Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises

I always like the transition from August to September. Although August is a holiday month I find nature is not at its very best and it can even make me feel a little melancholy. The fields having been harvested, are left brown and the leaves on the trees have neither the fresh greenness of spring nor yet their autumn colours. The birds are less frequent visitors to the bird table and it can be eerily quiet. Then with the advent of September, mornings start to have that unmistakable freshness, the grass is dew covered along with any cobwebs and the birds have started to sing again. Then colour returns to the landscape in the form of berries and fruits which are now abundant in the hedgerows as well as the changing hues of the leaves.

These changes always make me feel hopeful and of course signal the beginning of the new school year. In fact I often feel that this is the proper time for new year celebrations. And of course Judaism celebrates just that during Rosh Hashanah on the 19th of this month. Traditions include eating symbolic foods, such as apples dipped in honey, hoping to evoke a sweet new year and a fresh start.

After the disruption of covid19, the return to school feels particularly hopeful this year but of course it is not without anxiety. As we navigate our way around the school via a one-way system, observe social distancing and abide by new hygiene rules, we are reminded this is not quite ‘business as usual’.

Nevertheless we are excited about the year ahead and the many new opportunities which lie before us. We therefore do well to take stock, reflect on past successes and failures and set targets for the year ahead. It may also be a time to take advantage of opportunities offered that we have ignored in previous years. Signing up for a new club or accepting a new challenge could pave the way for developing new skills,  plant the seed for a hobby that will become a lifelong passion, help develop new levels of personal fitness, inspire new creative endeavours, develop a campaigning zeal for a particular cause …small acorns can and do grow into great oak trees!

Everyone who has made it big was small at one time and they had to start by taking an opportunity and then working with that, through perseverance. Not every opportunity we take will work out but we won’t look back and think with regret, if only….. The beginning of a new school year is full of promise. Sharpen your new pencils and start writing in the new open book of this year!

Mrs Crossley