Away fixtures
From the Headmaster’s Desk: 30th June 2023
Mr Hammond
Headmaster
As we approach the end of another successful academic year, we have six Year Groups away from home and school on residential trips. Any end-of-year event is a signpost for children that change is afoot and a new academic year beckons. Our Lower School concerts also perform the same function and I was delighted to listen the children sing and with a great deal of emerging confidence. Have just finished my review of each child’s school report, it is clear that Abercorn children have character in abundance and that confidence will carry them far. As Year 1 told their adoring audience: “have a banana.”
I would like to take a moment to highlight the power of our residential school trips in fostering a growth mindset among the Abercorn family. These trips are a catalyst for personal development, resilience and a lifelong love for learning. All children benefit from going away with their school chums and teachers and I pay credit to those staff who accompany the outings. As I always explain to the children, residentials operate a little differently compared to a usual school day. Our expectations vary slightly, but the outcomes are equally rich for all involved. Think The Famous Five, but with safety precautions.
At Abercorn, we firmly believe in cultivating a growth mindset, where pupils embrace challenges, persist in the face of obstacles (a climbing wall is a very literal metaphor for this), and trust in their ability to learn and grow. Residential school trips provide ideal opportunities to nurture this mindset and are a mainstay and expectation of the school calendar.
Providing students with novel experiences, unfamiliar environments, and diverse situations means they encounter challenges outside their comfort zones and allows them to develop problem-solving skills and adaptability. Through overcoming these challenges, they learn that effort and perseverance lead to growth. Pupils also have the chance to take on new responsibilities, make decisions independently, and navigate unfamiliar environments. Young people are capable of managing challenges themselves, obviously with the relevant support and they simply gain a different experience when away from their usual schedule. Of course, the children are delighted at being out of the classroom in lovely weather; this always helps!
Believe it or not, we are already planning and booking our end of year events for the Summer Term 2024. Please mark the equivalent week in your diary for children in Year 3-9 to be away as we expect them all to attend (and to lighten your load for a few days, which a number of families have told me goes down very well).
But, the year is (still) not yet out, and there is much to do. Let us celebrate our success with joy and a renewed sense of purpose for the last two weeks of term. To keep our end of term events in the forefront of your minds, the following list of dates will be a standing item for the rest of term:
Senior Sports Day, Monday 3rd July;
Sports Dinner, Tuesday 4th July;
Lower School Sports afternoon, Wednesday 5th July;
The last of term, Thursday 6th July – please see our separate letter for specific collection times.
All the best for a wonderful weekend. I look forward to seeing you at Sports Day next week - Mr Hammond
To see how busy a place our wonderful School is and for a more detailed look into all things Abercorn, follow us on social media; Twitter, Instagram and Facebook offer a wide range of updates. My personal thoughts on educational life can be found @hammondteacher.
