In re-writing the essence of this week’s assembly, I thought, as a history teacher, I would start off above by having a bit of fun deliberately invoking the style of historian Simon Schama: 

There are many things in our lives that are just ‘there’, without necessarily being consciously connected to. Some of them are surprisingly important in how we manage situations and in decisions we make. For many, personal values can fall into this category of being crucial but potentially unexamined, (particularly if having a faith is not at play). And the same can be true of wider communities and organisations and their shared values. Yet, when other factors are stripped away, our values are what we hold at our core and what we fall back on when some direction or steerage is required. 

Perhaps the defining feature of this time of year is the spirit of celebration that abounds. We celebrate the end of exams, we celebrate numerous personal achievements, and we celebrate the upcoming end of term and the prospect of an enormously well-deserved summer break for all the community to enjoy time with their families. 

In Monday’s assembly, after some diversions and interludes along the way, we completed our journey through the ‘sailboat of needs’ concept referred to on several occasions earlier in the year.

When was the last time you experienced silence? Have a good old think. No, not then. Think a bit more. No, that doesn’t really count either. I mean proper silence… The sort of silence that actually makes you stop in your tracks because it has crept up on you, in a manoeuvre of aural stealth, and then ‘bang!’… or rather,  ‘                     !’… it strikes you between the ears. And you stop. And you listen intently to the chance to hear – well – nothing.