenge and low stress is the one that is the most difficult things for us to achieve in this day and age. Our lives are increasingly complicated and our children’s lives are increasingly different than the lives we lived as children—their lives are

increasingly composed of “high-stake” pursuits. I ask you to join us in simplifying the choices and the lives of our children—of lowering the stakes. The most pleasurable activities in life are quite simple: learning something well and deeply, communicating in a sophisticated way with others, caring about an issue or a person. We have to ensure that our young people have the type of environment that supports such simple goals. They should not multi-task during the evening hours. Students need to work hard, but they also need to relax and let their mind wander and recove—they need to enjoy life. They should get enough sleep every night. They should eat meals that are nourishing but do not create erratic levels of glucose in their bodies. They need to run around on athletic fields, play in arts studios and expound about life from our stages. They need to worry less about grades and scores and more about the quality of the work they are doing. The only way that these things can happen is if we take a good firm line with our sons and daughters. We are going to do that this year, and we hope that you will support us in that endeavor. Keep things fun and engaging;

get our kids to be better thinkers; let them understand that most choices have

an ethical component; support them in their passions even if they might be

bizarre or impulsive; and finally, let’s try and bring some health sanity to our

children’s lives as they move through these formative years that builds the

foundation of the adults they will become.Thank you for your attention. Have a great day and thank you for sharing your sons and daughters’ lives with us. Please feel free to get in contact if you have any questions or comments about the school. I do write and try to communicate my ideas on my weblog and website linked to the school website. Make sure that you login to the website to get the most content—if you have forgotten your username, there is a link that will send you the

information to your e-mail address. Engage with the community and help us in our work to make this the best school possible. Thanks and have a great day.

Tags: education, parents, riverdale, school

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