Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power & magic in it. Begin it now. – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Claires Court is about to return to work. Since the publication of A level and GCSE results, the fingers of many have been itching to get back to business. There is a serious rule, for both children and adults that enforced rest is important. It’s not that I  imply  by that statement that school is a bad thing, but that independence from focussed demand for a sufficient space of time is. I am not the only adult, parent or teacher, who was able to look into the eyes of the young and realise that come mid-July, we are all done in. Ready for a break. Kaput.

For the last 2 weeks though, the staff have begun to stoke the boilers, review the pipework, read the manuals and check their directions. After all, come week beginning 1 September, we’ll be ready to take off – gently, steadily, watching for wheel spin and friction burns of course – and bit by bit, as we load the crew, first Sixth Form, then Year 7, then the sportsmen and women, then everybody else, we will gather speed for the run up to the Autumn then winter of this, the first term of 2014-15.

As results from the Summer show, teachers and pupils know how to make the good, and more often excellent, happen. It is bitter sweet of course because the best and oldest of Claires Court are on the  move  to pastures new, to University and a chosen path for higher education for most, for some the path to work. I am delighted that they have their chosen ways open to them, yet of course always mindful of the selfish gene within, that would have wished for one more term, one more spin of the wheel, one more dash for glory.

And yet, as research evidence continues to show, for the best schools the best is yet to come. We have learned so much in the last 10 years on on what works best with those that can be enabled by their school. The realisation is that for the  most  the best is always yet to come is a mantra we must adhere to.  There have been golden years in the past, largely because they are done and dusted and the pain of their creation largely forgotten. Like all harvests, the joy is in reaching their fruition, and recognising that this is now the time to rejoice and reflect. But progress was never made by standing in the shadow of the past.

So let’s be brave and look forward to a future steeped in what we believe; that all may achieve by their lights, of whatever cadence and hue. And it is by the mixing of our lights, by the sharing of both their heat and other energies, that all are able to reach to those possibilities beyond reason.  Trying our best is never good enough; it is through the inspiration of our peers and our forebears that we recognise that there is a quality in all for which we aspire, and beyond that, a pursuit of excellence that once gained to be shared unselfishly for all to enjoy.