As the year draws to a close Mrs Gibson, Headmistress, reflects on the BGS values, in particular, the importance of always being imaginative. 

Whenever I think about imagination my mind immediately leaps to one thing in particular…see if you can recognise it from this quote: 

It is the song Pure Imagination from the film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory based on the book Charlie and the Chocolate factory. And who in here has not at one time imagined themselves in that wonderful factory room that has a chocolate river running through it and every flower, plant and blade of grass is made of something edible and sweet. Roald Dahl created such an immersive world in that book with eccentric characters, vivid scenes and that little touch of magic.

The act of writing a story is the epitome of imagination from Alice in Wonderland to the terrifying and tragic character of Count Dracula, and the dystopian futures depicted in books like the Handmaid’s Tale we learn to see the world through different eyes, to understand different viewpoints;  they stimulate our own creativity and help us question what we see around us.  

Being confident to use our creativity and imagination is something we highly value at BGS. I witness how wonderfully articulate, creative and intelligent our students are every day; how they are capable of questioning and challenging accepted norms and of engaging in debate with all the passion and acumen we could expect and hope for. These are some of the attributes we encourage you to develop so that our students  enter the world with critical curiosity, a love of learning and a desire to change things for the better. We can only conceive new solutions by looking at issues through different and new perspectives. We want to encourage our students to use their intellect to link thoughts and ideas to find new solutions; to always be questioning and stepping out of comfort zones to explore something from a different angle and not to always accept the status-quo.  

We live in a highly volatile world;  there are so many huge issues that need creative, innovative and imaginative thought to address them; we cannot solve them with our current thinking and whilst technology may help provide a solution, that bright spark of an idea will originate from someone’s imagination. From the issues of climate change, poverty, war, famine, gender inequality and greater political division, we need great thinkers to make a difference.  

And of course, imagination is also essential for all the creative arts, which enrich our lives so much. School has felt so much more vibrant and alive this year as we have been able to watch incredible drama and dance, listen to concerts and visit art exhibitions and work in collaboration to use the collective power of creativity to create joy and harness the sense of possibility.  

So as we finish another school year I would like to ask us to remember to  never dismiss a thought or an idea, however small or unconnecting it may at first appear; remember just how important imagination is, revel in it, let it run wild and always put it to good use.