Let me introduce Aden.
Not only is he part of my Crew, I’m also lucky enough to work with him across all his lessons and have done so since Y7.
When Aden first started, it’s fair to say that he was a very different boy to the one he is today. He won’t mind me telling you that he struggled to manage his frustrations and found it difficult to focus in class. But Crew supported him (even when he didn’t want us to!)
He often found himself getting into trouble and was sometimes removed from his peers to spend time in reflection. But we always welcomed him back into Crew.
During Y8, Aden’s little ‘blips’ became fewer and far between, and by the end of the year, he had improved both his academic grades and his HOWL grades. And Crew celebrated him!
There were a couple of moments today which have made me reflect on Aden’s progress from Y7 to Y9. Simple things which show how far he’s come and how much he’s grown to love learning. For instance, he was so absorbed in reading and making notes on Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ he didn’t even notice me taking his picture. Later on in History, he received a spontaneous round of applause and an entry onto our praise form for the quality of his response when asked to analyse the message behind a source we’re studying. Moments like this got me thinking about his journey from Y7 to where he is today in Y9, about to embark upon his GSCE studies… and it took my breath away!
Last week, I asked Crew how they felt about Y9 so far. Aden said that it was more challenging than Y8, but that he would “knuckle down and try my hardest.”
And he absolutely is!