During the past six months I’ve been more attentive to the natural world around me… I’ve captured the seasons on my phone as I’ve walked around our village. As we come to the end of summer, we might lament the long days and warm sun, but then as poet and philosopher Emerson says,
“The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn”.
As Autumn begins, the leaves drop and so do the acorns and conkers. I’m reminded that this is a time to release the old and make way for the new. In the education community it is a time for new beginnings, it is time to prepare the foundations for new growth and flourishing. It is about nurturing the acorns to grow the forests of the future. There is much that is new in schools and colleges at the moment, and in Culham St Gabriel’s too we are doing new things. We have a new Masters Scholarship programme which launched this week and we have a vibrant pilot leadership programme taking participants in challenging and innovative directions. We have reimagined Teach:RE modules to suit all teachers in all phases supporting their knowledge, understanding and expertise. We have two new focus groups to support the development of both REONLINE and our Teach:RE programme. Research is increasingly threaded through all our work and a vital element of our grant making programme. Of course, we also have RExChange to look forward to in just one week’s time.
So rather than a time of lamenting the end of summer, Autumn is a time of hope… a time to look forward. As Delia Owens says in ‘Where the Crawdads sing’:
“Autumn leaves don’t fall, they fly. They take their time and wander on this their only chance to soar.”
So whether you are a teacher, adviser, lecturer, consultant or funder…It is time to fly!! Seize the opportunities in these challenging times. Use your wisdom to seek out new places, new ideas, new possibilities… and soar!
More information about our programmes and activities can be found here: