Ben's speech in Headmaster's Assembly:
Morning School
I would like to start with a brief quote from some famous person called Einstein, ‘Not everything that counts can be counted and not everything that can be counted counts’.
There are so many topics that I could choose to talk about today. I could encourage you to work hard and get straight A*s at both GCSE and A Level. I could tell you all to take pride in your work, to go to school and work flat out every day and merely live for that next homework! But I would not be able to speak these words to you with full belief behind what I am saying. I would not expect you all to go and get tens of A*s after my speech! After all, I would be a hypocrite! I am not where I am today because of these morals. I would like to tell you a little about my journey through the school, and what I believe I have learned from my many experiences here at Sutton Valence.
On my first day here seven years ago, I wandered into my tutor room very nervous, feeling very far out of my depth. I stared around in awe at those ‘big kids’, the people in the Fifth Form and above, this was such a large change from the school that I had just come from. Now that I am at the top of the school, I realise how we forget how much bigger we actually are. I never once dreamed that I would be standing up here in front of the school when I first arrived here. However, as I progressed through the school, my confidence grew and I began to thoroughly enjoy the experience and challenges of secondary education.
Following these first years came the Third Form. This was a year filled with confusion and a sudden influx of unfamiliar people. The work load increased drastically and I suddenly realised that I was at school to work, not just to be with friends. However, despite the increased workload, a door opened to Combined Cadet Force. CCF has played a vital role in the person that I am today. In my opinion, without the skills I learned during the four years of my CCF career, I would not be standing here in front of you now. The years of CCF took me to some very unfamiliar places, removing me from my comfort zone, testing me countless times. In June 2008, before receiving my GCSE results, I went on a leadership course to Frimley Park in Surrey. I went on my own, not knowing what to expect, and in all honesty I was scared to death at the prospect of going to an army base without anyone I knew. However, in actual fact, this course ended up being one of the greatest things that I could have done with my holiday, because I met so many good people, and I was able to make new friends and learn at the same time. I feel that if I had gone with a friend, I would not have enjoyed myself as thoroughly as I did without one.
Though, you may all be sitting in front of me thinking…well what does this have to do with me? Some of you may think that so far all I have done is read out my life story! My point here is that despite the number of times you have all heard this, the opportunities here at Sutton Valence are near unbelievable. The education that we are receiving here at Sutton Valence is unbelievably impressive, it is far more than a mere education. This is life experience. Very few people can say that they have been provided with the education that we have been, after all, all of you sitting in front of me are what make Sutton Valence the amazing place that it is.
Returning to my original quote from Einstein, I hope that some of you understand now why I included this in my speech. We are able to count the number of A*s that you may have got at school, although, the experience of education that can be gained here at Sutton Valence to make you into a well rounded individual can never be counted.
The same famous person also said, ‘Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school’, so I prompt you, if you want to work hard then do so. These times here at Sutton Valence will be the best of your life, or so we are told! These are years of little responsibility, where you can grow to be the person that you want to be. Make the choices you want to make, so that you can sculpt the outcome of your education. Do the things that you want to do because you want to do them. Choice is a powerful motive in life; use it to your advantage.
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