blog@grange

1 Goal - Education for All

2010-10-20T09:23:00.001+01:00

During the Activity Days in the summer, Sarah Morris, Imogen Keen and Charlotte White all went to London to attend the Global Student Forum conference. The focus was Education Beats Poverty, and the girls took assembly recently to report back on their experience. Here is an extract:

Currently 72 million children in the world receive no form of education and most of these are in developing countries; the conference opened our eyes to the implications of this.

We were shocked by some of the statistics: for example 40% of the world’s population accounts for only 5% of global income whilst the richest 20% own three-quarters of it. We soon realised how fortunate we are in this country to be provided with a first rate education. Learning about the barriers to education that exist in some countries made it easier to understand how so many get trapped in the vicious cycle of poverty. Morevover, 250,000 child soldiers are currently not in school because of conflicts between countries or conflicts within their own countries, some have to provide and care for their families and some simply cannot afford education.
The lack of education has been recognised by the United Nations as a huge problem, and to this end they drew up the ‘Eight Millennium Goals’, one of which being that “by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling.” So far, 47 million more children have gone into education, but there is still a long way to go. An organization called ‘1 Goal’ challenges the world to join together to achieve their aim of education for all. By signing the 1 Goal petition as 18 million people have already done, we can help ensure that world leaders keep their promise of education for all by 2015. In assembly we encouraged all members of the school to sign up to 1Goal, and to do what they can to support such a vital causes.
You can join, too by following this link: http://www.join1goal.org/

A New Year...but the same values.

2010-09-10T09:20:00.000+01:00

As the new school year got underway, the Headmaster spoke to pupils about the values that have helped make The Grange into the happy and successful community that it is.

I don’t know how many of you have been following a couple of stories from America about that country’s relationship with Islam. The first has been the debate about whether a big new mosque, run by moderate Muslims should be built in the vicinity of the site of the 9/11 massacre site in New York. The second, timed to coincide with the 8th Anniversary of 9/11 tomorrow is of a small church in Florida that is organising International Burn –a-Koran day, to widespread condemnation from muslims, Christians and those of all other faiths and no faith at all. I’m glad to see that as of last night the event is now ‘on’ hold’

These issues have opened up a debate about ‘American Values’. On the one hand you have a minority claiming that American Values include the destruction of all that threatens the United States including, it seems, anything to do with Islam, while others prefer to see tolerance and freedom of religious practice as being much more typically Ameircan virtues. In Washington, David Axelrod, the senior political adviser to President Barack Obama, reiterated the determination of the White House to prevent the torching of the books. "That church may have the right to do what it’s doing but it's not right," he said. "It's not consistent with our values... I hope that conscience and good sense will take hold."

It’s a word that we often hear these days, values.

But what do we mean by values? Most simply put, they are the things that an individual or a group of people show are most important to them in the way they treat others. They are the behaviours or attitudes that someone or some organisation consider have most value. Sometimes they are written down or clearly articulated, sometimes they are just obvious from the way someone acts or a group of people goes about its business.

I wonder what you’d say if I asked you what the values of The Grange School are? What are the ways of behaving, what are the attitudes that we value most and that go towards making this school the largely happy, positive and successful place that, in general, it undoubtedly is?

Last year I set myself the task of trying to define the most important values of this school, to put into words those things that underpin all that is most positive about our life here, and has helped to make the school what it is. It was very hard indeed to encapsulate such things in writing, and it took many attempts and much help from many people to get towards something that seemed to do the job pretty well.

With such collaboration emerged the following. Let me read it to you:

At The Grange School we value particularly an approach to our community from all who work and learn here which is:
• Caring, warm and generous
• Respectful of others as a matter of principle
• Straightforward, open and uncomplicated, demonstrating integrity in all aspects of school life
• Wholehearted, demonstrating commitment to being the best that one can be and to the hard work needed in rising to the challenge of high standards and high expectations
• Sensitive to the needs of others and accepting of their differences

Let me pick one or two things out of this.

Firstly, notice how care for others is the first idea mentioned, and particularly the use of the word generous. Generosity, I believe, has been a real hallmark of The Grange from its foundation: both pupils and staff show a willingness to go the extra mile in their commitment, evidenced, for example, by the large number of teachers who over the next two weekends will be giving up their free time to take the fifth years to do their bronze DofE in Yorkshire, or accompanying all the First Years to Bewerley Park, or managing football teams, or holding swimming trials, or supervising Rowing in the river. I think generosity is a key feature if this school, and being a member of our community should bring with it an obligation to be generous in return.

