“One swallow does not make a summer but one skein of geese, cleaving the murk of March thaw, is the Spring.”
Currently in South Africa, there are thousands of swallows preparing to make their annual migration north, back to Europe. Covering some 13,000 kilometres in about two weeks this journey is one of nature’s most extraordinary feats. Here in Europe the arrival of the swallows is seen as a first sign of spring, and with it the promise of summer.
Anytime between now and mid-March the birds will gather
ready to fly back to the North where they spend the summer.
There is an ancient Greek vase, made in 500BC which shows men looking into the sky at a swallow, as if they are saying “Spring already!”. Indeed, where the swallows went during the winter was a subject of great mystery for many years, their migration patterns were undiscovered until the early years of the twentieth century when a swallow was found on a farm in Natal bearing a ring placed on its leg eighteen months earlier by a solicitor naturalist by the name of John Masefield in Cheshire. Prior to that some scientists thought that swallows hibernated at the bottom of ponds.
This tiny bird achieves extraordinary feats of endurance in order to beat the chill of winter. Its arrival promises the change of season and the coming of the summer. In school terms our swallow is the forthcoming half term holiday because it is also the half year holiday. We are emerging from a half term in which much has been achieved despite the dark mornings, gloomy evenings, ice, snow, rain, and general dismal weather. For some it is the time of the year where the focus switches from the BSP to new opportunities as families plan the next move, or older pupils consider the options that have emerged for them post school. It is a time of new beginnings, a time of considering options, a time when new growth is happening both all around and within.
The last six weeks of school have been enormously busy. Thank you to all who have supported learning in the school. We all, pupils, teachers, parents, and friends have the opportunity to promote learning through our approaches, thank you for what you have done. This term has seen joyful engagement with a wide variety of activities, plays have been rehearsed, songs have been sung, a film has been made, sports have been played. Lessons have been taught and learned. It has been a packed half term and now it is a moment for us to rest and recharge. Plans for the next few months can be made, dreams considered, and possible paths may emerge. In the next half term there is much to look forward to. There will be sports tours, musicals, concerts and the BSP Society is making sure that parents have a range of events to attend.
For those of you who are intending to throw yourself down a steep snow-covered mountain, I hope you enjoy yourself and return safely. To those who are staying here, enjoy what surrounds you, and if you are travelling, enjoy a change of scenery. Above all have a great half term holiday.
Nicholas Hammond
Headmaster
