Northern Lights
13th September 2024
It’s been another week back at school and college. We are only two weeks into the term but the decidedly autumnal feel has meant it’s felt like early October, not early September. And with that autumnal feel has come a dazzling display of Northern Lights (aurora borealis) this week. With the advent of the smartphone camera more of us are getting the chance to see this incredible natural phenomena than ever before – albeit through the lens rather than in real time. Often for me, although there can be good forecasting, it’s far too late for me to be up and about – especially on a school night.
In our schools and college we discuss our bright ‘northern lights’ quite often. Our children and young people do display their brilliance on a daily basis. Our challenge, as educators and adults, is to persuade our pupils and students to have the confidence to go more public with that brilliance. Far too often those of us from the north can feel intimidated or a little shy about displaying publicly what we can do; something that some children and young people, from other parts of our country, have no difficulty in doing.
We should all be proud of where we are from. But we should let that become a weight which prevents us all from standing tall and shouting loudly. We have many, many children and young people who can stand shoulder to shoulder with the best in this country. I just hope that we can continue to offer our pupils and students the resources, the environment and the conditions which will allow them all to feel confident and proud enough to do just that.
‘Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.’ Norman Vincent Peale