A new school year always brings fresh hope and excitement, everyone refreshed and ready to go again. At the end of the last academic year, another challenging one for the education sector, Chris Hill, CEO of Nene Education Trust, sent the following message to all staff, and shares it as an open letter here, offering a little inspiration for us all:
As we reach the end of the school year, I just wanted to record my sincere thanks to every member of our Trust, for your commitment and sheer hard work to make the past year the best it could have been for all the children in our schools.
It has been a hard slog through yet another disrupted year for schools and education, owing to the gift of COVID, that just keeps on giving. I continue to be amazed at the resilience shown by our staff and children, who are determined to keep on developing and learning.
As we close the academic year 2021-22, I would like to share the following piece, called The Station, by Robert J Hastings, which I think is a good reflection for our journeys in education and for life in general, as we move into the summer and prepare for September:
Tucked away in our subconscious is an idyllic vision. We are travelling by train, out the windows, we drink in the passing scenes of children waving at a crossing, cattle grazing on a distant hillside, row upon row of corn and wheat, flatlands and valleys, mountains and rolling hillsides and city skylines.
But uppermost in our minds is the final destination. On a certain day, we will pull into the station. Bands will be playing and flags waving. Once we get there, our dreams will come true and the pieces of our lives will fit together like a completed jigsaw puzzle. Restlessly we pace the aisles, damning the minutes – waiting, waiting, waiting for the station.
“When we reach the station, that will be it!” We cry. “When I’m 18.” “When I buy a new 450sl Mercedes Benz!” “When I put the last kid through college.” “When I have paid off the mortgage!” “When I get a promotion.” “When I reach retirement, I shall live happily ever after.”
Sooner or later, we realise there is no station. No one place to arrive. The true joy of life is the trip. The station is only a dream. It constantly outdistances us. “Relish the moment” is a good motto. It isn’t the burdens of today that drive men mad. It is the regrets over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow. Regret and fear are twin thieves who rob us of today. Regret is reality, after the facts. So stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles.
Instead, climb more mountains, eat more ice cream, go barefoot more often, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more, cry less. Life must be lived as we go along. The STATION will come soon enough.
As we look forward to September and reflect on the year past, take a moment to consider your journey so far and relish the joys, the highs, and the ‘what makes you continue to do what you do’ rather than dwelling on the negatives.
I feel very lucky to do the job I do, in the community I do, with a really amazing team around me. Thank you all again for everything you have done and continue to do for our children and organisation. These thanks come not only from me from the trustees and members of the board too, who also recognise the great work being done across the Trust.
Nene Education Trust is a multi-academy trust comprising Newton Road School in Rushden, Windmill Primary in Raunds, Stanwick Primary, Raunds Park Infants, St. Peter’s CE Junior, Woodford CE Primary, Redwell Primary in Wellingborough and Manor School in Raunds.
For further information about the Nene Education Trust, click here.
