For the Year 13 students, in particular, today marks an important milestone as they prepare to leave school. There has been much laughter and some tears in the Sixth Form Common Room and in the corridors and, frankly, everywhere else, as they bid farewell to each other, to the staff and to the whole school community.

We are proud of them all.

We are impressed by all that they have achieved over the last several years and excited to think about what lies ahead: from degree apprenticeships in rural surveying, to law degrees and medical studies, from gap years to art foundation courses, paramedic science to philosophy, it seems this year group has every talent and every interest covered!

They will be missed.

At the Year 13 Leavers’ Celebration on Wednesday evening, I wanted to foreground one thing that occurred to me as I thought about their journey from school into the wider world. As an English student at university (quite some time ago…), I learned of Tzvetan Todorov’s formalist theories about folktales, which suggest a common shape to all stories: from equilibrium through disequilibrium and back to equilibrium again. Put another way, an initial state of peace and tranquility is disturbed and the hero of the story is forced to go on a journey of one kind or another. After the hero confronts and overcomes various challenges and adventures, a renewed state of calm is achieved.

The High School has been, in many ways, that initial state of equilibrium for our students, where they are supported by teachers, family, friends and the familiar routines of the school day. After their A Levels, they face the disequilibrium of a fundamental change in their way of life. They are embarking on a journey that will, by necessity, present challenges and adventures. But the key thing to remember is that they are, in fact, the heroes of their own stories. Not because it’s all only and always about themselves, but because they have gained an increasing degree of independence and have agency over their decision-making. They can choose how to embrace those coming challenges and – continuing to draw on the support of the communities in which they have grown up – to find a new space in which to thrive.

We wish them all the very best on their various journeys and we look forward to hearing about their adventures soon!