Dear Year 11 students and team

What a year. When I learned that I would be SLT link for Year 11, I was incredibly nervous. I have never been an SLT link before and it felt like a huge responsibility. Despite this, you made me feel like I had been a part of Team Year 11 for a lifetime.

Some of you have made me laugh so much, I cried and some of you have made me cry and humbled me. You humbled me with your passion for change. You humbled me with your honesty and transparency. You humbled me with your resilience. You have faced challenges beyond anything we could have imagined over the last five years. Some we know about, others we do not. Yet, in the face of adversity, you have embodied the Sarah Bonnell Way. Your courage, fearlessness, strength, kindness and love in all you do has inspired me to keep going.

I have faced personal adversity this year and sometimes it’s been hard to keep going. And then I would your smiles and you would say ‘good morning Madam’ as I welcomed you while on gate duty; you may not have realised it but every time you did this, it made my heart happy. I realised that those Monday assemblies where we shared ‘motivational’ words were as much for me as it was for you. And yes, some of you may have quoted me back to me in a cheeky way but nonetheless, you heard me and you made me realise that I needed to keep going.

You have helped me in more ways than I ever knew was possible Year 11 and Year 11 team.

I have learned that life isn’t just about the big moments, like your practice exams and real exams, even though they are significant. Life is about lots of little moments: those smiles in the morning, the singing bollywood songs in the Science corridor at lunch time (you know who you are), the elbow bumps from teachers to congratulate you for doing something well, the screaming because you’ve seen a bee, the revision sessions, the conversations, the tears, the laughs, the memories. The thing about school days is that though it may be challenging to navigate those moments in the moment, we may look back at these days with nostalgia wishing and ruminating on things we wish we could try again or do differently.

Well in the future, I know I will look back fondly at my first year as an SLT link. Year 11 and team, thank you for everything you have taught me about what it means to feel a sense of pure joy, sadness, worry, laughter and every other feeling we can feel as humans. Thank you for making me feel alive and being the best part of my year. You will be etched in my memory forever as my first year team. Remember, count UP to SUCCESS not down to failure and check those habits!

Ms Bibi