I am so delighted to be writing my blog again – it has been a long time since my last one. So, welcome back everyone, and welcome to the first blog of 2021. Yesterday was the first day we welcomed students back to school, and from Thursday of this week the entire MGS community will have returned. The last time we were altogether was back in December before we broke for the Christmas holiday so it is going to be so good having everyone back. MGS has always been here, but the heart of the place has been missing. This week, life will return; we will hear conversation again; and we will hear laughter again. I am so looking forward seeing the students again, and I am sure they are happy that they are retuning too.
Despite the school being
quiet over the last two months I know there has been lots of excellent work
going on at home. The feedback from parents about the experience we have been providing
has been overwhelmingly positive, and I thank those parents for sharing that
with us. A big thank you too, to the
staff, who have put in a tremendous collective effort right across the school:
to delivering online lessons to getting the site ready, as well as establishing
from scratch our Covid-19 testing programme. Thank you. also
wish to thank the students who have approached their online learning so
well. It has not been easy for some, but
the general feeling amongst those who I have spoken to has been an encouraging
one. As I have said a number of times
over the past year, the responsibility for one’s learning has never been so
great, and despite being overwhelming at times, it has taught our students a
lot about self-management, how to be independent, and appreciating what is
possible. Well done to them all.
Whilst we have been in
lockdown we have had a number of house competitions that have kept students and
staff busy, and maintained the competitive spirit amongst the houses that we have
seen develop over the past four years. A
big thank you to Mr Highsted who has overseen the coordination of them all and
to the individual members of staff who have led them. We have seen: The Great MGS Bake Off, This is
Language, The Brands hatch Challenge, The English Competition, The Poetry Slam,
MGS in the Spotlight; The MGS January Challenge, and MGS Superstars. I look forward to presenting the House Cup to
the winning house in the summer.
We have also had some fantastic
news with our debating students.
Congratulations to Liam Turner and Ellie Breeze of Year 13 who recently
won the Debating Matters National Competition and qualified for the Oxford
Union Debating Society National Competition.
Also, congratulations to Toby Henley, Daniel Sowerby, Nathan Gray,
Freddie Gache, Sam Luxton and Ben Collins, all of Year 12, who successfully won
the Regional English Speaking Union Public Speaking Competition just a few
weeks ago. Well done to them all.
So, the big focus of this
week is getting the students safely back into the school, but also we are
looking forward to opening up our new 3G all-weather pitch. It has taken a massive effort to get to this
point, but I am delighted that we can now make use of it; and make use of it we
will. Today we invite Year 13 to make
use of it first with an inaugural inter-house football tournament. They will be the first ever Maidstonians to
set foot on the pitch, which will be followed by everyone else over the coming
days and weeks. I am sure the students
are eager to get on it.
It is so good to be back!
