Over the past two weeks, Max K and Hannah C have delivered their Heads of School Speeches in the Head’s Assembly. Both can be read in full below.

Max K:

Good afternoon, School

First of all, I would like to thank the Senior Management Team, including Mr Sansom and Mr Thomas, for choosing me as this term’s Head of School. And congratulations to Hannah on becoming Head Girl – if you know her, you know exactly why she deserves it. I’d also like to mention George and Grace. You led responsibly, and that’s exactly what this role should look like. Naturally, as many Heads of School have said before me, it is hard to find that ideal theme for a speech. I won’t be a hypocrite, I tried to make this speech unique: remarkable, engaging and not cliché. But the more you try to make it perfect, the more it sounds forced. What actually makes a speech meaningful is when the message lands with the listeners – and that won’t work if you don’t open yourself up. Those who know me will probably have noticed that I usually avoid talking about my background. It’s not because I’m ashamed – but because I don’t want special treatment. I want to be judged on what I do, not on what happened to me elsewhere.

I’m Ukrainian, and I moved to the UK in 2022 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. That single event changed the way I live and think – I had to adapt in a new environment in a different language. When I first arrived, everything that used to feel automatic stopped being automatic. Language, culture, humour and confidence – even basic things like how loudly you speak and how you greet people. These are the things you take for granted when you’ve lived somewhere your whole life. In your own country, you don’t notice you’re doing them. Then you move, and suddenly every small thing requires effort. Moving to another country is hard in normal circumstances. But when you leave your friends, parts of your family, and your entire way of life behind, it hits differently. You don’t just change places. You change how you think, how you act, and sometimes how you see yourself.

One of the strangest parts is that you can understand more than you can express. You can have the idea in your head, but not the words ready in time. It can make you appear quieter than you really are. You start overthinking basic conversations. You hesitate before speaking because you don’t want to sound wrong. And confidence, once it gets dented, doesn’t automatically come back. I found out early that pronunciation matters more than you think. One word wrong in maths – and that’s your reputation sorted.

I didn’t navigate this alone. Sean and Karen Ellis, thank you for the guidance and support since we arrived in England. Your help made a real difference to us, and I am sincerely grateful. I also want to thank my mum and dad. Through everything that changed around us, they were the constant – and I wouldn’t be standing here without them. I would also like to thank this school for the opportunity to become part of the Sutton Valence community – I don’t take it for granted.

Now, I’m not the only one who has had to deal with challenges – but I can share what helped me.

In life, there comes a point where something doesn’t go to plan. In my first year at this school, I genuinely questioned whether I belonged here. I would walk into rooms and feel like everyone had received a manual that I didn’t get. It is a feeling many of us here know – especially those who have travelled thousands of miles to be here, living in a language and a culture that isn’t their own. When you are away from everything familiar, you realise that the manual doesn’t exist. You have to write it as you go. It took me almost two years to gain my confidence back. And it’s not easy to admit, but sometimes the best thing you can do is get

through a difficult period. In those moments, everything you’re doing feels pointless – but it isn’t. You see, at the lowest points in our lives, it is important to push forward, despite how meaningless it seems. The truth is, there will be days where only you will be able to change things for the better. I got through it by making one small, repetitive choice: to keep moving. You don’t need to wait for a manual – build your own momentum. And these are the moments that will shape your character. Challenges along the way will come as tools that will rebuild your confidence. Challenges will not magically disappear, but the mindset you forge will guide you through them. Don’t be harsh on yourself. Give yourself time to reflect, reset and carry on.

I’ll end with a quote – “Confidence comes after action, not before.”

Thank you for listening.

Hannah C:

Good afternoon, School

Firstly I would like to take this moment to thank the Senior Management Team and Head of the Senior School for giving me the opportunity to be Head Girl, I am extremely grateful. I would also like to thank Grace and George for their work last term, they have certainly left some big shoes to fill.

And finally, a huge congratulations to Max. You all heard his speech last week and it was incredibly powerful. Max’s story serves as a reminder of how important perspective truly is and how regardless of your journey, it is possible to achieve amazing things.

I cannot claim anything quite so impressive. My speech is more a collection of awkward moments, questionable choices and the occasional “how did I manage to get here” but I do hope that everyone can find something in here to relate to as my journey has taught me something I believe to be extremely important, and that is how easy it is to put yourself into a box, and how important it is that you decide to step out of it.

In Year 9, my box was extremely small and just getting into school in the morning was an achievement. To be honest, without Madame Heurtevent and Mr Sealy I don’t think I would’ve ever made it into a lesson. I decided that for me, school would be something to just get through, and for a while this box kept me going. But eventually, it stopped my growth and what once felt like safety slowly became limitation.

Then came Year 10 and 11, and in a strange way I did find my voice. But it wasn’t the right one. It was voice that stayed distracted, played things down and pretended not to care about anything. The irony is that this actually took a considerable amount of effort to maintain. This attitude unfortunately landed me in the James Room with my parents and teachers wondering where my potential went. It wasn’t that I was rude or unpleasant, I just thought that being detached was the same as being confident.

That became my next box. The “this is just who I am now” box. The one where I decided I was too far into being a certain person to suddenly change. I was too committed to the bit, and openly caring would draw too much attention to myself.

I think a lot of people here will recognise that mindset because you build an identity around it and start limiting yourself. You stop doing things you might enjoy, just because those who are also too scared might judge you. But what I’ve found, after years of being crippled by the opinion of others, is that even if you do change, the people who really matter won’t mind because those who are worth surrounding yourself with aren’t threatened by someone else’s growth.

So, after Year 11 I decided to make a what I thought was a bold decision and I actually left the school, thinking that the grass would be greener somewhere else. That a fresh setting might fix everything. Due to the fact I’m stood here now, I think it’s clear that that

did not work. So after an unimpressive week and a half elsewhere I faced the embarrassing task of coming back. I would not recommend this and I am yet to recover.

However, this did force me to confront something important, the issue wasn’t where I was, it was the fact that I’d trapped myself into a box, and didn’t allow myself the opportunity to step out of it.

So I began to be myself, which turns out was a lot easier than it sounds. And for me, part of that was having opinions, educating myself on the world beyond Kent, and gaining the knowledge and confidence to say what I agreed with and what I didn’t. And most importantly, being willing to listen when challenged.

That does not look the same for everyone. For some of you it might be speaking up in lessons, or trying in the sports session because you want to make the team, or even standing up for yourself when people don’t expect you to. The point is not what you care about. It’s that you let yourself care at all.

Along the way, there have been people who had to remind me of my own strength. Just before Christmas Mr Shuttleworth had to give me a much-needed friendly reminder to stop undermining my own ability and Mrs Court-Wilson has had to remind me more than once that fear of people’s opinions should not make decisions for me. It’s this support that continued to remind me of my ability.

If there’s anything I would like you to take away from this it’s that your journey at Sutton Valence does not have to be immaculate in order to end up here, mine certainly hasn’t been, so don’t write yourself off because you think you’re too far gone.

We are all teenagers, not finished products and we are allowed to grow, shift direction, and to try things we didn’t ever think we could.

You’re not stuck being who you were last year, last term, last week or even yesterday and you don’t owe anyone a version of yourself that made them comfortable. You are allowed to turn things around, to surprise people, and more importantly, to surprise yourself.

As SV tradition, and with a small nod to Mr Lee-Browne and my English class, I would like to end with a quote from Oscar Wilde – “Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken”

Thank you for listening.