As we approach the end of the year, it feels like a good time to pause and reflect on what’s seemed like a very fast-paced last term. Upon the request of Cecilia, our excellent Editor in Chief of Unconquered Peaks, I’ve transformed my muddled reflections of the SLT’s past 8(?) weeks into a hopefully succinct yet somewhat entertaining article.
Sitting in my bed writing this, I had to ask myself: ‘What has the SLT actually done?’. Well, ignoring our end of year exams and Everest-esque mountains of homework, I surprised myself by coming up with a fair few things: the Charity Fair was excellent and very prosperous; Pride Day Jamming was incredible; we went to the GDST Head Office, vaguely planned the next year, discovered the ‘coffee iPad’, used up all of their mugs, and felt very important. Significantly however, not everything we’ve done has been quite as triumphant… there have been many moments which required real determination to push through. Examples of this are included, but not limited to: Mia B slowly but surely discovering how excel works in preparation for sports day, Cecily cajoling people other than Roxie and Riya to perform at Friday Jamming, the HGT sprinting from room to room on ‘into the 6th day’ after a slight timing error, my one man job hanging up Pride decorations in the senior hall and genuinely questioning whether I had heat stroke, the surprise Mufti Day we threw on SMT (sorry Mr Griffiths!)… the list goes on.
Although in the moment these felt like monumental catastrophes, what I can say is that we’ve learnt from these mishaps. We’ve spent many a morning in various locations of the school, often fuelled by biscuits, discussing what went well, figuring out where we went wrong. Really, it’s only getting better from here.
Looking ahead, I’m excited, and maybe just the right amount of nervous, about what’s to come. We’re hoping to shake things up a bit, try new approaches, and move beyond the “we’ve always done it this way” mindset. As someone who has very willingly gone to the same school for the past 13 years, I think it’s fair to say that I’m not always the most open to change. But, as the reality of university, a new city, new cafes, new teachers, becomes more and more palpable, change is not just something I’ll have to accept- I’ll have to embrace it. So, while the idea of revamping off-timetable day is daunting, I’m telling myself, and all of you, that this next year will be brilliant; another unconquered peak for all of us to summit.
If, like me, you already feel the new school year looming over you, know that you don’t have to stumble blindly into all this change alone; I can say with complete confidence that you are surrounded by an entire school of people ready to catch you if everything starts to become a bit much. Keeping this in mind, I urge you to reach out to the people you wouldn’t normally talk to (whether this be within, or outside your year group)- support them and they in turn will support you. It’s easier to conquer a mountain when you have a group of people pulling you up.