Secondly, one of the things that has impressed me about The Grange from my very first connection with it, has been the way that adults and students show each other respect as a matter of course, and don’t wait for the other to earn it before they are prepared to show it. A very different approach from many schools that I know. That idea that you show someone respect because it is simply the right thing to do, must continue to form the backbone of our relationships.

Thirdly being straightforward with others is a sign of respect too…integrity means being the person that you say you are, showing your values in your actions, not just your words, being honest, to use a well known phrase, letting your yes be yes and your no be no.

Fourthly, wholeheartedness is a key attribute: give life here everything you’ve got, give your best and aim to be the best ‘you’ that you can be; we set high standards and have expectations: it is fundamental part of being here to rise to them.

Finally, we’re back to how we treat others and we’re challenging selfishness as was the case with the first statement. Not expecting others to be like us, valuing rather than exploiting the ways in which they are different from us, and trying to understand how we can help them is another mark of the respectful and civilised community we want to continue to build here.

Why am I telling you this? Because I would like us to adopt this statement of Grange School Values as the means by which we all judge our behaviour and our approach to school and to everyone we encounter here.
For example perhaps teachers would not to have to refer to what it says in the school rules when something is wrong (though, of course, that will still be necessary) but rather point out or ask you to consider whether your behaviour or the choices you have made demonstrate the school’s values. And on your report, when your form teacher is writing about your attitude to school and how you get on with others, I wonder whether this statement might form one useful yardstick by which they might choose to measure your progress and contribution. I know that in the vast majority of cases such a comparison would lead to very positive conclusions.

Can you live up to these values in the way you approach work , play and relationships at this school? Can I, because these values apply just a much to me as they do to you. I’ll be wanting to measure up how I act, the decisions I make, how I treat people and the example I am required to set against them, but that’s absolutely as it should be.

I don’t bang on about what a great school this is because I’m paid to. Nor do I do it because I have nothing else to say. I do it because it is true.

It is true because the people within the school, by and large, share the values that have made and continue to make it that way.

These, perhaps, are those values: let’s live them out as best we can.

Leavers' Assembly 2010

2010-05-28T08:55:00.001+01:00

It is always sad to say good-bye to the young people that we have nurtured, cajoled, and grown so fond of over (in some cases) many years. Leavers' Assembly is always a thoughtful -even quite solemn- occasion, and gives us an opportunity to reflect on the purpose of the education we offer and the aspirations of those who benefit from it. Here is an extract from the Headmaster's address:

In closing I would say that you -the class of 2010- have been a particularly impressive and much-loved year group in the remarkable story of The Grange School. You have been rewarding to teach, generous with your contribution to school life and enriching to work with both in and out of the classroom. You have made us laugh, at times you’ve inspired us and you have moved us to think and reflect about the job that we do. You have cared for each other really well and been more unified than most year groups I can recall. In short, it has been a pleasure for us to work with you, and, however proud we are of your achievements as you do so, it is sad to see you leave us.

But leave you must, and I’ll take my leave of you with a few questions to ponder in the spirit of the reading Mr Reeve read for us earlier. As you go through your life:
• Will you be more a giver or a taker?
• Will you lead or will you just follow?
• Will you create more than you consume?
• Will you love much more than you hate?
• Will you step on others on the way up or will you give a helping hand up to those below you?
• Will you keep for yourself or give away?
• Will you value truth over ease, integrity over expediency?
• Will you be remembered for what you did or what you didn’t do?
• Will the world be a tangibly better place for your having been in it?
• Will you settle for pleasure, or will you fully flourish?
• Will you put yourself in a place where true happiness can find you?

I’ve left you a few things to ponder. Within your answers to those questions might lie a clue as to how truly happy, fulfilling and rich your lives will be, as to how far you will flourish, as to how far you will become the best ‘you’ that you can possibly be. That is what I wish for you…what we all wish for you…and what I hope that you wish for yourselves.

We wish you a truly happy and fulfilling life…now it’s time to go and find it.

2010-05-05T09:27:00.001+01:00

Sophie Hirst left the Upper Sixth last year. As part of her year off before university she travelled to Paraguay and worked in a number of projects alongside a church, helping some of the poorest in Asuncion,the country's capital. She came into school recently and gave a really inspirational assembly; here is the conclusion that she shared with us:

I went to Paraguay knowing no one and very little about what I would be doing. I thought I was going to teach, and to help people: everyone does when they do this kind of thing. They think they are going to go out somewhere ‘to make a difference’ and maybe even ‘change a few lives’; I had no idea what I’d be doing specifically, but I guess, if I think back on it, that was my general aim.

