Last week I mentioned the 3 P’s of Patience, Positivity and Perseverance. One name that is worth remembering as the embodiment of these values is Jessica Watson.

It is ten years to this day, on 15 May 2010, that this 16-year-old Australian sailed her 34-foot boat back into Sydney harbour, after 210 days at sea and more than 22,000 nautical miles, becoming the youngest person to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around the world. On completion of the voyage, Jessica was met by the then Prime Minister who declared her an Australian hero.

In a simple speech that won admiration across Australia and around the world, she responded by announcing that she disagreed with him, that she didn’t consider herself a hero—just an ordinary person, who had a dream, worked hard at it and proved that anything really is possible.

Her book, True Spirit, makes fascinating reading and the strategies and mindset used for coping with long periods at sea offer a useful perspective on our current isolating conditions. Her advice, voiced along with others, such as Dee Caffari, the first woman to complete a solo non-stop westward round the world voyage, is to:

• Go easy on ourselves as we adjust and remind ourselves that we will adapt

• Have daily rituals that give some structure and consistency

• Focus on the smaller milestones as they will lead to the bigger goals

• Focus only on what is within your circle of control

• Make a point of staying connected, but also savour the rare solitude

• Be supportive for those who may be having an even rougher time: we may also be giving ourselves strength

• Remember that challenges make us stronger

• Look for the opportunities and be creative

There is some sound advice for the whole OLA community here and I have referenced two of these points below in relation to OLA learning this week.

Pupils continue to apply themselves to remote learning in all sorts of ways and I am delighted that we have more W.O.R.L.D awards to give out this week.

Support of others is at the heart of the Fair-Trade movement, which was the focus in PSHCE this week. We marked the occurrence of World Fair Trade Day on 9 May by learning about the provenance of Divine Chocolate. In order to celebrate their Ghanaian ownership Divine decorate their bars with Adinkra symbols which are traditional West African motifs used to express the connection between the verbal and the visual.

I challenged the pupils to design their own unique symbol based upon three values or activities that were important to them. I have included a collection of their designs below.

A special mention must go to Ethan R (Y7) for extending his learning by using Divine Chocolate to bake some delicious cookies!

Next week Year 11 and the Upper Sixth embark upon a new Learning Journeys programme, which coincides with the Campaign for Learning’s Learning at Work Week 2020. Our advice is to look for the opportunities and be creative as they build their personal learning journeys over the next four weeks. There is something for everyone within the programme, designed to enrich students’ learning experiences and provide an opportunity to reflect on the skills they will need on their future paths.

Browse the Learning Journeys booklet
Select Learning Journeys choices for WEEK 1

Congratulations to everyone who has won a W.O.R.L.D award this week (includes the short week last week too!). You can see the full list below.

Let’s continue to keep the advice of Jessica and Dee at the forefront of our minds along with the 3 P’s of Patience, Positivity and Perseverance.

Please continue to provide weekly feedback on our remote learning programme, using the survey link.

I would like to wish all families a relaxing weekend.

Three Things I Value – Adinkra Symbols PSHCE Project

W.O.R.L.D Awards