Friday 11 May 2012
Friday 11 May 2012
London has voted and decided that Boris Johnson should continue as Mayor of London. Whatever your politics and any scepticism you have about voting systems and turnout of voters I think that most people would agree on some of the key statements of intent of both the mayoral candidates. From valuing older Londoners to making London safer to investing in transport and reducing fairs both candidates focused on improving London for all. It is now down to the elected Mayor to deliver on the manifesto and, in particular, focus on Uniting Londoners. A huge task in which we all have a part to play.
Friday 4 May 2012
You may recently have read or heard about a publication - 50 things to do before you're 11 and three quarters - which has been produced by the National Trust. Amongst the 50 things are make a mud slide, hunt for bugs, climb a huge hill and discover what's in a poind. What I like about all the suggestions is that they require little or no technology. We live in a technology rich (and sometimes dependent) world and there is no denying that this technology provides us with huge benefits. Sometimes it is good, however, to go back to basics and do things which require no cost to your pocket or the environment. Whether you are under 12 or much older have a go at one of the 50 things that you have never done before ...... and have fun doing it!
Friiday 27 April 2012
Predictions, forecasts and estimates! We live in a world where there is always someone trying to tell us all what will happen in the future whether it is about the economy, sporting achievement or the weather. Naturally forecasting or predicting has become more accurate over the past few decades due to the use of computer simulations and modelling to predict the future based on what has happened in the past. No sooner, however, do we have a "drought" and a hosepipe ban (and this has put a stop to our soft landscaping to complete our new build at the front of the school - we won't be able to plant new hedging, plants and trees until the Autumn) than we have record amounts of rainfall! Although we all try, no-one can quite ever predict exactly what will happen in the future - unpredictability is key to an interesting world although sometimes we would like to know exactly what the weather will be like.
Friday 20 April 2012
This week the countdown to the start of the Olympic and Paralympic games in London reached a new milestone - there are now less than 100 days to go. This weekend one of the highlights of the sporting year takes place in London - the London marathon. It is the most spectacular event to take part in (I ran it for the MS Resource Centre charity 3 years ago) and equally spectacular to be a specatator lining the route. Months and months of training come to fruition in the "run" around the streets of London. The parallel to the Olympic games is clear - whether you are a serious athlete or a "fun" runner .... you still need to have trained to be at your peak on the day. My best wishes and a hearty well done to all those who will be involved this weekend.
Friday 30 March 2012
What sort of egg are you? The egg which we see filling our supermarket shelves as we approach Easter with expensive and glitzy packaging. We unwrap the beautifully crafted egg but it is empty and hollow. Are we like this egg which has no beliefs and values, which is heartless and selfish? Or are we like the creme egg - full to the brim - with a real heart and values with substance and a clear moral purpose. Are we like this egg as someone who is full of compassion, love and a selfless approach in all that they do? As we approach Easter let us all spend sometime reflecting on the person we are ..... and perhaps on the person we would more like to be. What type of egg do you want to be? Happy Easter!
Friday 23 March 2012
The challenge of running a mile ........ and raising money. These are some of the things which people across the UK will be doing over the next few days as part of Sport Relief. At Blackfen many young people have been busy raising money for this charity through wearing their own PE kit to lessons and donating money or by getting sponsorship for running the Sport Relief mile. Sport Relief aims to help to change lives across the UK and the world's poorest countries. It aims to tackle three big issues - a safe place for all, water and sanitation and vaccines and diseases. This week in school we held a challenge day on Tuesday and it was good to see our students challenging themselves to do something different including climbing, fencing, cheerleading, archery and rugby. Let us alll challenge ourselves to do one of two things this weekend - run the sport relief mile and raise money or donate money or sponsor someone who is running the mile. By challenging ourselves we can help to make the difference to lives across the country and across the world.
Wednesday 14 March 2012
When I tell you that it is National Pi Day today you may think of beautifully cooked pies to eat.....you would be wrong. Pi (without the e) is a figure which we all know from our school days, and many of you will know in the line of work you do, which enables us to calculate the area or the circumference of a circle. The figure we remember is 3.14 and the reason why we celebrate this today is the representation of 3.14 in month (3rd month) and date (14th day of the month) format. Pi is an irrational and transcendental number which means it will continue infinitely without repeating itself and it has been calculated to over 1 trillion digits. What an awe inspiring thought!
