SCHOOL´S 113th BIRTHDAY
On Friday, 8th October, we celebrated the School´s 113th birthday. Although tradition makes this day an Interhouse celebration, due to the pandemic, this is the second year that the Interhouse was postponed. However, this is the first time since March 2020 that we could host two assemblies, holding the whole lot of Junior first and Senior later. The day helped and under a radiant blue sky, students listened to speeches by Mr Rosevear, Mr Mallon, Eva Drever and Justina Justo (Form 6 prefects) in the Junior Assembly, where prior to closing the ceremony, the students joined in the singing of the School Song.
In the Senior Assembly, the speeches were made by Mr Rosevear, Francisca Ferrari (Head girl) and Juan Manuel Sequeira (Head boy).
It was a great occasion to celebrate the School´s birthday, and the hopeful emergence of normal
SPEECHES:
Hello everyone, my name is Joaquina Justo and today we’re celebrating the 113 birthday of our beautiful school.Here we met our friends and classmates who till this day are my companions.Thinking about how it all first started 113 years ago with our 3 captains Mr.Jones, Mr Cuff, Mr Blount and now we have the honor of having our three houses as you can see in your t-shirts.I would like to thank all those people who work so hard so that we can work and grow in good conditions, such as the cleaners, help desk, secretaries, maintenance, GCG and not to mention the teachers who taught us everything we know and will continue teaching us. We are very lucky to be able to attend this school, I wish a very happy birthday and for many years more. Thank you - Justina Justo
What does the British schools mean to you? To me, it’s like a second home. A place where I’ve grown up, made friends, learned values and have been able to be part of a community. The British schools is more than just the wonderful buildings and fields; it’s the teachers, students, friendships and experiences. Even the mistakes, which we’ve all made and have learned to grow from, are part of what makes The British schools a safe and fun place to learn and grow. So, thank you British Schools and happy birthday. Eva Drever
A boy in Form 2 C called Timoteo approached me one day last week and asked “ Mr.Mallon, how are old are you?” “46” I replied thinking nothing of it, though failing to tell him that I will actually be 47 quite soon. For you as children however, when you are younger there is almost a race on in life to reach certain ages. To become 10 brings excitement as you are a double digit number like most adults and then when you get to Senior School the wait is on to become 18 to be able to drive a car, to be able to vote and legally be recognised as an adult as opposed to a child and to enjoy other aspects of life. There is then one other significant birthday that everyone is desperate to celebrate and that is the turning of 21. But then what happens after that is the opposite. Adults tend to want to hold back the years, joking, sometimes fearing, the passing of time as they reach other significant milestone birthdays of 30, 40, 50 etc. as they begin to “ feel old". And then something strange happens, as soon as adults begin to reach an even older age such as 70, 80, 90 and in some cases 100, they no longer begin to worry so much about getting older, rather they embrace and celebrate it, grateful for every moment they get to spend with their families. You may have seen this with your grandparents and great grandparents,
What we should all realise is that with age comes experience, wisdom, the ability to reflect and give advice to those around us and possess a wonderful collection of memories that we should continually cherish. The corridors, classrooms and sports fields of our wonderful school are filled with the most amazing memories, some we can see, such as the photos of ex school Principal´s hanging outside Mr.Rosevear´s office, the first stone laid which is mounted on the wall outside the administration offices, through to some parts of the building and furniture. Other memories are held in the wonderful stories that many of your teachers can talk to you about during their time at school when they were younger, or the books, videos and photographs that recall special events that were held in this school such as the 100 year celebration. And then there are special memories that you can´t feel, see or touch, they are not tangible as we say. They are there but not physically, you just sense them as you walk through the door each morning. But now let me take you back to the story of Timoteo. Just yesterday, I walked into the Form 2C classroom to pass a quick message to Mrs. Campomar and Timoteo came up to me and enthusiastically said “ Mr Mallon, did you know you are 16, 349 days old?” I smiled beneath my mask as I remembered the question he had asked me in the infant playground the week before. He told me he had calculated this number as part of his learning in Maths. I am, technically, 16,747 days old today, so Timoteo, although not exactly right was oh so close. The difference was that I was lazy and used a calculator to tell me. Timoteo had worked it out himself using his brain. It then got me thinking. How old must the The British Schools be in days? I would love to tell you all but I would prefer to see one of you work it out. So the challenge from me to you is to see who can be the first student to arrive at my office later today with the correct answer, showing me all your calculations and be able to explain what you did to arrive at the correct answer. A special Head of Junior sticker awaits! In the meantime I would like to wish our school a wonderful 113th birthday and when you walk through the door next time, maybe stop for a moment and sense those 113 years all around you.Mr Gary Mallon
The School was founded in 1908, and as well as the many good times, like any organisation that is 113thyears old, there have been the occasional less happy moments. But nothing in our history has been like the last 20 months. Today is the first time you have been together as a Senior school since February 2020, when I spoke to you at the beginning of the School year in the gymnasium. I looked up my speech that day, and it is interesting to look back on part of it. I said, ‘This leads me onto the biggest issue in the news at the moment, and that is coronavirus……Pretty much every opinion about it is different. ……At the moment, South America is not at the same levels of alert as some other parts of the world, but we should all take as much care as we can.’ Like everyone else, I was not sure how, or if, it would affect us. Back then it appeared as if it was something that was happening ‘over there’. We now know differently.
