2016 has started in a pretty grey and wet fashion.  We will all know people who have been affected by flooding and will all be hoping things improve as the year unfolds.

In this blog I am keen to highlight a couple of themes, the first being ‘improvements’.  Many people start the year with an area for improvement (what we call a new year resolution).  I am not a great fan of the new year resolution – if something needs improved why wait until the end of the year to do something about it.  Improvement should be continuous and on-going.  I often say to pupils, staff and parents let me know if there is something you want us to improve.  Don’t wait until it becomes difficult to make the improvement.

The second theme I want to mention is ‘failure’.  Some people are afraid to fail and as a result they do not test themselves to their limits.  Many of the most successful people say they have learned far more from their failures than from their successes.  Some of the most significant breakthroughs come from testing a product to its limits.  So often after a quiz or an exam people say “I knew that but was too scared to say it in case it sounded stupid”.  Failure is a good thing it shows you are pushing yourself and it is an opportunity to learn from your mistakes.

Over the early part of this session I want us to help our young people push themselves to ‘learn from failure’ and to ‘keep improving’.  I also recognise that although I have now been Head teacher at Harlaw Academy for 3 years there is still a lot which needs improved.  I am committed to making on-going improvements and value any views people have on areas we need to work on.