Thursday 8 March 2012
Today is the 101st International Women's Day and the theme for this year is "connecting girls, inspiring futures". As a school we fully embrace and support this theme and the message. Our motto is raising aspirations, releasing potential and we aim to do this through our work within the curriculum and in additional activities and events. It is very important that young women develop the skills which enable them to "connect" as a global citizen. These skills are becoming increasingly important due to globalisation. Young women today must ensure that they have high aspirations and think carefully about future opportunities. Our young women are our future business leaders, politicians, lawyers, executives, consultants and managers - we look forward to supporting them in all they do to inspire them to their future...... and this should happen all year and not just one day in the year.
Thursday 1 March 2012
Today is St David's Day and the Welsh will be wearing a daffodil to celebrate. St David is the patron saint of Wales and the daffodil is the national emblem for Wales. To me the daffodil represents more than this. It is a symbol of light and brightness after the long dark days of the Winter period. The opening of the daffodil flower is also a symbol of life. For many months the daffodil bulbs have been "working hard" under the ground to produce the most wonderful and vividly coloured flower above the ground - we never see the bulb and the "work" which it does to produce the flowers every year. The same is true of most organisations in the world - we often only see the final product which is on show and not all the work which goes on behind the scenes to ensure that the final product meets with everyone's approval. As you celebrate St David's Day today make sure you show your appreciation for someone "behind the scenes" who works hard to keep your organisation going. Like the daffodil, without this "behind the scenes work", nothing successful would ever be produced. Happy St David's Day!
Thursday 23 February 2012
For Christians this week marked the start of the season of lent. Lent is an old English word meaning to lenghten - lent is observed in Spring when the days get longer. I am sure that many of you, whether you believe or not, spent Tuesday evening (or all day) eating/gorging on pancakes. For Christians the season of lent starts with Ash Wednesday and the period of lent is a time of reflection, preparation and self-discipline. For many people, not just Christians, it is a time of "giving something up" and I am sure that we all know someone who has given something up for lent. Even if you don't give something up for lent try to do something positive during lent which you would not normally do (this is just as difficult as giving something up). Happy Lent!
Wednesday 8 February 2012
Have you ever sat down and thought about "the pace" of life and how quickly things change? Some people call this improvement and we know that this "improvement" is relentless. No sooner have we bought one mobile device than it quickly is replaced by an updated, faster, higher specification one. "New" technologies have been with us for some time although I sometimes wonder how anyone coped without a mobile device in our ever changing world. Although there are many improvements in our technologies there are still many problems in the world which we don't seem to have an answer to - poverty, famine, drought, homelessness, pestilence and disease. Have you ever asked yourself the question, "What if all that money spent on researching in to improving the speed and specification of a mobile device were spent on overcoming some of the problems in the world?" An interesting one which gives us plenty of food for thought. Have a good week.
Monday 30 January 2012
Today is the anniversary of the death of Mahatma Gandhi (1948) and this follows the annual commemoration of the work of Martin Luther King (Martin Luther King day). Both of these great leaders worked tirelessly on different aspects of the human rights movement in two very different "superpower" nations. They stood up for what they believed in and campaigned vigorously to make sure that people were aware of issues across the globe. Their campaigning ensured that politicians took action to ensure a better and fairer life for many.....although their memory lives on in the work of many people and groups who campaign for fairness and equality. On a much smaller scale a group of students in the school feel very strongly about endangered species and they were able to stand up for what they believe is right and just and fair in representations to James Brokenshire MP at the end of last week. As you go through this week have this thought in mind .....do you stand up for what you believe in? If the answer is "yes" then what do you do about it? Have a good week.
Friday 20 January 2012
The new year seems a distant memory with signs of spring appearing everywhere with snowdrops and crocuses in flower and daffodils seemingly ready to burst forth. For the Chinese the new year starts on Monday (23 January) and this is one of the earliest possible dates for the Chinese to celebrate the new year. This year is the year of the dragon and the dragon has a very special place. Dragons are born leaders and masters of ceremonies. The dragon is also the only mythical creature in the 12 Chinese zodiac symbols. I am sure there will be plenty of cause for celebration in the forthcoming days and weeks. A happy new year (again!!!).
Monday 9 January 2012
Citius, Altius, Fortius!!! I don't often start the year with Latin but these three words should underpin everything we do this year. The three words translated are Faster, Higher, Stronger and are the Olympic Motto. In an Olympic year where London is hosting the game s this motto seems particularly pertinent. The beginning of a new year provides the opportunity to reflect on the past and to set newer and higher goals and targets for the forthcoming year. As individuals we should all be challenging ourselves to improve and to have the expectation that we can still improve and as teams and groups we should all be working together with high aspirations of what can be achieved. So ..... a happy new year to you all and let us all make it a year where we go ....Citius, Altius, Fortius!!! With all best wishes for 2012.
for London 2012
