Have you seen them? Snowdrops emerging from the cold earth, nodding their satin white petals in the sunshine? Spring is finally on its way and the dark forbidding mornings of January are fading in memory. Finally! And with the lightening mornings, I can feel the mood changing. Kipling’s ‘if you can fill the unforgiving minute/ With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run…’ must have been talking about the week before the half term.
Holding Wellness Week this week is a balm as it allows us all to focus on effective strategies that help us to keep well, resilient, happy and connected, ranging from fuelling our minds and bodies with smoothies to music greeting us in the Crush Hall in the mornings. From a Hungry Hippos house competition to Zumba sessions, Oxford High’s delightfully unconventional approach to everything it does even shines through this week.
It’s also a time to highlight the contributions so many make to our community. I’ve really enjoyed celebrating the Heads’ award winners, not just in assembly, but also in my office where they are invited at a break time to come and tell the other winners what their awards are for. Ranging from representing the UK in international competitions to the most extraordinary effort put into independent study or running a poetry open mic night, or representing the school in a national computing competition. I never cease to be amazed by the range, variety and authenticity of our pupils. Each of whom manages to find their place, their unique shaped space, where they can be themselves. Those connections are at the heart of our school, whether it is our current pupils, previous pupils, staff, parents or friends, such as those who joined us last week for the most extraordinary careers’ evening with over 450 guests, 66 speakers and a range of professions from biological altering scientist to cheesemaker (and that was on the same panel)! That strong and enduring connection to one another, and what it means to be part of the OHS community, endures and shines strong.
I wish you a restful half term and hope that you too, find the time to notice the snowdrops.
Ad Lucem,
Marina Gardiner Legge