Dear OFS Community,
A few weeks ago, I received an email from Safiyah in Yr5 asking whether she could lead a Monday assembly, as she wanted to share her message about Ramadan. Shortly afterwards I received her slides and notes about the running order – Safiyah wanted to open and close the Assembly with music celebrating the importance of Ramadan. I’m not sure that I have ever received such a comprehensive, thoughtful, engaging and mature request.
Monday arrived and Safiyah spoke to our community – I truly love that against the extraordinary darkness in the world, a 10-year-old Muslim girl stood up in a room of such varied faiths and had us all realise that there is so much more that joins us than divides us.
She talked of compassion for the less fortunate, empathy to feel hunger, gratitude for the blessings we receive, reliance on God and time to grow our self-discipline.
It struck me that so many of us appear to be searching for something that is missing in our lives and yet mosques, synagogues, churches and temples offer common messages founded in teachings that help us to become whole. Faith by its nature is not supposed to be easy, and as a Christian living through the period of Lent, everything that Safiyah spoke of reminded me of so many common messages that appear to be getting lost in the noise and messiness of the world that surrounds us.
Thank you, Safiyah, for shining your light on the power of your faith in your life, I know that your message and story landed in our lives.
Middle School Spring Concert
Mr Ford built our Spring Concert around a wonderful vision - ‘Faces that I Love’; we dipped into friendships, relationships and connections and they were so evident in the faces of all our performers. From soloists to ensembles, quartets to our choirs, there were knowing glances, smiles, prompts and looks of encouragement. Songs included The Bare Necessities, With a Little Help from my Friends, Count on Me and Mara Ghatma; I was watching our audience and it was lovely seeing the enjoyment reflected in your faces.
It was a lovely evening and I would like to thank Mr Ford and his department for bringing us together around this theme – despite the weather, we felt the warmth of Spring and the joy that this season brings!
Durston 7s Tournament
Last Saturday, our senior rugby 7s squad travelled across to Ealing for the annual Durston House U13 7s Tournament. Despite six second-place finishes in 17 years, we hadn't won the tournament since the Class of 2007 but all that changed as the Class of 2024 produced a scintillating display in winning all five of their matches to secure a stunning win and bring the shield back to South Hill Avenue!
Each and every boy was absolutely incredible pouring every ounce of energy into their performances. Their sporting values - Teamwork, Respect, Enjoyment, Discipline and Sportsmanship - all shone through as well. As the African proverb goes, 'If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together'. Well, on Saturday, we went far and we went together.
Considering that Merchant Taylors’ select their U13 teams from three times as many boys, we go knowing that we’re playing against the odds. However, our leading senior rugby teams followed all this up with two outstanding wins to close the season at Merchant Taylors' on Wednesday afternoon as our U13 A team won 65-25 and our U12 A team won 30-20. Hugely impressive performances from all involved!
Resilient Mathematicians!
I dropped into Pre-Prep and found myself immersed in a Yr1 Maths lesson with Mr Shafiq. They were building on creating equal groups, turning these into arrays to help understand calculations by seeing them visually. I was so impressed with the way that each pairing solved the various problems through working together, sometimes challenging each other, other times agreeing and encouraging each other – a lovely atmosphere with an overarching theme ‘let’s seek the challenge and build our resilience'! Thank you Mr Shafiq, I was really impressed with your class who are clearly not afraid of problems!
The OFS U10 Netball Tournament
On Wednesday we welcomed 8 schools from across North West London to our U10 Netball Tournament; with each school bringing 3 teams, it was a busy afternoon for the 24 teams competing.
What I love about tournaments is that players see their progress across the games and as they meet teams from previous matches, they are able to make those little adjustments that can make an actual difference to the result. A few weeks ago we came up against a strong Habs team, so seeing the excitement as our girls competed so strongly a fortnight later offered them such a visible lift. Our strongest result came from our C team who finished second on the day – well done girls.
It was wonderful hosting 200 girls on a day when the sun shone and Spring was truly in the air! A huge thank you to Miss Godet and her department for running such a fantastic event.
OFA Quiz Night
Thank you to everyone who managed to secure one of the coveted Quiz tables – it was a fantastic evening, and I would like to thank Mr Bloom for setting such a varied, entertaining and taxing quiz! However, the biggest ‘thank you’ goes to you for your wonderful generosity. The auction raised a staggering...£5,050 - THANK YOU!
Tooled Up
As a Tooled-Up School, we have access to some fantastic resources, do click through on the link below for the latest food for thought:
Through Their Eyes
The English Department ran a poetry competition this term inviting pupils to respond to the simple theme - ‘Through Their Eyes’. We had some stunning entries but the following, written by Hayden in Yr8 stood out. I include it not to offend but to shine a light on the need for all of use to seek what unites rather than what divides:
I want to circle back to the start; I loved Safiyah’s Ramadan message on Monday. It helped me see through the weather and look beyond the wider news stories to be grateful that we have young people choosing to observe religious festivals such as Ramadan and Lent. To invite hardship into our lives is a powerful choice and something that can only lead to gratitude and empathy for others.
Tim Calvey