A new year at BGS – let the adventures begin

There’s a buzz of eager anticipation in the Price Hall before assembly.

I know, it’s not reserved for the Headmaster. He, characteristically, is flapping about in the Masters’ Corridor, trying to tame an unruly and garish electric blue academic gown. Meanwhile, over 800 bums shift in shiny seats and conversation is excited. It’s the first assembly of a new school year. Soon conversations mute and all rise as the Headmaster – gown bright and now unfurled, academic attire meets Vegas bling – strides down the centre aisle. And the message of the day…

“At BGS we say we are at ‘ease with excellence’. That means we do our best, nothing less. But we don’t let it go to our heads, we don’t get cocky. Excellence is not a snobby quality. Instead, we roll our sleeves up and get on with it, no nonsense. This approach really works for those who adopt it.”

The hall is hushed and respectful, a new term at an old school has begun.

“This summer our A Level and GCSE results were impressive – BGS bucked national trends. This is the fruit of hard work, including during pandemic lockdowns, and part of a longer-term trend of improving academic standards. Our Sixth Form leavers and current Year 12s should be very proud of their achievements. Our GCSE results were our best ever. Our leavers did themselves proud too, the vast majority moving on to their preferred university. Let these achievements be a source of confidence for us all to do even better in future.”

I can see nodding. Stroking of chins. Approval. Confidence blossoms on the stage. The little voice inside urges ‘stick to the script, don’t ad lib, not yet, you’ll muck it up’. Pressing on…

“But as we all know there is more to life than exams alone: to that end, many of you enjoyed a fantastic hockey tour to South Africa, our most ambitious hockey tour yet and an experience of a lifetime. Well done to all of you who represented BGS on this overseas tour and thank you to our colleagues who worked so hard and gave up part of their summer holiday to make this possible. I’m not sure Wales counts as overseas, but I know some of you enjoyed a short pre-season rugby tour to that distant land, and our thanks are extended to those colleagues who made it possible. Our CCF cadets also enjoyed their summer camp – more opportunities for developing leadership and teamwork skills, more opportunities to have fun. Needless to say, I’m grateful to our CCF colleagues for providing these activities and well done to our cadets who grow in number every year.”

And on we go….

The first few days of the year set the tone for all that follows. They cement school ethos in minds and behaviours. We talk about Excellence, Opportunity and Happiness, three words that groups of students, existing and prospective BGS families, and staff most strongly associated with BGS when a survey was conducted a few years ago. And these three words keep rising to the surface in our everyday BGS conversations and when inspectors dig a little deeper.

Excellence, Opportunity and Happiness speak of school identity and character, the things we notice when we elevate ourselves above the daily rhythm and take in a wider perspective, a longer time frame. Our school motto, ‘Hoc Age’ or ‘do it’, describes how we behave, our daily routine – get cracking, no nonsense, a very Yorkshire existence.

I’m a straightforward sort of chap (despite the occasional, questionable assembly fashion choice) and intuitively understand Excellence and Opportunity, and also ‘Hoc Age’. For me, it goes something like this: make the most of your opportunities by working hard and thus give yourself a shot at achieving excellence – bish, bash, bosh. Happiness, however, is, for me, a more elusive quality.

BGS is not perfect of course, how could it be? But fundamentally, our School knows what it’s about. We put our shoulder to the wheel, play fair, do good and enjoy life. I believe there’s a recipe for happiness in this simple list of BGS ingredients – try your best, be a good person – but it’s up to the individual to put these ingredients together and bake the cake. What I’m saying, is that individuals have to find happiness for themselves, it’s a personal responsibility.

Happiness, a deep and abiding sense of self-worth and fulfilment, can be achieved at BGS if we have the right attitude, if we do what our motto ‘Hoc Age’ encourages, and grasp the opportunity in front of us. That positive approach requires an open and questioning mind, a spirit of adventure and appetite to discover new things, and finally a willingness to put the effort in. Sophocles said something that resonates with us at BGS, he said: “Without labour nothing prospers.”

Labour, however, need not be a chore. Education, learning – these are gifts, opportunities. School life demands application, but from investment of time and energy springs forth empowerment, a sense of achievement and growing confidence. Life can be an adventure, and adventures should be challenging, but with something worth achieving and plenty of scope for having fun. Learning, testing and developing knowledge and skills is an adventure ­– it’s exploration and requires character to succeed.

In many, very real senses, our young people at BGS are all explorers. Something along these lines was said to close the first assembly in a new year at Bradford Grammar School. The words of Sir Ernest Shackleton provided the punchline: “It is in our nature to explore, to reach out into the unknown. The only true failure would be not to explore at all.”

‘Hoc Age’ to that!