The thing is, though, I learnt so much more than I taught (which is not to say that my teaching skills were in fact pretty poor!): if you go somewhere where things are so different and where priorities are on an entirely different scale, you cannot help but revaluate your own. I have no doubt that those children will forget my name soon; children do. But I will not forget theirs because they showed me what it was to really live and be grateful, just for the sun that rises each day.
I don’t really have an overall message. I’m not asking for anything or telling you to think differently about anything. I’m just telling you that doing what I did made me think very differently about a lot of things. I guess if I wanted to leave you with anything it would be this; don’t be scared to just go for it. Go out there and see it for yourself. Then maybe when you come back and you happen to bump into me, you will tell me you knew what I was talking about.

Thoughts from The Gambia

2010-03-18T13:13:00.008Z

At half-term, 20 students from the senior end of the school visited our sister school in The Gambia for a week. Lower Sixth Former Jamie Wilson reflects on the experience:

The first thing I realised when I got to The Gambia was how friendly and happy everybody is. This was obvious from the moment we stepped into the airport where there were lots of porters to carry our bags for us and all of them wanted to speak to us. The friendliness was also evident around the hotel where everybody said ‘hello’ as we were walking past. We were also told many times how we were welcome to the Gambia and ‘Smiley Coast’ as the locals called the area we were staying in. This is in complete contrast to here in the UK where we don’t say ‘hello’ to anybody that we do not know, never mind stop and have a 5 minute conversation.

The sense of community was also much more evident in The Gambia than it is in England. We were told by Alaji, the project co-ordinator in The Gambia, that there are no old people’s homes in The Gambia as families live in compounds. This means that the sons and daughters will all work and bring something to the compound, be it money or food from the family’s field and will also care for the older members of the family. Alaji also told us about how the families saw it as an insult to ask a particular person to watch their child if they left the compound and so instead the parent would simply inform all the people in the compound to keep an eye on the child. It was also evident that there was a greater sense of community in The Gambia as many people seemed to know Alaji in all the places that we visited. This also adds to the welcoming feeling that you get wherever you go and I feel that this feeling is almost non existent in the UK.
However, the thing that struck me most was how every person in The Gambia was happy with what they had. This was shown when we were travelling on jeeps for the day and stopping at compounds we passed. When we arrived, all of the people were happy to show us their homes, even if they had only the most basic of houses to live in. In the UK there is a feeling of needing items to be happy, be it a new computer game or new clothes, whereas in The Gambia nobody seemed to be upset with what they have. More often than not people do not have enough to spend on luxury items as most of their income is needed to support their large families.
All in all, the trip to The Gambia taught me, and I am sure the rest of the group as well, a huge amount about what is important in life. Many people in the western world think that material things in life make them happy whereas I now feel that true happiness is found through friends and family and knowing that you have that network of love and support around you.

A poem by the Grange Laureate, Izzy Harris

2010-02-23T10:30:00.005Z

Izzy Harris in the Upper Sixth has recently been appointed the school's first Laureate, a role her excellent poetry truely deserves. She took a memorable assembly on Tuesday, talking about her work, reading examples of it and encouraging others to explore creative writing. Here is an extract from it:

I’m Izzy, the Grange School Laureate. My job isn’t to sit round acting poncy in a waistcoat, though admittedly I do rather enjoy doing that occasionally. Rather, my position is to promote writing in the school, both prose and poetry, we don’t discriminate, and with any luck get a bunch of you involved too. When I started writing I never thought I’d end up reading my poetry to the whole school.
There are many reasons to write, there’s the creativity aspect of course. Expressing yourself in new and experimental ways can be really entertaining, exciting, and helps to broaden your mind, as well as your understanding about yourself and your opinions of the world around you. It’s also a great way of challenging and enthusing yourself outside of the classroom, and I would recommend it to everyone to try, even if it’s just once. You’re first try isn’t going to be a masterpiece, but developing and practising to find a style you enjoy is part of the fun. And I do realise how this all sounds utterly naff, but it is true!

I first started writing about a year ago, and believe me there have been some massive failures, but hopefully I’ve improved a little since then.
And here are is one of her poems:

Church

Blossoms
Pink as the coil of a baby’s ear,
Spiral down to sleep
Amongst the graves.

