Tuesday 21 May 2013

Friday 19 April 2013

At last summer has arrived (well some warmer weather and some sunshine).  The start of summer heralded the end of the Easter break (as so often is the case).  School is back in full swing and this week students in year 12 have been doing external examinations in Art and Photography - yes, examination season is back upon us.  The start of any term enables us to take stock, to reflect ..... and to move forward.  The theme for assembly this week has been reflection.  The key message is that through reflection we can further improve.  Everyone makes mistakes.  Learning is about taking risks, trying out new things and reflecting on what went well and what we can improve on.  Reflection must be honest, although we should never be too hard on ourselves, and must be the key to trying not to make the same mistakes again.  Enjoy the summer!

Monday 25 March 2013

Three weeks ago I wrote about the beginning of Spring .....since then we seem to have had constant cold weather including snow on several occasions.  The term ends this week and there is still snow on the ground as I write this.  This week is also Holy Week in the Christian calendar and the last few weeks have been extremely busy ones in both the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches.  The end of term ..... and the end of Lent both provide an opportunity for reflection.  This enables us to become better and stronger people.  I wish you a peaceful and restful Easter break and I look forward to resuming my blog during the summer term ....when hopefully the snow will have disappeared!

Thursday 14 March 2013

There has been a buzz of expectancy and eager anticipation in school over the last few weeks as students prepare to perform Oliver today and tomorrow in our brand new performance space.  This is the first (of many) school productions in recent memory in the school and we are all very excited about it.  Staff and students have been working hard in preparation for the 2 nights of the performance.  At Blackfen we believe that performance is vitally important in the development of all young people.  It enables all young people to develop confidence, it builds self esteem and it allows youngsters to work as a team with our highly talented staff.  We cannot wait for the curtain up!  ....And we say to all of them .....break a leg!

Friday 1 March 2013

Today marks the official start of the season of Spring after the 3 months (seemingly long months) of Winter.  A flash of yellow along grass verges greets us on our various paths during the day - daffodils and primroses in flower .... and a strange yellow glow in the sky greets the mornings as the sun once again starts to feel a bit warmer.  The daffodil is the national symbol for Wales and is very important on this date - St David's day.  The daffodil symbolises new growth - for months it has been working hard behind the scenes (underground) ready for the moment that it shoots out of the ground and produces this beautiful flower.  On this day let us think about all those people who work so hard behind the scenes (underground) in every organisation.  We don't see them but the organisation could not flourish without them.  Happy St David's day!