Saying goodbye is never easy
I have loads to share with you as usual but I will leave most of that until next time because I want my words today to be just about our Year 11 and 13 students.
On Monday the 15 May the exam season began in earnest. Every year it seems to arrive more quickly than the last and I am always worried about whether we have done enough with and for our students; have we prepared them well enough; have we instilled a confidence in them that they can do this and do they know, I mean really know, how much we care. This year I needn’t have worried.
Over the past two weeks our GCSE and A Level students have been nothing short of phenomenal. Success matters to them. They have approached the challenge of each day with a maturity and positivity that I have not seen, perhaps ever in my career. They have simply been magnificent and they deserve to do well and have a good life beyond our school. In truth that is all I really want for them.
Saying goodbye to Year 11 on Wednesday was special and very emotional. After their GCSE English exam they allowed themselves the time to relax and reflect on the past five years. There was lots of shirt signing, lots of hugs and more tears than I can ever remember. In the afternoon, the students came together for the very last time to listen to us speak to them, to receive awards, listen to their friends play music and indulge Mr. Donlan as he sang a Killers masterpiece! Mrs. Wade, Ms. Mallinson-Powell and Mrs. Harris told them how much they would be missed and reminded them of their legacy at Beckfoot and it was a really lovely event. They stayed well after 3pm to eat food, drink and just spend time together and with their teachers. As I watched I was reminded that we get a lot right at Beckfoot and that we care more here than anywhere else I can think of.
I managed to compose myself to say a few things to them because it is important to me. I reminded them that all I ever wanted for them at Beckfoot and in life was four things:
- To feel like they belonged
- To feel that we cared
- To feel that their life chances will be so much better because they are Beckfooters
- To be happy
As I spoke, I watched each of them and I know they understood. Their actions over the past months have demonstrated that they understand and their determination to be utterly brilliant is something I have had the pleasure to witness every day. Despite the often dismal portrayal of education in the media in recent years, standing in front of them on Wednesday made me feel like the luckiest man alive. At that moment, I was.
Today will be no easier because today we say good bye to our very special Year 13 students. Most have been with us for seven years and some for just two. Today will not be easy for them. They began with us as 11 year olds and in the blink of an eye their Beckfoot journey is coming to an end.
I will personally struggle today because this is the year group that welcomed me back to Beckfoot in 2019 with open arms. Every day since then they have made me feel welcome and feel that the work being done with them and for them is worthwhile.
I want them to go out into the world and be proud of themselves. I want them to be proud of the fact that they have been educated in a comprehensive school in Bradford and that they are ready and able to do amazing things. I want them to stand shoulder to shoulder with anyone, anywhere in the world and know they are just as good if not better because of who they are and where they have come from. I want them to always know that we are here for them in the weeks, months and years ahead. I guess all I really want them to know is that they are special and that we will always be grateful to have known them and been a part of their lives.
We have an Ice-cream van coming on site later. I will join them and will be secretly hoping to that there will be a flake to go with my cone! Then they will leave and our light will shine a little less brightly for a while.
Have a great half term and take care.
Simon Wade, Headteacher