Some of you I have not seen without a mask for a long time. When I watch you playing sport, or see you outside of school, I am not always able to recognise you, and this is not my eyesight getting worse as I get older. I find this terribly sad, and sincerely hope masks become optional very soon. Once that happens, we can say we have returned to normal.
But at least we are here, together, in school. Birthdays and anniversaries celebrate the past, whereas today I would like to look to the future. This is never easy, for we do not know what the future holds, but we can think, and maybe dream of what we would like it to be. Thomas Jefferson said, ‘I like dreams of the future better than the history of the past’. Sometimes we realise our dreams, sometimes not, but it is important to have them. We must all dream in order to build a better and happier future. Walt Disney considered that ‘if you can dream it, you can do it’. I want you all to dream what you can do, and then go and do it.
This is especially true for the Year 6 students, for your future will be away from us very soon. Make the most of your last months in school. The last two years were definitely not your ‘dream finish’ to school life, but enjoy each other’s’ company, work hard and make the most the opportunity of attending this school has given you.
A birthday is also a time for giving and receiving of presents. If we asked the School what it would like for its birthday, what do you think it would say? I think it would ask for three things. First, it would ask that you be kind to each other, or in other words, to be caring. It would ask you not to get angry when somebody does something you do not like. It would hope that if you see someone looking a little bit sad, you would go and ask then what is wrong. And it would hope that you always treat people they way that you hope they would treat you. Second, the school would ask that you do your best all of the time, whether it is with your schoolwork, playing sport or any of the many activities that you do. Third, it would ask you to be happy, and positive. We are fortunate to be here in this lovely school, so we should enjoy being here. If you can do just these three things, then I think the school would be really happy with these presents!
I am sure that students will join me in taking this opportunity to thank all the teachers and staff present today for all your hard work and patience during these last 20 months. Let us all look positively towards the future, to enjoy the rest of this school year and to look forward to many more.
Mr Mark Rosevear
Good morning to everyone. As you all know, we are here to celebrate the school’s 113th’s birthday anniversary. It’s incredible to think it is the last time that we will be experiencing the school’s birthday, and that only a few weeks of our whole high school experience remain.
Many of you may not know this, but when the school turned 100, we had just arrived at kindergarten, and we celebrated something we didn't even understand. The only memory we have of that day is way too many chocolate cakes to count, screams, and a lot of running around. Now, almost fourteen years later, we are aware of what we are celebrating: all that the school has come to be. But we believe it's not about commemorating academic achievements like diplomas or sport competitions the school has won over the years. It is much more than that: it's about commemorating our community. The one we grew up in. It's the place where we come to everyday for many, many years, where we meet most of our friends, those that will remain for life, where we, for better or worse, learn.
Yes, it might be stressful at times, or there might be days we do not want to come, but, at the end of the day, the experiences we have gained here over the years have defined us and will continue to do so long after we are gone.
During birthdays people tend to look back and remember the past, and there is nothing wrong with that, but we believe this is the perfect opportunity to look towards the future. Nobody really wants to remember the pandemic and everything we had to go through; instead, we can look at everything we have ahead of us: for some, this might be just the beginning of your high school career, for others it might be the middle, and, for us, it's the end. No matter which group you belong to, you will always be a part of the school community, and the school will always be with us in the years to come. So remember to enjoy these years and the community we have created all together, because, before you even realise it, you will be sitting your IB exams. Thank you.
Juan Manuel Sequeira (Head boy) & Francesca Ferrari (Head girl)
