The first Principal’s Blog

28th August 2019

I intend to share a weekly message through the website with students, families, the community and the staff body of Thomas Rotherham College. This is the first of those weekly messages.

I hope that you have all had a wonderful summer. It’s been particularly strange meteorologically, but it seems that that is something we are going to have to get used to. Looking into the future the climate seems to be on a course which will result in further erratic weather conditions and strange meteorological events. Despite what a small number of professional naysayers may contend climate change is happening and we see and experience the impact day in and day out.

When we consider the broader issues around climate we understand that there are things that we can do. There are small changes that we can make, which in totality and collectively do have a positive impact upon the environmental conditions and may well reduce the climatic concerns. There are some who say that; ‘as an individual – what’s the point?’. This is an excuse for inactivity. We can all do something, we should all do something and we should act now. Whatever you choose to do make it positive and make it impactful.

We might extend that thinking to our work at the college. Each of us, whether we are a student or a member of staff, can have a positive impact or something much larger or much greater. Sometimes when we are working we ask ourselves the question ‘what’s the point?’. It is hard to see, in that moment, why we ought to do something or whether our actions will have an impact. For example; if we have an individual student looking to improve their grades inactivity will have no impact. Activity, action and determination can change outcomes and affect your destination.

All of this community has a significant contribution to make to the college. We all, by doing our bit, add to the greater good. We have roles to play and we can all feel, in the context of how the college is now being led, that we have a voice which should be heard. There is a bright future for this college and it will need bright individuals, who want and can make change happen, to see that future become a reality.

I look forward to continuing to work with and alongside you all to ensure that all students maximise their potential and get to the very best educational experience and that all staff feel that they can make a contribution to the individual successes. And in totality, the impact that we might have on the wider college and the wider community.

‘Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.’

‘If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress.’

Barack Obama

 

David Naisbitt