Thoughts from Prizegiving

The Senior prize-giving day at my school heard a speech from one of our parents: Maxwell Gomera, who is the Deputy Director of UNEP's World Conservation Monitoring Centre.
UNEP is the United Nations Environmental Programme.
Mr. Gomera talked about his upbringing, in a mining village in Zimbabwe, and meeting a former schoolmate, who had dropped out of school early.
I was interested in the section of his speech where he gave advice to students.
Firstly, if you're at school, you're still in the game, and you still have a chance, he said.
He shared a Shona proverb: "The chakata fruit on the ground belongs to all, but the one on the tree is for she who can climb".
He talked about the work the agency is doing to develop an Inclusive Wealth Index.
I hadn't heard of this before, but it seems from looking at the details and the previous reports that as well as being an economic indicator it is also packed full of geography.
Check out the domains which it involves, when talking about the crises that we face.


He stressed the importance of resilience, friendships, exploring other cultures, and keep on asking questions!
This was a well thought out speech, which I hope all our students took on board.
I look forward to finding out who our Junior school guest is... last year it was Eddie the Eagle.

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