Goodbye and good luck to Year 8!

We have been very lucky to have an outstanding year 8 group in the Prep School this year. They have been amazing role models and have set the right tone throughout the year. No year group is perfect, but they have engaged with their mistakes and learnt from them. As they move into Year 9 I gave them the following advice in their Leavers’ Service.

Netflix have just released their second series of ‘The Tour do France – Unchained’ (warning, it is a 15!). I am not a great cyclist but I am married to someone who loves their road bike and will be cycling through many of the great Tour stages this summer – call me an arm chair enthusiast with a strong supporting connection. The Tour de France is the toughest sporting event, but it is so much more than that, connected to the culture of France whilst combining a community of cyclists who all have to support one another during this gruelling test of stamina and grit.  This manifests itself in the Peloton, the mass of riders who support one another when legs are weary and pride is damaged. However, the Tour revels in the cyclists who wake up energised and ‘find their exceptional’, that day when everything clicks and they lead the breakaway and even, perhaps only once, win a stage.

As Year 8 leave they will increasingly start to find their own way in life and this will mean that the togetherness of the year group will change and new dynamics will take over. There will be fall outs, unkindness and difficult days but what the Peloton clearly shows us is that even when we struggle and the team around you falls apart, the Peloton will always be there and will always be heading in the right direction. As Year 8 move it is vital they remember that ultimately, they are all moving in the same direction and just like the Peloton, it is vital for them to remember that as a community we are all in this together. There will be days when they lead the breakaway up Alpe D’Huez but there will be other days when the descent is out of control and they feel adrift and lost.

What the Prep School has taught is the power of a collective identity which above all else, values inclusion, kindness and an understanding that ultimately, we are part of our own Peloton, completing something life changing and special.