Last week was a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the success of the past College year at our annual Speech Day and Prize giving. Congratulations to all those who won prizes or collected certificates but many more deserve recognition and commendation. It was a pleasure to have the Lord Mayor as our guest and also David Richardson (General Secretary of SHMIS) to present the prizes; they were very impressed.  Our Heads of College Lucy and Alex did a fantastic job and giving a new angle to the event, the ‘8eight’ sang Autumn Leaves beautifully and it reflected the fading warmth and watery sunshine of the season perfectly.

Today the £ took a tumble against the $ because the Governor of the Bank of England has suggested that we may be going into a recession. This hardly seems headline news however as every day a different group, politician, captain of industry or world leader makes the same observation. Amidst this doom and gloom there are voices of reason, like entrepreneur Peter Jones from BBC’s Dragon’s Den, warning against talking ourselves into recession. It is incredible how negative comments can have such an impact on global markets, which in turn hits each country and its economy. Could the power of positive thinking therefore have the opposite effect? If the impact here can be global, how much more powerful could positive thinking be in our smaller world at Abbey Gate College?
 
Being positive can be risky – lots of people prefer to have a half empty glass and then they are not disappointed if things do not work out well.  Being prepared to try new ventures, trial for teams, enter competitions, sing a solo, audition for a play or learn a new skill is all part of being positive – that’s what school is about. Believe that you can do something, think the best in others, be confident that things will work and it’s amazing how that positive approach can impact on those around you. 

Congratulations to Poppy Parker in her recent verse speaking/bible reading success at the Shropshire Festival qualifying for National Finals in the New Year. Well done also to those who were successful on their expedition weekend for their Duke of Edinburgh Award and our talented U11 netball team beating Prenton Prep, Birkenhead High and the Firs over a successful 10 day period. Our sports teams have also been very busy and please look at their pages for recent match reports.

So as we step into our half term break I would urge all our pupils to think positive, believe in your abilities, be prepared to step out of your comfort zone, work hard and expect success – make sure your glass is always half full, it’s quicker to top it up that way!  Happy half term holiday!

LMH  21/10/08