Invicta Vlogs
Remembrance Day - also known by the names Poppy Day, Armistice Day, and Veterans Day – is a very special event that commemorates veterans across the globe.
It is something that we reflect upon every year at Invicta. It is pertinent to us that we see this as an important day that recognises the many sacrifices members of the armed forces and civilians have made during times of war. November 11 was set aside as Remembrance Day to mark the end of World War One, which notably came to an end at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. Mr Saputo will, this week, hold assemblies on the important theme of ‘remembrance’ and at 11 am on Tuesday we will play the Last Post and hold a 2 minute silence.
This weekend, I am proud that some of our choir joined the celebrated countertenor Andrew Watts as part of a specially formed Kent Schools Choir, to perform Johan de Meij’s Symphony No. 4, Sinfonie der Lieder (Symphony of Songs) at All Saints Church in Maidstone in order to give our veterans the recognition they deserve and to make this Remembrance Day an unforgettable one. It also helped raise funds for the charity Help for Heroes – close to our hearts.
This form of remembrance is a solemn and understandably vital part of our history. However, it made me think about a quote from our 2012 Ofsted, whereby it said that ‘Invicta made memorable experiences for its students’. I am sure you can empathise with the sense of pride that I felt on hearing this. To this day, and certainly for the time that I am Headteacher at Invicta, it will be something that I try to emulate as I strongly believe that it is a key aspect of education.
This week I have had the pleasure of seeing some significant memories be created:
Sophie T. Year 7, Ana C. Year 7 and Kitty W. Year 7, have all entered a national writing competition for the Aspire magazine – which is aimed at encouraging students to aim high; demonstrating a love of reading and an active interest in current affairs and issues. I really do wish them the best of luck and would like to congratulate them for grasping every opportunity at such an early stage of their journey at Invicta. Good luck girls!
In addition to this, I am thrilled that two of our Year 10 students have reached the finals of the Kent Cooks Competition this year! Gabrielle Gilhespy and Michalina Michalska will attend the final in Broadstairs on the 27 November. It is something I am sure that will provide a lasting memory. I am not only proud of these students but wold like to wish them the best of luck too!
Another memory is the fantastic achievements of our U16 netball team who are now in the top 8 schools in the county and have progressed through to the next stage of the county tournament! The team played exceptionally well on Thursday this week, motivating each other and really striving to win against the other 5 teams in their pool. The standard of play was excellent and I am really pleased to say that they will now play in the second stage of the competition on Saturday 6 December. If successful, they will then progress to the South East competition in London in the New Year. Georgina Knowles (Captain); Harriet Collins; Jessica Thornton; Dominique Buggs; Annie Cruse; Evie Horner; Emma Worsfold; Joyce Aitalegbe; Eloise Osborn all now have memories that they should rightly be very proud of. Keep up the great work girls!
Finally, we will be providing memories on Monday with a number of students attending a live streaming of a talk given by Matt Brittin, Head of Google in the UK, about where technology is going. To experience this, is something that the girls will reflect on in years to come I am sure.
“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow,” is a quote from Albert Einstein on Shaping the Future. This is something that I know we all value at Invicta. We will continue to reflect and remember but also focus on ‘shaping’ the future.