Shadows cast like spells
By the velvet light of early eve
Make magic form of the bleached stone.
I shift but cannot leave.

Lost in the calm
Of silky skies
And voices that seep from between
Ashen panes of glass.

I am transfixed.
They swell and rise
And reach
For open, godly skies.

In this beauty that holds so close
It is God I see,
And now I am safe for this is bliss.
The truest faith is found in this.

Doing a little bit to change the world

2010-02-09T13:52:00.002Z

Lauren Holmes, one of the Sixth Form leaders of ECO, the school's environmental action group writes about a new initiative.

Environmental responsibility and sustainability are issues vital to our future. One message which environmentalists are trying to put across is that 'every little bit helps', and although The Grange School cannot save the world, it can do its share.

In September 2009, the school’s ECO team came up with the idea of creating an eco-garden on the school site. With plenty of hard work, support, time and determination the garden was finished by the end of January 2010. Pochins plc were a great help in clearing the area and putting in five sets of raised beds, so now the garden is ready to be put into use!
Our first job is to decide on what to plant and when it needs to be planted; a shed and modern greenhouse will maximise the possibilities. The hope is that by using what we grow in the canteen, and even for Food and Nutrition lessons, the school can become more self sufficient and in the process we can reduce our carbon footprint a little by reducing deliveries.
What is so great about this project is that, it will not only benefit the environment, but will also bring so much to the school itself. With students from all years and many members of staff excited to help, relationships within the school will flourish even further. It will provide an opportunity to learn new skills outside of lessons, make new friends, do a little exercise and learn important values for the future. It should be a fun and fulfilling experience for everyone involved.
Our hope is that by starting this project, it can carry on and grow so that The Grange can do a very little bit to change to world.

A New Year Reflection

2010-02-03T13:55:00.001Z

From Assembly last week: a reflection based on the words of Stephen Cloud

As we look into 2010 we look at a block of time.

We see 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days, 8,760 hours, 525,600 minutes, 31,536,000 seconds.
And all is a gift from God.
We have done nothing to deserve it or to earn it;we have not purchased it and we don’t own it. Like the air we breathe, time just comes to us as a part of life.
The gift of time is not ours alone. It is given equally to each person. Rich and poor, educated and ignorant, strong and weak—every man, woman and child has the same twenty-four hours every day.
And you cannot stop it. There is no way to slow it down, turn it off, or adjust it. Time marches on.
And you cannot bring back time.
Once it is gone, it is gone. Yesterday is lost forever. If yesterday is lost, tomorrow is uncertain. You may look ahead at a full year’s block of time, but you really have no guarantee that you will experience any of it.
Obviously, then, time is one of our most precious possessions.
We can waste it.
We can worry over it.
We can spend it on ourselves.
Or, as good stewards, we can invest it in lives that truly make the most of it for the good of all.
The new year is full of time.
As the seconds tick away, will you be tossing time out the window,
Or will you make every minute count?

Family History

2010-02-03T12:08:00.001Z

Tom Dickerson from the Lower Sixth shared with us the story of his grandparents:

I come from a Catholic Polish family; they like the Jews and many other groups, were unable to escape the impact of the holocaust. When Germany invaded Poland, the majority of my family were considered a threat by the Nazis: some were sent to Auschwitz as ‘political prisoners’, others were murdered wherever and whenever the Nazis found them, needless to say not a single member of this captured family survived. Those lucky enough to escape the concentration camps and the shootings continued their day jobs, but at night they aided the Polish Underground Resistance in whatever way they could. It wasn’t long until the Nazis came after them too, but only my grandparents managed to escape. They came over to Britain with only a suitcase between them and had to rebuild their entire lives.

Lessons from Auschwitz

2010-02-03T09:30:00.001Z

Sixth Formers Sian Dobbs and Matt Shaw visited Aushwitz for a day in November as part of the 'Lessons from Auschwitz' Programme. This post follows an excellent assembly they presented with Tom Dickerson on Holocaust Memorial Day.

65 years on from the liberation of Auschwitz, and we are facing the fact that soon there will be no one left to pass on there first hand accounts what happened. Auschwitz will always be associated with the worst sins of humanity, and with good reason as over 1.5million people lost their lives there, for no other reason than they didn’t fit with one person’s ideals. The Holocaust, however can also be associated with the one of the greatest qualities of mankind: hope. “Legacy of Hope” is this year’s theme for Holocaust Memorial Day, the intention being to illustrate the extraordinary tales of holocaust survivors, in an attempt to ensure that in the future such acts will never occur again.