Inspiring speech by our Head Boy and Head Girl

As part of our Chapel Service this week we were joined by our Heads of School, Will and Sophie. Both students gave an inspiring speech reflecting on their time at Langley, from their fond memories to encouraging our pupils and students to uptake all opportunities Langley has to offer. Please see below for their speeches.

Head Boy, Will
As we approach our last few weeks at Langley we thought it would be the perfect time to reflect on our journey throughout the years and provide you all who have many years left at the school with some things to remember and consider moving forward. But first, as myself and Will have attended Langley since year 8, we would like to share some fond memories we have with you all.

One memorable moment I have is the Holland hockey tour I was a part of in year 8 in 2018, this is core memory for me as it allowed new friendships to blossom as well as strengthen the friendships I already had on and off the sporting pitch. we explored a new city together while bettering our teamwork ability by playing hockey against teams in Holland which helped me increase my confidence and independence.

Another core memory is my 5 years in boarding as it allowed me to live with my best friends doing silly activities, like escape rooms and inflatable football in the sports hall, while also allowing me to receive continuous support from the students and staff around me which helped me to thrive in my schooling and taught me many lessons which I will carry forever after Langley.

In Langley we’re lucky enough to have the opportunity to take part in the CCF, whether you view this as lucky or not is up for interpretation however, its an opportunity

many of us take it for granted as most students never get this opportunity. Looking back at my time in the CCF I was one of the people who took it for granted and upon reflection regret this decision. My outlook on CCF was quite literally ‘Why am I doing this? ‘This is a waste of my time’. I understand that some of you listening may also feel this way and it may lead you to have a negative attitude and outlook on CCF. However, I can tell you from my experience that this attitude will be the core reason why you do or don’t enjoy CCF. Therefore, I’m challenging those who don’t enjoy CCF to change their overall outlook and opinion on CCF, instead of looking at it from a negative standpoint try participating in it with the mindset of getting something out of it. Whether this is simply enjoying it or improving at a particular skill, this simple change in mindset will lead you to enjoy it more than previously done so.

Also throughout my time in school, I didn’t use my time wisely, I would spend time messing around and procrastinating, constantly pushing stuff back just before the day it was due, I guess you could say I was a night before person. During this period in school, I thought everything was fine until I received my English mock back in year 10, I remember receiving my grade and it being far below my expectations. This served as a wake up call for me, my stalling of work until the last minute had served as a burden to me consistently resulting in myself rushing school work and not completing it to the best of my ability. However, I guess you could say I was lucky as I still had time to change and improve.

Transitioning into sixth form was a big difference which brought a sense of freedom along with an increase in responsibility and independence. this led to a mixture of emotions for me, one being pressure as I felt I had to accomplish certain things within certain time frames however this of course is not the case, the continuous support from my teachers and the caring environment helped me understand that if something doesn’t go right the first time, it doesn’t mean it won’t go right the second which pushed me to always put 100% into everything I do. This has allowed me to leave Langley confident in my future and grateful for the experiences and opportunities it has provided me with. Thirdly make the most of your time as it goes very fast and make sure you use the support around you to help better yourself to be the best version of you. A quote we’d like you to leave with is “people can only give good advice but the final forming of a persons character lies in their own hands”