Words of Wisdom from Mr Edwards

As I hurtle towards the Exit Door, I passed another milestone this week: my final assembly.

I used the Flanders and Swann song, “Slow Train” with its evocative nostalgia, and the melancholy line “They all pass out of our lives” to talk about the joy and sadness of letting go. I tried to give the children some final advice, from lessons accumulated during my career: 1) Don’t wait for life to happen to you. 2) Throw your dreams out in front of you, and chase them. 3) Today is the 1^st day of the rest of your life, so seize the day! 4) Be tolerant of others’ opinions, and occasionally accept that you might have to agree to disagree. 5) Build and nurture relationships, especially the one you have with yourself. 6) Travel! And I don’t mean in 5* All-Inclusive resorts: get off the beaten track. If it’s hard to reach, it’ll probably be worth it. 7) Your mistakes and failures don’t define you; how you deal with them does. Nobody should ever be judged by the worst thing they do. 8) And finally: to whom much has been given, much is expected. And we finished off by singing “When a Knight won his Spurs” a hymn I remember fondly from my own primary days.

A young Y5 pupil came to find me later in the day to thank me and tell me how much she enjoyed it. That’s what I’ll miss most about teaching: the children.