Headmaster's Blog: Making a Difference

 

I hope that, having been struck yesterday by Doris and her storm, you have not suffered too badly.  We endured wind, rain, a few trees down, the odd tile off a roof, sports fixtures cancelled, and even visiting cancelled!  Of course, some suffered more, losing power, and up in Derby one woman was killed by a falling tree.  What struck me with the storm, and other weather events (such as the bombogenesis floods in Los Angeles, earthquake in Haiti, or the impact of tsunami, heatwave, rising sea levels, and the like), is how close society and civilisation is in some parts of the world to the edge.  Here, when power goes off, or water stops coming out of the taps, we can start to perceive this rapid descent, as we can no longer use a washing machine, boil a kettle, have a shower, or flush a toilet. 

 

Of course, in this part of the world there is normally a rapid solution, even if it feels uncomfortable for a while.  In some parts of the world, solutions are much harder to find, and the risks are much greater.  Extreme weather events seem to become more common, and more damaging, and this is one good reason why the Round Square IDEALS include consideration of our Environment.  The Felsted Round Square committee has taken up the 50th anniversary challenge of King Constantine, the patron of the Round Square, and will be driving improvements in recycling around the site, as a small contribution to this - as Dame Baroness Cox said, we can't do everything, but mustn't do nothing.  We host the European Conference in January 2018, a great opportunity for our pupils to participate in a major event at Felsted, and for the whole community to engage with the values of the Round Square.