Smile
Headmaster’s Routh Assembly Address
Monday 11th March 2019
Reading: Excerpt from “Oh, the Places You’ll Go” by Dr Seuss
You'll be on your way up! You'll be seeing great sights!
You'll join the high fliers, who soar to high heights.
Wherever you fly, you'll be best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.
Except when you don't. Because, sometimes, you won't.
I'm sorry to say so, but, sadly, it's true
that Bang-ups and Hang-ups, can happen to you.
You can get all hung up, in a prickle-ly perch.
And your gang will fly on. You'll be left in a Lurch.
You'll come down from the Lurch with an unpleasant bump.
And the chances are, then, that you'll be in a Slump.
And when you're in a Slump, you're not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself, is not easily done.
I'm afraid that some times, you'll play lonely games too.
Games you can't win, 'cause you'll play against you.
All Alone! Whether you like it or not,
Alone will be something, you'll be quite a lot.
And when you're alone, there's a very good chance
you'll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.
There are some, down the road between hither and yon,
that can scare you so much you won't want to go on.
But on you will go, though the weather be foul.
On you will go, though your enemies prowl.
Onward up many a frightening creek,
though your arms may get sore and your sneakers may leak.
On and on you will hike, and I know you'll hike far
and face up to your problems, whatever they are.
And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed!
98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.
Good morning - more Dr Seuss to start us off again this morning. Cartoonist, writer, and one of the most successful children’s authors of all time. Famous for wacky nonsense stories that got generations of children engaged in reading. When the evils of television arrived in America in the 1950’s and parents feared the end of books, an editor told Dr Seuss to take away 250 interesting words and "bring back a book children can't put down." He returned with ‘The Cat In The Hat.’ Followed by ‘Green Eggs and Ham’, ‘The Grinch Who Stole Christmas’ and many other classics. Great man. Mischievous and clever too. His stories often contain a deeper message.
Last week you heard the first part of “Oh The Places You’ll Go.” Written for children, but applicable for young adults contemplating their futures at the start of Careers Week. “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself, any direction you choose.” Sound advice; optimistic and encouraging.
However, Dr Seuss was a realist too. He had no children of his own, but he knew that life is not all plain sailing when you are young. So, given that today is the start of Mental Health Week, Rose has just shared the second part of that story.
“You'll come down from the Lurch with an unpleasant bump.
And the chances are, then, that you'll be in a Slump.
And when you're in a Slump, you're not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself, is not easily done.”
Mental Health, in particular, your mental health, is a subject about which I care very deeply. It occupies my thoughts more than just about anything else in education. Yet it is such an overwhelmingly large subject, that suddenly, in this week of national focus, I am struggling with what best to tell you.
What should I say?
That we throw the phrase “mental health” around as if it were a single concept? We don’t often talk about physical health like that, do we? We might say “you broke your arm, let it heal”. Or “you have contracted malaria, it won’t kill you but you will be susceptible for the rest of your life.” Or “that’s just a scratch, don’t worry about it.” Or “I’m terribly sorry, your cancer is untreatable and terminal.”
We differentiate between the severity of our physical illnesses, yet all too often we say “he or she has mental health issues” as if that could only be one thing.
As if there wasn’t an enormous difference between being worried before exams or sad about a relationship, and being chronically stressed or clinically depressed. We say “mental health” without distinguishing between mildly irritating and life threatening.
Or perhaps I could make the case that we are what we eat. Not literally, but metaphorically. If we consume a steady diet of news reports that tell us 1 in 14 teenagers have post traumatic stress disorder, that Britain is facing an adolescent mental health epidemic, that self-harm and suicide rates are rising dramatically, that you are the snowflake generation who have no resilience and melt as soon as things don’t go your way, if we are stuffing our brains full of that every day is it any wonder that people feel depressed? It is a self-fulfilling prophecy – say it often enough and it will become reality anyway.
Or I should get on my usual hobby horse and blame the internet. Blame social media for creating the illusion that everyone else in the world is living a perfect, shiny, twinkly life, so why aren’t you?
That obsessive celebrity culture and so-called social influencers sell the lie that ecstatic happiness, 24/7, is both possible and attainable. It is not of course. Nobody is perpetually cheerful and fulfilled.
Yet how can you not feel down if you compare your own messy, occasionally less-than-perfect, sometimes boring or disappointing existence with what appears to be a norm of six-packs, flawless make-up, endless parties and an abundance of adoring friends?
I could pick any one of those things to rant about this morning, there is a moral in each of them. But I won’t. Instead, I am going to follow a piece of Dr Seuss’ advice. He made a point of not setting out to write stories with a moral in mind. He once said "kids can see a moral coming a mile off." So, no moral this morning. Just a simple, practical piece of advice.
You will feel down at times in your life. Sometimes, for some of you, that will be bad enough to need specialist help. You wouldn’t try to fix your own broken arm or cure your own cancer, you would go to a doctor. So it should be with what ails your mind. Sometimes you seek professional help.
However, you wouldn’t go to a doctor for a scratch or a headache. So too for your emotions. There are many more times when you can simply treat yourself. Therefore, here is an aspirin or a bandage for minor mental health ailments. You will think that I am being flippant or simplistic, but I promise that I am not. If you find yourself feeling down for more than a few days, a way to “un-slump” is to………… smile. Seriously.
