An article in the Stanford Review in 2015 described community as not being a place or a building but being a feeling.  It said that ‘members of a community have a sense of trust, belonging, safety, and caring for each other’. This is a perfect description of the Ridgeway Education Trust.  Three schools whose sense of community in these difficult times is quite simply astounding.

That treasured feeling of our RET community is a direct result of students, families and staff staying in touch, and keeping well-being and learning at the heart of what we are doing.

What is happening in the RET community at the moment reminds me of a sporting community that I greatly admire; Rose City Rollers, a roller derby team based in Portland, Oregan.

We are 3102 Strong.

There are two things that the Rose City Rollers talk about that I think are particularly relevant to our RET community at this time. The first thing is their statement ‘We are 400 strong’.  There are 400 members of their sporting community and although they don’t all play together in the same matches or train together at the same time, they take strength from knowing that they belong to a vibrant community of 400 who all care about each other.  It is exactly the same for us, we may not currently be learning together in the same classrooms and spending time together in the same breaktime spaces or clubs but we still stand together as a strong, united community. 

There are 1215 members of the St Birinus community, 1670 members of the Didcot Girls’ School community and 217 members of the Sutton Courtenay CofE Primary School community.  We are 3102 strong.  Every time you feel a bit overwhelmed or feel a bit lost because of the situation remember that you are not doing this on your own. There are 3102 members of the RET community you belong to who care very much.

‘Win this Moment!’

The second lesson we can take from Rose City is their powerful philosophy of ‘Win this Moment!’ We are all adjusting to a very strange set of circumstances that are going to take some getting used to.  It can be hard to feel motivated and it would be easy to give up and think ‘what’s the point?’

Don’t give up. Don’t lose motivation. Take it one step at a time and win each moment as you go. Know that every small step is important and if you take it, you win it.  Break your day down into small steps and chalk up each small achievement.  Every time you win a moment there will be 3102 members of the RET community cheering you on from afar.

Keep in touch, keep letting us know how you are doing, keep sharing your successes and your winning moments and keep letting us know what we can do to help.

I have never been prouder to be a member of this remarkable community.

Miss Hopkins

Assistant Headteacher