The Bradford Grammar Junior School family is growing. We are welcoming Reception and Year 1 children from September 2024 and expressions of interest are already coming in, with families visiting us and having a look around.
The metaphor of nature and growth is commonplace in education, particularly at springtime. The parallels between what we seek to do in our schools and the bursting forth of vital new life at this time of year are easy to grasp. These imagines also speak deeply about the caring and nurturing values of the teaching profession and the joy my colleagues and I have when young people flourish.
Teaching is not the easiest vocational path to walk, but it is an immensely fulfilling one in the right school, and it’s often the small things that leave the strongest positive impression. For instance, I was cheerfully walking around the Junior School patch one lunchtime last week. Straight back but ready smile, chatting to the children, looking Headmasterly in the playground, or so I thought! And I was struck by the fact that one of our new pupils, who joined us in Year 4 last September, seemed to have grown several inches. Clearly, the good fayre in the BGS dining hall, lovingly prepared by Chef Dean and his team, and meals at home, had done the trick. He’d shot up – new growth indeed – and now spotted by our specialist sports coaches with an eye on future cup wining squads!
There was something else. Beyond the added inches there was newfound confidence and stature. Taller, yes, but standing tall too. It was lovely to see this young man enjoying the company of newly made friends, eagerly taking advantage of all the opportunities to play and interact with a wide peer group, open to conversation with the (not so) scary Headmaster, before hurrying off to the next distraction in pursuit of more fresh air and exercise.
He was flourishing and happy at the Junior School. And this relatively new pupil is not alone. When you spot one you soon see many. Young people growing up into the next best version of themselves. Meanwhile another grey hair pops out on my head. Oh well.
We’re excited to be welcoming Reception and Year 1 to our school family, but we still care every bit as much about our existing year groups, including new joiners and familiar faces alike. Every young person adds something magical to our community. As new accommodation is built for our expanded age range, we are also developing our outdoor areas and woodlands and have some terrific ideas about how we might make new use of these spaces to add something special to all areas of the curriculum and wider programme of clubs and societies.
As the snow drops fade but the tree buds come out and the canopy restores, we contemplate how best to harness the natural world on our doorstep to nurture young minds and growing bodies. Everyone is going to benefit as we take our Junior School forwards into the next chapter of its history. Our family is growing, and this is a time of optimism and excitement; how could it be anything else at springtime at Bradford Grammar School?
“Everyone is going to benefit as we take our Junior School forwards into the next chapter of its history.”
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