End of Year Message

Our past may shape us, but it does not define us.

Dear families, teachers, staff, and boys of Willow Park Junior school.

It has not been easy for any of us during this period and I must thank all of you for having that ‘can do’ growth mindset attitude every single day during this 12-week period. I am always extremely proud of your achievements in school but my levels of admiration for all of you have increased considerably during this enforced lockdown.

Young men I have been astounded by many of your own videos, photographs, Lego models, bridges that you have built, and art created since March the 12th . And our very own teachers I thank you for coming to terms with MS Teams during lockdown, reflecting on what has worked and what hasn’t then changing learning platforms to OBS software or indeed the EPIC reading scheme, GoTo Meeting software and most importantly sharing this with colleagues.

To parents, thank you for working with the school daily to keep communication lines open, offering advice on other learning platforms and remaining positive when ICT challenges invariably happened.

As the quotation above illustrates, we will all learn from this pandemic however, it should never define us. What will define all of us is what we do next? Therefore, I issue a challenge to all the boys in the Junior school to be the best person that they can be over the Summer months. Learn to play a musical instrument, keep fit and active, accept more challenges, step out of your comfort zone, really make time to visit relatives and friends(when it is safe to do so), take time to detox from all mobile phones, game consoles and laptops. Take a leaf out of M6 and create your own Summer ‘bucket list’. List 10 items that you want to achieve over June and July.

My only item on my bucket list is to get the staff and boys safely (in consultation with our Junior school Board) back to our school. The Board and I will work tirelessly to make this happen by following the best advice from the HSE, the Department and meeting with our Willow Medical Committee. I am sure we are all hoping to be back to school as quickly as possible. I hope all Willow families have a safe, sunshine-filled Summer and we look forward to welcoming you all back next year.

Take care your Principal,
Mr. James Docherty

Principal’s Note –
I would like to thank two very important families in our Junior school. Firstly, I must thank the Willow Weekly team because you have brought a real family ethos to the Willow Weekly over the past 12 weeks even through the Easter break. It really has made all of us smile and the positivity you have given all our community has been exceptional and outstanding. Thank you.

Secondly, I must thank a very special family who have graced the school with their positivity, care, and kindness in Willow for over 7 years. To the Ferris family thank you for all that you have brought to our school, we wish you every success in your next educational chapter in Luxembourg and we will miss you all terribly. Please stay in touch and if you ever need anything from the school all you need to do is ask – we will always welcome you back at any time. Thank you.