Farewell to the students of 2016 - 2021
Friday 28th May, marked a final farewell to the class of 2016-2021. Upon finishing their GCSE assessments, we handed out Year 11 students their yearbooks and leavers hoodies along with hard earnt ice cream.
In what has been an extremely hard and unpredictable couple of years for them, they have shown great maturity and resilience throughout. From the staff at SMS - good luck and best wishes to each and every one of you. Enjoy and strive to be the best you can possibly be in whatever you go on to do. You have been a fantastic year group and you will be greatly missed.
A message which is reciprocated by Mr John Bocking, Head of Year 11 in his special message to the students below:
Dear Year 11,
You are the best! It has been an absolute pleasure being your Head of Year and I am going to miss you all terribly. When you first started at SMS all of those years ago I don’t think I could have hoped for a more interesting, funny, friendly and resilient bunch. If my new year group turn out to be half of the young men and women you have grown to be, I will be a happy man.
Although we have had some serious ups and downs over the last five years and a far from ideal end to your school experience, you have shown levels of resilience that anyone would be in awe of. Although it has been tough, I truly believe that the experience you have had at school (especially over the last two years) has and will set you up to deal with any hardships life may bring. Marcus Aurelius (the guy I always bang on about being my hero) once said “our life is what our thoughts make it”. In essence, if you can remain positive in the face of adversity you can overcome and enjoy anything. Whilst you may not think that you have lived to this mantra, I believe you all have!
Over the past 5 years, I believe this year group has developed a real sense of community. Held together by strong friendships which I imagine will remain for many years into the future. I would like to think that even with the year group following wildly different paths in later life, those friendships formed here, on the pitch or in the classroom, will still hold strong, formed over happy, funny or, in some cases outright embarrassing memories of the years gone by.
I am truly envious of all of you. You are at a great point in your lives where you are about to go out into the ‘real world’, something which the last 10 years of your educational lives have been geared towards. It may be College, Apprenticeships, University perhaps, then a job. If I look back over the past 15 years to when I was in your shoes I have some unbelievable memories. You should all be excited about what you can now go and do with your lives!
Please stay in touch and please go out and enjoy the wonders that the world has to offer!
Mr Bocking
