News from Mr Grady
Hello everyone.
The newsletter is a day late going out this week, and this is my fault! Every time I sat down to get on with it, something else got in the way! And despite my very best of intentions I missed both the false deadline I give myself and the actual deadline to get this out in time for Thursday.
And isn’t that just sometimes the way? I said I would do it. I wanted to do it and I assured everyone that I was doing it. But I wasn’t and it didn’t happen, and now, as part of my ‘mea culpa,’ I’m admitting it to everybody, because sometimes a public commitment to something carries a little more weight than the promises you make to yourself in your head.
I was reminded of the different sorts of promises one makes to oneself as I read the “self-reflections” of Year 11 students on their reports, ahead of writing my head-teacher comments. I have to say I am hugely impressed by some of the mature and perceptive insights of many of our students, who have commented bravely on their qualities and their areas for improvement; have considered their attitude to learning carefully and its impact, and have made, in many cases, a “public” commitment to a change or an adaptation, or simply to an increase in work rate.
One or two of these promises are like the secret one I made to myself about writing this newsletter, that I would always have it done by Tuesday, and that I would also have a couple of extras written for those busy weeks. By which I mean self-deluding promises, with no actual plan of how I might achieve it, but it sounds well-intentioned.
What I actually should have done, when I made this generous promise to myself was also consider how this lofty ambition was to be achieved. I do know what my distraction level is, and I should have addressed this in my planning!
The Year 11 students have put me to shame in many cases, telling us not just what their intentions were for the next 3 or 4 crucial months, but also how those intentions would be achieved, and in doing so they have reminded me (who is now reminding all of you) that setting the very highest of heights in your heart is all very well, and absolutely what we like to see at Rugby High School, but you do need to make sure that you’ve got a bit of a plan on the direction of travel.
As I sit here, putting the final touches to a newsletter now more than 24 hours late and counting, I hope my public admission of guilt rings true for many of you and reminds you that the best of intentions need a little consideration before they become a reality!
With best wishes,
Mr Grady