Senior School's Assembly Theme of 'Ordinary People'

On Thursday 2 February, Year 10 pupils presented their Assembly to the Upper school. The theme was 'Ordinary People'.  

Florence (10A), opened the Assembly with an introduction about how ordinary people are capable of extraordinary things. Eleonora and Ashley (10ω) chose Rosa Parks, an ordinary lady who did an extraordinary thing. Rosa Parks occupies an iconic status in the civil rights movement after she refused to vacate a seat on a bus in favour of a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama.  

“You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right.” - Rosa Parks

Gabriella and Eva (10A) chose Malala Yousafzai. The Taliban took control of her town in Swat Valley and the extremists banned many things such as owning a TV and playing music and enforced harsh punishments for those who did not follow. Gabriella and Eva told us that girls could also no longer go to school. In January 2008, Malala left school, not knowing if she would return. She was then shot because she spoke out publicly about girls' right to an education. She then found herself living in the UK as she recovered. In 2014 she won the Nobel Peace Prize, aged 17 becoming the world's youngest Nobel Prize laureate.

Clara and Nathalie (10α) chose Captain Sir Tom Moore, an army officer in World War II, who was promoted and posted to India. He was awarded three medals for his military service - the War Medal 1939-1945, the Defence Medal, Burma Star and the 1939-1945 Star. Captain Tom raised £32 million for the NHS. He vowed to keep on walking until his 100th birthday and then move onto his next challenge, saying “We have to keep on going.” He was later knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

Jemima and Maxine (10B) chose Mark Ormrod, a a former Royal Marine. On Christmas Eve, 2007, he went to a morning briefing, detailing the ‘routine’ foot patrol that lay ahead. When they stopped, Mark knelt on an improvised explosive device (IED) which exploded, causing injuries which left him a triple amputee. Mark was lucky to be alive, but told he was going to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair. However, Mark did not accept this and worked incredibly hard with his recovery team to build up his strength and find prosthetic limbs to allow him to continue an active life. Mark participated in the 2017 Invictus Games, ten years after the explosion. He won two Silver and two Bronze medals and reapplied for the 2018 Invictus Games where he won seven medals, including four gold medals.  

Megan (10ω) closed the Assembly with a thoughtful prayer.  

All the people that were presented in the Year 10 Assembly started off as ordinary people, two soldiers, a woman on her way to work and a pupil just trying to go to school. But they chose to have an impact, to be extraordinary, by raising money for charity or rising up again injustice.   

I think we all look at the world we live in and think 'What can I offer or contribute?' What we must remember is that everyone starts off ordinary, but it is what we choose to do in life that makes an impact and makes a difference. 

Miss Naomi Lynch