On Monday in Chapel, we sang the hymn One More Step Along the World I Go. Mrs Moore- Bridger then spoke to us about what it means to belong to a community and indeed the Queenswood community.

We learnt that during Roman times, to be exiled from one’s community was as bad as death and something which the Romans dreaded most of all. The famous love poet Ovid wrote six books of poetry bemoaning his exile, all aptly titled the tristia or the sad poems. Today our communities are broader and may include our friendship groups, the people we work with or those we share a hobby with.

In the month of June, we celebrate the LGBTQ+ community. Mrs Moore-Bridger explained that the first Pride parade started in 1970 in San Francisco, after the Stonewall riots - a series of protests about the brutality of the police against the gay community. Many people who are not accepted or understood by their own family find others who they choose to treat as their family, people who will support them and love them for who they are.

Mrs Moore-Bridger finished her talk by telling us -
“The Q bubble will seem like a constant in your life, but believe me, your time here will fly by, it has for me. Over the past five years, Q has become a bit of a family to me and one that I will miss very much.”

On Wednesday in Chapel we sang the hymn, Be Still for the Presence of the Lord, the Holy One is Here. Mrs Warren referred to the bible passage about two blind men who asked Jesus to restore their sight. She talked about the importance of sight and how we see ourselves, making reference to a scar on her neck which she has to cover up. On the days that she is able to completely cover it up, she calls it a good scar day. This can determine what sort of day she has and how she responds to the people and challenges she encounters. On the day that the scar is not so easily covered, it is a bad scar day and can mean that she denies herself the positive experiences of the day.

Recently after a bad scar day, she reflected and decided that many good things had happened during the day, she had taught good lessons, worked with some incredible colleagues, helped students and played silly games with her children. In fact, it had been a great day. She resolved to no longer think of days in terms of good or bad scar days.

Mrs Warren assured us that although we may worry about what we look like and think we need to be more confident etc.,  the most important thing that people remember about us is the way we behave and not the way we look. We should focus on doing things that make positive differences and that is how we will be remembered.