Earlier this week I found myself attempting to sum up what it is about The British School of Paris that makes me, as Headmaster, most proud. Not an easy task when one considers all that has gone on this half term. In a matter of weeks our community has made great strides forward in learning, moulded as a school and developed ambitions for the year. Rather like the Redgrave building on the Senior School campus, foundations have been laid ready for more building to commence next half term. Along the way we have seen notable sporting achievements, musical performances, debates, drama (both on and off stage) and some wonderful art created. Fish and chips have also been consumed! That said I suspect that the best is yet to come. We have come to the end of the beginning and I am impressed with what has been achieved and excited about what is still to come.
One sixth may sound like a small fraction, but in school terms it is a significant one. What this brief portion of the year has shown me is that we are fortunate to have a group of young people who are not only talented but ready to work; a powerful mixture. It is clear to all of us who encounter our students that they have energy and ambition, more importantly they are thinking beyond themselves about others. Yesterday I had the privilege of sitting in on a Year 6 maths class; here I saw talent being shared, teamwork of a most effective nature and the simple joy of discovery in spades. Immediately after I was fortunate to hear the soapbox debate on UN sustainable goals in which students from Year 10 to Year 13 argued with spirit and eloquence for their most worthy causes. This series of sharply drawn lessons would tell our political leaders what really matters to the people who will take on the stewardship of this planet in the very near future.
What makes me proud? It is the willingness of BSP students to think of others, to share their experiences from around the world and their sense of responsibility towards their community. In the coming few days they have the opportunity to rest and prepare themselves for taking their learning to the next level in the half term to come. I feel confident that they will not let the high standards that they have established slip and that they will build on the advice of their teachers to achieve still greater things in what remains of 2017.
Have a splendid half term holiday.
Nicholas Hammond
Headmaster