Determination legends

Determination legends

Ever since we were able to restart assemblies in March we have been promoting the Marple Hall Spirit with all students in years 7-10. I’ve mentioned it a lot in my blogs as the Marple Hall Spirit is the ethos of our school. It’s why we do what we do and it explains what we hope to see in every member of the community.

This week, Senior Assistant Headteacher Lyn Lawton has been delivering assemblies on Determination. Often in assemblies the presenter brings out the same old examples…like how there’s no such thing as an overnight success, how successful famous people often had to overcome setbacks and how one of the world’s best Basketball players, Michael Jordan, was famously not picked for his high school basketball team. I reckon I’ve heard the Michael Jordan example over 100 times. These are common stories for a good reason, and they certainly do describe determination in action.

Mrs Lawton though took a different angle. Her assembly focused on ‘Marple Hall Determination Legends’ – real life examples of students showing determination in action such as:

1) The charismatic young man who knew that his friendship group was holding him back in his studies, and so over time he achieved the almost impossible and changed friendship group in order to give him a better chance of success.

2) The female student who played a leading role in a school performance. She messed up massively in the dress rehearsal for primary students the day before the opening night, but then got back on stage and smashed it.

3) The student with autism who struggled with Mrs Lawton’s subject, English. The student recognised their difficulty, asked for extra support and ended up with a spectacular grade.

and (my favourite)

4) The young male student who at break time recently challenged his much bigger and more confident friend for using the word ‘gay’ in a negative way. He boldly announced ‘I don’t think you should use the word gay as an insult’, and was then supported by others around him. He was determined to stand up for what he believed in, and hopefully taught his friend a lesson at the same time.

I loved Mrs Lawton’s assembly. These are real life examples of real life Marple Hall students showing their determination, giving us all great examples to look up to.

Speaking of which, Year 11 continue to impress me with their determination during their exams. Keep it up and do some work over the break!!

Best wishes,

Joe Barker

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