It is a scientific fact that forcing a smile on your face lifts your mood. We all know that the brain makes our face display the emotions we feel. What has been discovered fairly recently though, is that the reverse also happens. That is, if we set our face a certain way, it tricks our brain into believing that is how we feel. I won’t bore you with the details now, but I promise you it is proven. If you are interested, I will happily share books that explain the neuroscience behind it. For now though, trust me.
I’m not saying walk around the School grinning like a loon. When I first tried this technique, I made that mistake and people quickly thought that I really did have quite serious mental problems. I promise you though, in the privacy of your own room or walking head down between classes, if you force a smile, even a sneaky little half-smile on your face for ten minutes or more, your mood will lift.
There you are then, no hidden moral. At the start of Mental Health week, during which many people will no doubt discuss deep theories clever strategies, just a simple tip from me. A proven, practical way to help yourself relieve any minor mental mishap. Smile.
Presentations
Netball
Congratulations to the 1st Netball team who were crowned National Independent School’s Cup champions in a thrilling final on Friday. Millfield School were extremely strong opposition and took a convincing 16-9 first quarter lead, however, the team fought back magnificently to turn the game around and win 53-47.
The captain, Tumba Katanda, was also named ‘player of the match’ after a wonderfully calm display of shooting under pressure. Well done also to those of you who travelled to support the team, which was much appreciated by the players and coaches. Your support of this outstanding team would again be welcomed tomorrow lunchtime when they play Oldham Hulme School in the semi-final of the Sisters in Sport competition, here in the Arena. I now invite Tumba and her team on stage to receive the trophy and medals and we also wish them and the U14 team all the best in their national final matches this week.
Rugby Sevens
Congratulations to the U16 and U18 Sevens teams, who both won tournaments. The U16 Team won the Oakham Invitational Sevens beating Stowe School 29-0. On Wednesday the U18 Team won the King Edward Stratford Tournament, also beating Stowe in the final. I would like to invite JJ Williams and Peter Olley forward to receive the trophies.
Cross Country
Our runners ran at the prestigious Attingham Park Relays on Wednesday. Congratulations to our girls team, who finished third, I invite them to receive their medals.
Badminton
Great success at the County Championships, where all four of our teams won their age group competition. I invite them all forward to receive their medals.
Music
Finally, it is a pleasure to invite Lisa Bradburn to come forward and receive our congratulations for passing her Grade 8 piano examination.
Review
Debating
Last week, the Bromsgrove team of Scarlett Bond and Lauren Court competed in the Sajid Javid MP Schools’ Debating Competition. Despite being narrowly beaten to the final, both spoke convincingly on ‘why police officers should be armed’. Well done to both speakers.
Badminton
Our senior badminton teams lost closely fought matches against Uppingham School.
Cross Country
Well done to our cross country runners at Uppingham School. Special mention to Seb Purvis who came 5th and Will Hobbs who placed 7th in the junior boys’ race.
Football
In matches played against Bristol Grammar there were wins for the U16A and 2nd XI’s with the 1st team drawing. The U16B’s beat Cheltenham College 6-0.
Hockey
Well done to the U16A, U15A, U15C teams who registered wins against Oakham School.
Netball
In the block fixture played against Oakham School the U14D, U14A, U15A, U16C, U16B and 2nd teams all recorded wins.
Rugby
The U15 rugby 7’s squad finished runners-up at the Solihull tournament.
Squash
Senior Boys Squash unfortunately missed out on a place in the national plate finals, losing in games to Exeter and Bristol. Well done to Jacob Hyland, Alex Waplington, Aman Laroiya, Will Hobbs and Will Upton for representing the School in an excellent manner.
Swimming
Well done to our swimmers who competed in the Bath and Otter relays at the Olympic pool, in an extremely tough competition.
Table Tennis
The table tennis teams played a competitive fixture against Prince Henry’s Evesham, winning 14-12.
Preview
Today sees the first round of the House Challenge Quiz competition; please encourage and support the academic team representing your House and hoping for a place in the Final.
Tomorrow, Tuesday, we host the U6th Recital in Routh at 7pm. All are welcome to support this concert at which we will also hear the Big Band – perhaps to whet your appetite for Pop and Jazz in the last week of term.
Aled Luckman will be hosting the second session on legal writing skills in the Lecture Theatre, 1.20pm on Tuesday.
Reading University will be talking to students who are interested in attending that university at 1.30pm on Friday. Reading is a popular university, particularly for students interested in property based courses. Please email Miss Leech for a seat.
Thursday, is the Senior House Drama competition, with everything from Shakespeare to Monty Python and even two houses presenting work that they have written or devised themselves. The competition commences at 7pm in Cobham and is all done by 9:00pm, so please come and support your House if you can. Tickets can be reserved in advance, either speaking to your Houseparent, or direct via the School’s online box office.
This Sunday at 5pm, you are welcome to support a concert featuring music from the 18th century Baroque period – the brass group, Years 9 and 10 ensemble and a combined choir will be supported by a professional orchestra in an exciting showcase of music from this era.
The music department are also starting a scheme to encourage any 4th Form pupils to take up a lower brass instrument (trombone, euphonium and tuba). No previous experience is necessary - just a desire to try something new. If you are interested please come to Routh this Friday at 1.15.
Debating
Finally, the moot for Friday’s lunchtime debate will be “This House would endorse foreign military intervention” All are welcome to come and watch, H20 at 1:25pm. Anyone who wishes to speak should email Archie or Josh.
Please stand as we say the Grace together.