A particularly warm welcome to all students and parents who are new to Brampton this term. We have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know our new starters across the college in all year groups over the past few weeks. The atmosphere among them is positive, warm and optimistic.
It is always my pleasure to welcome new joiners to the college at the start of term; to reassure them that they have made an excellent decision in choosing us! My message to them is always the same – thanks for trusting us and congratulations for making a courageous decision to take an opportunity and to do something positive for yourself.
To those of you returning to Brampton for a second or third year – welcome back! One of my favourite experiences as a Principal is to observe the subtle change that occurs in the sixth formers between Year 12 and Year 13. The final year students return to us (after productive vacations) with an ambition, determination and motivation that is inspiring to witness. I look forward to working with all of our final year students this year to help them achieve their ambitions.
As a sports fanatic, I can hardly let the opportunity go by without referencing the inspirational success of England’s Red Roses Rugby Union team at the Twickenham Allianz Stadium this weekend. The transformation of women’s sports in recent years has been truly inspirational. The idea that a women’s rugby match would be the ‘most-watched’ (5.8 million TV viewers) rugby match this year and would sell out all of Twickenham’s 81,885 seats was unthinkable even just a few years ago. What a tribute to those women who have blazed a trail for others to follow.
As ever, I like to draw inspiration from such significant sporting achievements and relate them to education and the process of learning. I have picked out some of the themes from post-match interviews in the aftermath of the the 33 – 13 victory for England over Canada this weekend:
“It’s been years in the making…” Sadia Kabeya, England Flanker and player of the match. Indeed – it takes a lot of work to become an “overnight” success. The real work is done behind the scenes, out of sight, day-in, day-out and as the late, great Muhamad Ali put it “long before I dance under those lights.” If our students want to be successful, they need to make sure they commit to the process. The outcome will then take care of itself.
The importance of the team – every player interviewed has referenced in some way their “team.” This might mean literally their team mates, or a broader team including coaches, trainers and staff, but more often references to team mean family, friends and loved ones. I would encourage our students to remember that they always have a team around them at Brampton which is determined to help them achieve their goals
“We want to keep pushing and doing better and better… we have so much more to go.” “We’re no different to most explorers in the world. They always find another peak to climb.” England Captain Zoe Aldcroft and Coach Jon Mitchell – Like winning a World Cup, GCSEs and A levels are a goal in themselves, but they’re also part of a journey. Remember to keep your eye on the prize, sometimes the journey takes a route you weren’t expecting or your don’t much like, but this is no reason to give up, in fact, it should be motivation to keep going. You all have so much to give! Thank you Zoe, Jon and the whole team for reminding us of that!
Congratulations England and welcome back to Brampton to all our students. I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible over the course of this year.
John Wilson, Principal
