The Bulletin
Friday 26 June 2020
Issue 167
From the Headmaster “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.â€? Quotations such as this from Helen Keller have never felt so apt or so poignant as self-isolation and lockdown have inevitably created a sense of separation and disconnect. Solidarity combined with a shared focus and vision provide a strength and bond which are substantially more powerful than each individual component. As a community which thrives on physical and social interaction, this imposed distance for a school such as the RGS is all the more challenging. With this in mind we coined the phrase #RGSTogether as a way of reminding ourselves that despite our separation, we are still very much united: students, staff, parents, governors and the wider community alike. Next week, we are holding #RGSTogether Week where we celebrate the extraordinary number of initiatives which have taken place this year and this term in particular and have had such a profound impact on others. On our social media platforms throughout next week, we will be posting reminders of a number of the genuinely colourful, positive, feel-good events which have encapsulated this spirt of togetherness. I am so proud of how the whole RGS community has come together to help others in need or those less fortunate. This has taken the form of charity, service, volunteering, and fundraising: both individual initiatives and collective events which demonstrate genuine enterprise and innovation. These have involved the very youngest in our community to the not-quite-so-young amongst us. They have ranged from the sporting to the artistic. They have been at times challenging, at other times entertaining. Most of all they have been done in an understated, humble way with a sense of humour and genuine energy bubbling close to the surface. To pick out individual events would seem invidious and yet I immediately call to mind Third Form student Will Munroe making no-touch tools and attachments using his 3D printer in his garage in response to a request by the owner of a Care Home for use by staff. I could mention our Design Technology Department making over 400 free visors for 25 different organisations from pharmacists to vets, from physiotherapists to community schemes, from hospitals to GP surgeries and schools. Devices have been donated to Kings College to support their remote learning, and RGS staff have been delivering online lessons to those whose remote provision is more limited. Easter cards were created and circulated while concerts and a remote tea party also took place for local Care Homes. Our charitable events saw cupcakes being produced despite the challenges of food shortages; families throughout Surrey and beyond donned RGS sports kit for the charity run; and I was very grateful to my senior team as they slept out over one weekend. This term alone, we have raised the staggering sum of well over ÂŁ18,000 for charity. RGSGuildford
Registered Charity No. 1177353
So next week I urge you to take a look at our social media channels as, without agenda or ulterior motive, we remind ourselves what our community has done. Through some really touching videos from the recipients of this kindness we also can get an insight into just what a difference has been made. On one level we have never been more distant; on another level we have never been more unified. This is down, in no small part, to being part of a community which is so united and determined to help others and for whom our School Value of Service is reality rather than rhetoric: a firm belief that we can work in partnership with others to make a difference. A quote by Nicholas Sparks seems to sum this up. “Sometimes the most ordinary things could be made extraordinary simply by doing them with the right people.� At the RGS I am proud to say that we most certainly do have the right people, and we most certainly have achieved extraordinary things. Thank you #RGSTogether.
RGSGuildford
Registered Charity No. 1177353