Senior Governor Mrs Jan Wilton, Deputy Head Mr Lynch and the School Captains joined Mr Morgan for his final whole School assembly this morning. Mr Morgan leaves us at the end of August for a new role as Head of Bishop’s Wordsworth School in Salisbury, and offered these words of guidance to pupils:

Cast your net wide. Do lots of different things and meet lots of different people. Indeed, be courageous about meeting people, about having a go at something you haven’t done before. It’s right to have dreams and ambitions.

Tommy’s should prepare you to be resilient and equip you with the grit and determination to succeed and overcome the inevitable knock-backs along the way. It’s easy to feel defeated at times, but view these moments as a challenge. Don’t be afraid to fail. Learn from your mistakes and persevere.

As you get older, you’ll get to know yourself better. Be true to yourself. Never try to be what you are not. This is a recipe for disappointment and unhappiness. Be yourself, and back yourself. Never imagine that you are too small or insignificant to make a difference. To borrow words from the former Archbishop of South Africa, Desmond Tutu:

Be open and available to others, be affirming of others, do not feel threatened that others are able and good, knowing that you are diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed, or treated as if they were less than who they are.

Every year for some years now, departing Year 13 students have made a film which they show in a kind of final assembly, and I always struggle to know what exactly to say to capture the seven years that they have shared together here – this year I found it particularly hard as I reflect on my own 17 years at this school – but the more I think about it, the more I believe that my advice can be summarised in two words: PEOPLE MATTER.

Our Bible reading this morning reminds us that we should stand by that in which we believe and be courageous to do the right thing.

I hope that the education you receive here will equip you to do the same.