I want to devote my final blog of 2023 to the children and young people who were awarded certificates and badges by the Trust in a special assembly last week. Within John Taylor MAT, we are aware that we have many talented and special pupils and students. We encourage our schools to celebrate, recognise and reward achievements of all kinds throughout the year, and school prize giving assemblies and evenings and school sports days are always wonderful events in the annual calendar.
However, this year we decided that for the first time we wanted to elevate some of the most significant achievements from our school communities via a number of awards directly from the Trust. We have a passion for excellence at John Taylor MAT, and we wanted to recognise those young people across our schools who have demonstrated this quality, along with tenacity and resilience, when the path to success is not as smooth or as easy as we all wish it to be.
I want to share with you the transcript of my words from the special assembly, as another way to share the amazing achievements of our young people:
Today we celebrate those children and young people who have achieved truly extraordinary things. These accomplishments range from sporting and musical excellence through community and charity contributions to dealing with and overcoming real adversity. The one thing they all have in common is that we recognise them as truly exceptional individuals – which their schools and our trust are rightfully very proud.
The nominations for recognition have come from headteachers and other school staff, from community partners and from parents, and they are for children and young people attending seven of our schools. We deliberately set the bar high. With thirty awards issued this term, across a Trust with around 10 000 pupils and students, we have been very selective.
In the limited time we have together here, I cannot detail each and every contribution. However, I will take a few minutes to share with you all just a few stories of those here today.
From the world of sport, we have Lucas from John Taylor High who has been selected to represent Wales at Under 16 level at football, and Katie who has really impressive world and European rankings in hurdling, and Jessica from Paulet who rows at national standard, as Dougie from Chase Terrace does in air rifle shooting. Then there’s Paige from the Mosley Academy who became Staffordshire County Gymnastics Champion in 2023. In music, we’ve Joseph at Yoxall St Peter’s achieving his grade one piano at age seven, and Isabel at Kingsmead who has achieved the incredible feat of grade 8 at both piano and cello and is now working toward grade 8 in musical theatre and is a member of the national youth music theatre. For charity and community work, we celebrate amongst others the achievement of Seren-Grace from The Mosley Academy who has raised over £2500 in support of Brain Tumour Research, following the diagnosis of her friend, through a variety of long-distance runs.”
And we have here today Ellie from Paulet, Annabel from Chase Terrace, Jessika from Mosley, Bethany from Blythe Bridge, Jasmine from Chase Terrace and Daniel also from Chase Terrace and lastly Abbie from Kingsmead. These are the students nominated for awards for their success in overcoming adversity. These children and young people, of various ages and from different school and local communities share in common their facing the challenges of serious illness with tenacity and resilience. They have raised money for great causes, continued to work hard at school in ways that are truly admirable and deeply humbling. On Ellie, her nomination reads that “she has shown bucket loads of resilience and determination to continue to learn. Ellie is a credit to Paulet and to our MAT.” Likewise, Annabel’s reads “Annabel always checks on others before she worries about herself. Despite her prosthetic hurting her daily, and growing so fast that she needs a new leg socket every 6 weeks or so, she never complains. She is beyond inspiring. I would really like to honour Annabel with an award to recognise her resilience and her strength.
Jessika’s nomination includes “She adapts so quickly to every situation, she is kind always thinking of others and caring for her friends and family, she has boundless energy and a vivacious spirit, she is funny and she is extremely loving. Her teachers always say what a pleasure she is to teach and how well mannered she is.” Bethany’s proposer states “because of her longstanding symptoms she has missed most of the last four years of school, yet she continues to work hard and achieve. Her willingness to learn has never waned, and only the very worst days keep her from the classroom. She has missed family gatherings, friends’ birthdays, sleepovers, school reward trips and more, yet she wakes up each morning determined to see her friends, catch up at school and live the life of a “normal” teenager.” In the words of her nominee, Jasmine “is coming to terms with significant visual impairment and the reality of living with her disability. She has found real value in mentoring with a slightly older pupil who has lived with visual impairment her whole life. Jasmine’s calm, reassuring manner, and willingness to share her experiences and insights, again freely volunteering her time to benefit others is just what is needed by our younger pupils.”
A very special testimonial was submitted for Dan which included that he “shows resilience and tenacity in all aspects of his life which is something I , as one of his TAs, am in awe of….Dan’s self-confidence has grown during his time at Chase Terrace Academy. He has made new friends since joining the Sixth Form and has an excellent rapport with the Teaching Assistants that support him. Dan is intelligent and inquisitive and has found a new level of independence since being in the Sixth form….Dan is involved in Peer Mentor training which enables him to support other children. He is also a Young Ambassador for the Variety Club charity. This involves him helping to raise awareness of their work and help change the lives of many more children and young people.” And lastly Abbie who “does not allow [her condition] to get her down in school, she attends every day and puts 100% effort into each and everything she is asked. She is not only committed to her academic studies but socially she is a lovely, kind and very honest member of the school. Abi’s challenging journey is not over yet…her resilience is something to be admired, I watch her in awe as she gets works through her school day with a smile on her face. I am incredibly proud to work with her and feel that she is well deserving of recognition.
It was incredibly hard to be selective in quoting from such sincere and heartfelt testimony. We all recognise the achievements of every recipient here today. I want to thank Mrs Cochrane and Mrs Rowe, headteachers of John Taylor High and The Mosley Academy respectively, for co-ordinating the exceptional achievement awards in general and this morning’s presentations in particular. Thanks to all those who nominated, and on behalf of the recipients of our awards I want to that everyone – both those here this morning and those not – who support them and all our children as colleagues, parents and carers and friends.
Finally, I want to thank all the award winners today for the contributions they have made, and continue to make, to their schools, to the lives of those around them and to our world. Keep being amazing.”
Christmas is a time for us to be thankful for what we have, and to consider the needs of our community. It is a privilege to work with so many amazing people – young and not so young – who make such a difference.
Thanks, as always, for reading and wishing you a restful and joyful Christmas and New Year.
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