World Refugee Day
I will start with sporting matters and it was an impressive week for Senior and Moulton Tennis teams who played superbly in their contests against Kimbolton and Framlingham, respectively. Moulton Boys’ Cricket teams were also in fine form beating Stamford in the week and the 1st XI, 2nd XI and U15A Girls’ sides all took comprehensive victories over Brentwood on Saturday. Jake L picked up an impressive 5 for 27 for the 2nd XI, and Charlie M hit an explosive 51 off only 17 balls in the U15B match. Congratulations to both boys!
You may remember from last week that the U14 boys won the Perse Tournament for the 2nd year in a row last weekend.
A great achievement, against Oundle, Uppingham, Haileybury and The Perse.
I now have the winners’ shield and would be delighted to present that to the team if they can come forward please – and they are:
Ethan Ds, Noah M-Ki, Pax Z and Yazen A
Next to academic matters and Florence T and Daria P took part earlier this term in the East Anglia Year 12 Spanish Debating Competition. They won convincingly all of their debates in their round displaying not only a good selection of points and arguments but also demonstrating an excellent team work, which was commended by the teachers of other schools. For the final they had to prepare an unseen motion without the use of technology and they displayed some excellent presentations and arguments on the topic and worked magnificently as a team, finishing as runners up. The Spanish department was very proud to see such a good calibre of debating in Spanish, being able not only to sustain such an excellent conversation on the topic but also to listen and challenge the points from the opposition, and all in a non-native language. Well done to Florence and Daria and I have some certificates here to present them in recognition of their hard work and excellent performance.
Next, it’s World Refugee Day today, and I came across this poem by Brian Bilston. I’ll just say one thing before I start: BEAR WITH ME.
They have no need of our help
So do not tell me
These haggard faces could belong to you or me
Should life have dealt a different hand
We need to see them for who they really are
Chancers and scroungers
Layabouts and loungers
With bombs up their sleeves
Cut-throats and thieves
They are not
Welcome here
We should make them
Go back to where they came from
They cannot
Share our food
Share our homes
Share our countries
Instead let us
Build a wall to keep them out
It is not okay to say
These are people just like us
A place should only belong to those who are born there
Do not be so stupid to think that
The world can be looked at another way
(now read from bottom to top)
Mahatma Gandhi said: “the true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.”
Should life have dealt a different hand
These haggard faces could belong to you or me
So do not tell me
They have no need of our help.
And finally, I am delighted to announce our school prefect announcements for the coming year and to present them with their badges. Starting with our Senior Prefects for 2022-23; and they will be: Stella G & Charles D. Many congratulations to them both.
And the following will assume positions of responsibility within the individual Houses:
Barker
Head of House : Adam H Deputy : Sophie R
Barrett
Head of House : Bobby R Deputy : Chris H
Bisseker
Head of House : Oli H Deputy : Austyn J
Dale
Head of House : Roberta Deputy : Adriana D
East
Head of House : Oliver C Deputy : Alexander S
Fen
Head of House : Immy W Deputy : Jemairah V
Granta
Head of House : Sofia C Deputy : Grace S
North A
Head of House : George D Deputy : Seyran N
School
Head of House : Michael D Deputy : Alexander H
West
Head of House : Ben P Deputy : Bernard C
As well as the House roles, I am delighted to announce the following school-wide positions of responsibility on the Prefect Team:
Academic Prefect Florence T
Chapel Prefect Molly G
Community Prefect Rafe S
Culture Prefect Amira A
Moulton Prefects Sam H-E, Audrey L
Sport Prefect Noah T
Wellbeing Prefect Kitty W
As ever it was very hard to make these decisions because there were so many excellent candidates. I did rely quite heavily on the pupil and staff votes, but some of you will naturally be feeling disappointed, I understand that – and I am sorry, but a team can only have so many members, and wherever we draw the line, inevitably some have to miss out. Please bounce back – there will be other opportunities to display leadership and to contribute to the school community – and we also have School Colours as a way of recognising people of distinction in the Upper Sixth, who haven’t been appointed as School Prefects – so please don’t despair.
I also wanted, as I do every year, to flag something up to those Prefects whom we have just congratulated.
There is a danger that one thinks of this moment as a pinnacle moment. It is and it isn’t. This is just the start. Your role, be it a House role or a School-wide role, is much more important than this one moment of recognition. This isn’t primarily the culmination of anything; it is primarily the start-point. Leadership isn’t about lording it over others; it is about service to the community. Three attributes I think will help you deliver on that model of leadership: humility, hard work, and a mindset that accepts that the team is more important than any individual within it.
I hope you will reflect on that and seek to ensure, through your commitment to your different roles, that you’ll find the role itself much more rewarding than this transient moment of recognition. It’s the job that counts, not the personal glory.
Congratulations to those individuals – and I look forward to working with you next year to make this School the best that it can be.