THE HEADTEACHER'S BLOG - THE BURFORDIAN, ISSUE 1 - 2024-2025

This is the Headteacher's Blog which was first featured in issue 1 of The Burfordian, published on Thursday 19th September 2024.

Welcome back to all members of the Burford community. We have got back into the business of school quickly, setting a high pace of learning on the back of brilliant GCSE and A Level results in August.

In total, just under 400 students received their grades in the Summer and I am delighted for them as they move on to the next stages of their education, whether here at Burford or further afield. I would like to thank all staff for creating an environment in which students could give the best versions of themselves and achieve in national exams.

The start of term is an opportunity to reaffirm the values of the school – Respect Participate and Reach. This seems particularly appropriate on the back of the events in Paris in the Summer and the exploits of British athletes in the Paralympics and Olympics. At Burford we are proud to offer a broad curriculum incorporating academic, artistic and sporting excellence. With such breadth an education, amongst the collective minds of our community, is incomplete.

Participation and competition in sport allow students to engage in an active lifestyle and nurture values of teamwork and respect. The Olympic Code of Ethics, alongside the equivalent document for the Paralympics, provides an excellent guide to the values that should underpin sport and indeed life more generally. Apart from those relating to the Olympic movement specifically they align well with those of Burford School. I urge readers to go to the original sources for more inspiration. To stimulate your interest, I provide below some lines from Article 1 of the IOC Code of Ethics.

I wish everyone the very best for the coming year and thank families for their continued support of the school and its values.

Source: BBC News

IOC Code of Ethics Article 1

Respect for the universal fundamental ethical principles is the foundation of Olympism. These include:

1.1 Respect for the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play;

1.2 Respect of the principle of the universality and political neutrality of the Olympic Movement;

1.4 Respect for international conventions on protecting human rights insofar as they apply to the Olympic Games’ activities and which ensure in particular: – respect for human dignity; – rejection of discrimination of any kind on whatever grounds, be it race, colour, sex, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status; – rejection of all forms of harassment and abuse, be it physical, professional or sexual, and any physical or mental injuries;