As we approach the final week of term, it is an opportunity to pause and reflect on all that has been achieved within our school community since the start of this academic year; celebrating the achievements of our students in our annual Speech Day back in September, remembering those past and present who have contributed their service to others as part of our Remembrance assembly in November, marking the occasion of the founding of our school at Commemoration, as well as the numerous sporting events, extra-curricular activities, theatre visits, residential trips, musical performances and debating competitions that our students have successfully participated in. As I take this opportunity to look back over the last four months, I am reminded of the ancient Native American tale that I spoke about at Speech Day; of a conversation between a grandfather and grandson, where the grandfather talks about two wolves - one who embodies anger, envy, greed and arrogance, and the other which embodies the positive emotions of joy, love, fairness, empathy and compassion - fighting within him and us all. The tale concludes with the grandson asking his grandfather which wolf won, with the grandfather replying ‘The one you feed’.  I am proud, as Headteacher of this amazing school, to report the good wolf has been fed throughout this term in the day to day lives of the St Clement Danes community.   

It has been a pleasure to welcome all the Year 7 students to my office recently to receive their Headteacher’s Commendations; I have particularly enjoyed this opportunity to get to know them as individuals and to hear them eloquently share with me their aspirations in terms of success and character for their years ahead at SCD.  It has also been a chance to reflect on the first cohort of Year 7s I had the joy of  welcoming to my office in December 2017.  It is humbling and inspiring to see how far those amazing young people have come who, like Aine Cronnelly, our Commemoration soloist, with her 7 Headteacher Commendations, are now in Year 13 and sharing their success, character and dignity with the whole of the St Clement Danes community.  Year 11 have approached their mock examinations with a positive attitude, which will put them in good stead for their final examinations in the summer.

I look forward, in anticipation, to what the final few days of term will bring. Our Christmas Concert is taking place on Monday 18th December at 7pm in the Barbirolli Hall which promises to be a wonderful evening of musical performances showcasing the exceptional talent of our students, and the dedication of our staff to develop and nurture the young musicians and performers at St Clement Danes; thank you in advance to Mr Butterfield for organising the concert along with the other staff involved. The end of the Autumn Term would not be the same without the SCD tradition of Charities Week, and this year promises to be no different! Fundraising has started early this year with ‘Advent Week’ whereby the Charities Prefects have organised a number of events including a Krispy Kreme sale, Christmas Jumper Day and a students versus Teacher Dodgeball match! The final few days of term will see students kidnapping lessons, Santa’s Grotto, and Elf Auction and a variety of events and competitions at lunchtime. The money which is being raised will be going to the following worthy causes; Sal’s Shoes; a charity which helps to find new feet for preloved children’s shoes in over 60 countries around the world; local charity Mission EmployAble which trains young adults with learning disabilities to enter paid employment; and Liberty’s Legacy, a special fund of the Bone Cancer Research Trust raising vital funds for life-saving research into Ewing sarcoma.

Part of Charities Week is to challenge our young people to think of others beyond our own experiences, countries, continents, religions and cultures.  This is a theme I will pick up on in our final assemblies of 2023 by referencing the Christmas story itself,  specifically the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, as I ask all students to consider this familiar story in the context of the plight of refugees, asylum seekers and other forced travellers today, over 2000 years later.

At the forefront of everything that we do at St Clement Danes is our vision to ensure ‘Success for all’, ‘Character for all’ and ‘Dignity for all’. It is without doubt, as this Headlines shows, that this vision is embodied within our St Clement Danes community. I would like to end by thanking all of our parents, old and new, for their support throughout 2023; all of the staff at St Clement Danes wish you a peaceful and enjoyable Christmas.