It’s the season… not to be merry but to be quietly emotional and reflective. We haven’t quite hit the end of the academic year, although it’s 5 days and counting for TRC and 10 days and counting for Sitwell and Oakwood.  We are at the time of the year when we are saying goodbye to many of our charges.

The Year 13s have quietly departed, with many coming back into college after the exam season finished to say their goodbyes to their valued teachers and support colleagues.

The Year 11s have, this week, enjoyed their prom (and a truly inclusive and wonderful evening it was) and said their final farewells at their Leavers’ Assembly (Thursday).

And our hard working and wonderfully enthusiastic Year 6s performed their Leavers’ Awards Assembly Wednesday and then departed through a whole school guard of honour this afternoon (most of those children will be moving ‘up to’ Oakwood High School from Monday).

How do we say goodbye? Being very stoically British many find it hard to shed a tear. But impressively more and more of our young people and children are comfortable in expressing their emotions in a public and mature manner. Despite my upbringing I am increasingly convinced that we are all better for being ‘honest’ with our emotions. I don’t really do celebrity the watching however there are increasing numbers of famous people with a profile who are encouraging, through their behaviour, those that they ‘influence’ to be more open in their communication. This week many of our children and young people have been honest with us and with themselves. That can’t be a bad thing – can it?

For me, I’ll continue to be stoic and upright. We do this every year. Our charges do it once a lifetime.