On Friday the 160 boys in Year 11 spent their last morning in school before most of them launch into their summer GCSE papers. I have qualified that opening statement because some 85 of them were in the Sports Hall for an extended period during the morning taking a iGCSE paper; most of that group emerged smiling fairly broadly, so I think that they felt confident and it cannot have been too traumatizing. An encouraging, if somewhat early start.
It is easy to forget what this group of boys have just been through. Some quite lengthy periods of interruption during both Year 9 and Year 10 where they were learning at home will mean that they are one of the ‘guinea pig’ year groups where we will all be testing the impact of lock down vs remote learning. Their resolute good humour and the readiness with which the vast majority focused on learning and revision during our road back to a new normal suggests that they’ll do well, and we adults often under estimate the degree of resilience that teenagers possess. I am sure that we’ll be celebrating with them all come August.
Next, inevitably, will be Year 13. There is always more poignancy when Year 13 end their daily attendance, and I guess that will be especially so for this particular group of young men and women. Not only have they weathered the Covid Storm for the longest, they have also been the trail blazers for coeducation at Bishop’s. Bearing that in mind they have been hugely successful, keeping their upbeat attitude throughout and doing so much to re-establish our school in the post-pandemic landscape of Salisbury. I have been hugely proud of the way that they have thrown themselves into drama, sports, music and everything else that makes this school such a great place to be. When we started, as a school, planning out the major growth and change to come several years ago no one knew how Year 13 would look come summer 2022. Now I could not have wished for a better set of youngsters to show what makes Bishop’s so special.
Good luck to every one of our Bishop’s Boys and Girls for this summer. You’ve done so well through such difficult times, and you richly deserve success. See you on the other side!
SDS
