Riverside Highlights Newsletter Term 1 2018-19 | Page 2

SHREWSBURY
PRINCIPAL’S HIGHLIGHTS
PRINCIPAL’S END OF TERM MESSAGE
Einstein is reputed to have offered the following advice, ‘try not to become a man of success, but rather
try to be a man of value’. This is now one of those ‘internet quotes’ that gets used and misused in all man-
ner of circumstances. At the risk of repeating the same mistake, I am interested in the definitions of suc-
cess and value and how they impact our young people at Shrewsbury.
We achieve much success at Shrewsbury, on the sports field, through music exams and competitions, by
accessing the very top universities, and through our quite wonderful examination results. These successes
are celebrated and enjoyed, and they should be. However, we should also be careful to understand their
value, and ensure that our community does too. Examination success can be seen as a means to an end, a
way of moving from one level of academia to another, but there is much more value in it than that. In
every story of academic success, we hear of diligence, research, working beyond capacity, stretch and at
times failure. In almost all of these stories, we also hear the impact of our Junior school, through residen-
tials, close partnerships with parents, and themed days such as Greek Day.
This journey through our school from the hugely oversubscribed Early Years provision to our Sixth Form
has intrinsic value, and in moving through this journey with resolve, determination and cheerfulness offers
an example to others. This extrinsic value, the value of role modelling is often overlooked in academic
contexts but at Shrewsbury it is our culture. Being good at Maths is part of who we are, working hard is a
given, learning is a hunger that exists in all of us.
Recently, students from Shrewsbury collected 29 CIE awards, more than any other school in Thailand yet
again. This success is another indication of our deep commitment to learning. It is also an expression of
the value that has been added to these students by the Shrewsbury environment. Our examination results
are compared with thousands of other schools across the world using the CEM Centre based at Durham
University in the UK, the data is clear that we are in the 97th percentile of schools worldwide in ‘adding
value’. In short, we add at least a grade on to each student’s achievements, in comparison with their raw
ability. This value comes in many forms, great teaching, supportive environments, growing coordination of
the commitment to the wellbeing of students, and balance.
Balance is key to success in life, and it also gives it value. Being able to put the books down, refresh the
mind, sing, relax, be physically active or any number of other opportunities provides us all with increased
executive brain function, and a chance to conserve and strengthen our mental health. At Shrewsbury we
look to offer balance through our thriving co-curricular programme and this term has seen two beacons of
this in Last Night of the Proms and Grimm Tales. Both are epic events, involving large numbers of students
and constant collaboration between staff and students. These events are the very best of what we do, and
give the community another layer of value.
Grimm Tales, involving 140 actors, 6 directors and 8 tales, was a prime example where excellence can be
sustained over a long period of time by many people. This is the story of this school and it was great to
celebrate our inaugural Alumni of the Year awards this term. Successful people, adding value to this insti-
tution through their work with SISBAA and the role modelling that they offer both at the ceremony held at
Shrewsbury but also in the way they have conducted themselves in life over many years. Lee, Aim and
Jackie from the financial, entrepreneurial and sporting worlds are outstanding female role models, and we
look forward to celebrating more alumni next year.
The staff that gave citations at the alumni event were all long serving staff. They are successful people in
their own right, academics, excellent teachers and leaders. However, their value is easily underestimated.
The value of reliable service of many years, the consistency and continuity they have offered is a key con-
struct of our success. It was great to be able to celebrate this too as we founded the 15 Club this term to