News & Events

Leadership Likes: Mrs Cook

September smells like freshly sharpened pencils, shoe polish, new books and falling apples.”

My colleague in the marketing office, Miss Scotting, made this observation on the first day of term and it really struck a chord with me.

For those of us involved in education, for parents and certainly for pupils, September is very much the start of the new year, perhaps even more so than 1 January? September is so full of promise and opportunity, the chance to turn over new (fallen) leaves and start again, or to pick up the windfalls of past activities that have been put aside for the summer. As a parent whose children have now grown up, September always brings back fond memories of trips to buy uniform and that all important new stationery, of covering books and sewing on name tags (what I would have given to buy uniform from School Blazer and have it all done for me!)

There was undoubtedly a scent of excitement and positivity in the (very) autumnal air yesterday as we welcomed pupils for the first day of this new year and it was lovely to see how enthusiastic and happy the girls (and the staff) were to be ‘back.’

Of course, the events of the last year have contributed to this and we are all relishing little pleasures such as eating lunch together and for the most part, dispensing with bubbles and masks. We haven’t felt this ‘normal’ for such a long time and although we are very conscious of the need for sensible caution, it does make an enormous difference.

New members of the Croydon High family in Juniors and Seniors, including a whole new Year 7 cohort and external additions joining our Lower Sixth, look particularly ‘shiny’ and it is exciting to see them start the process of integration and to wonder what their futures hold. We welcome them all, along with all our new staff members and we know it won’t be long until they feel completely at home.

Although Year 7 probably won’t believe it now, in no time at all we will be celebrating them as we celebrated this year’s GCSE and A level classes in August. These particular year groups overcame significant challenges during the last two years and it was wonderful to at last be able to acknowledge and recognise their successes. And this year, more than ever, we were very aware of what real ‘success’ actually means. Whilst we rightly acknowledged their fantastic academic results, we were equally thrilled to recognise the strength of their friendships, their support for one another, their aspirations and all that they have given to their school. You can read more about our Results Day celebration in this edition of News Links. Our school motto, May her character and talents inspire others certainly could not be more apt for these two year groups.

As someone very wise once said, Success is not a gift. How true this is. True success is individual; it is something that comes to those who aspire and who work hard to achieve whatever goals they have set themselves. It cannot be bought or inherited – it is not given , it is earned. So as we all start this new year together, I challenge everyone to think about what success will mean to them this year and to start their journey towards it, knowing they can rely on the full support of the Croydon High community to help them on their way. (I want to learn Spanish and have already enlisted the support of Ms Diez and Mrs Maquieira in my efforts – muchas gracias señoras!)

Happy New Year everybody and I look forward to sniffing the sweet smell of success wafting through the every corridor!

Fran Cook

Director of External Relations