One of the pleasures and privileges of my role is the opportunity to benefit from the enthusiasm and the wisdom of pupils and students, whether they be in Nursery or in Sixth Form. I can and do learn from the pupils and students in the school, every day.
On Thursday I really enjoyed chatting with a group of Year 11 students, who spoke to me with such infectious enthusiasm about the joy that their faith brings to them. Listening to the students genuinely gave me an extra bounce in my step.
On Wednesday I spent the day with Year 7, leading their first Reflection Day in the Senior School. The theme for the day was ‘Keep friendship among you’. I was struck by the students’ maturity and by the way they were able to explore and explain the joys and the challenges of friendship. I asked the students to define a ‘friend’. I loved all the answers, particularly the one from a student who said, ‘A friend is someone you really look forward to spending time with.’ I would not have thought of those words, but they are so true.
Before and after chatting with the Year 11 students on Thursday I spent some time in Year 1. The pupils were learning about the biblical account of creation, from the book of Genesis, and we had some challenging questions to discuss. Who is God? Was everything made by God? Where is God? It was a pupil’s answer to this last question that really made me stop and think.
Where is God? One of the Year 1 pupils said, ‘God is always following us.’ This was a lovely answer, understanding that God never leaves us. Reflecting on the answer I would perhaps say that God certainly is always with us, but God is the one who leads and invites us to follow. It is when we do not follow his lead, though, that God follows us. We can walk away from God, but God will never lose track of us.
God bless,
