Welcome to the new school year! I would like to share with you an extract from the speech that I offered to our students at the Magid Campus opening assembly.

“Students, last week I met with the staff to launch our planning for the new school year. I told them what I consider to be an amazing story about an Englishman called Matthew Syed.

During the 1990s Syed was the UK’s number one ranked table tennis player. He lived in Reading about 90 min from London.

In 1990, Reading had a population of around 200,000 out of a UK population of around 57 million. This means that at the time, around 3 out of every 1000 English people were from Reading. 

Now within Reading there was a particular street called Silverwater Rd. The reason I raise this, is that from the mid 1980s through the mid 1990s more than 50% of the UK’s national table tennis team were from Silverwater Rd. Of 57 million citizens of the UK, there was a bizarre proliferation of talent in this one tiny area. 

The team included Matthew and Andrew Syed who lived at number 119, Andy Wellman who lived at 149, Karen Wilks who lived at 249 and seven other players who lived within the same block.

Most of these had gone to the local school, Aldryngton Primary School.

Now at Aldryngton, there was a particular teacher called Peter Charters who was an elite table tennis coach.

He created a culture at the school where the kids that everyone looked up to played table tennis. He also converted an old wooden shed around the corner from the school and put a table tennis table in there and created a place for those who were interested to play after school and at weekends.  This was called the Omega club.

He also honoured those who showed proficiency and responsibility by giving them a key to Omega and allowing them free access.

Syed states that there were multiple factors that contributed to his extraordinary success. 

Firstly, he said that when he was little, his parents put a table tennis table in the garage. Secondly, his older brother, Andrew, used to play with him and they developed a competitive relationship where they challenged one another to succeed.

Next, he attended a school which valued his particular prowess and thanks to his fortune of having a sibling and a table, he stood out in the eyes of the coach from the beginning.

This probably contributed to the opportunities he was given.

Peter Charters, his teacher and coach, was clearly inspirational in developing a talent pool and creating and nurturing a particular culture.

It was about the provision of opportunity, guidance, trust and responsibility within a supportive culture. This is something that we try to replicate here at KDS for all of our students.

This comes down to knowing each of you, helping you find out the ways in which you are special and in finding out how best to support you to learn.

Now I raise this today because you are lucky to go to a school that is full of amazing educators who each aspire to be your Peter Charters. They want to help you achieve your best and push you to find your passion.

You may be a future table tennis star, performing artist, scientist, coder, ethicist, politician, diplomat or rabbi.  

The point is that this school will provide every opportunity for you to develop your skills and nurture your talent. 

The other aspect of Matthew Syed’s story is that it is not enough just to provide the opportunity – the vital part of the equation is that you need to accept the challenge to embrace the opportunity, to try new things and to give it your all.

I want to remind you that you will never find it easier in your life to access a wide range of experiences that are being made available to you. When my kids were growing up and were reluctant to try new food I used to be that annoying Dad who would say – how do you know that it’s not your favourite food if you haven’t tried it?

My advice to all of you is that you need to get into the habit of saying to the remarkable opportunities on offer – “yes, I’ll give it a try.”

This goes for all of the clubs, programs and curricular opportunities that we offer you here. I also challenge you to take this attitude to exploring new friendships.

At the start of the year there is an opportunity to think carefully about what you want to achieve.

What are your hopes and aspirations for the year ahead and for the future?

Are you brand new to the School or the campus and are hoping to make some lifelong friends?

Are you inspired to get involved in new areas of our school life be they artistic, technological, Jewish life or the fabulous musicals?

Will you kick the winning goal in an EISM final, or challenge yourself to enter swimming events to gain points for your house at the Swimming Carnival?

It is through focus, hard work, dedication and good values that we are blessed with this wonderful thriving school. Please do not take this for granted as it is up to each of us to work to maintain it.

So to you I say, please say yes! Take up our offers. Put in your best work to build this community and to maximise your experience. You need to be the sort of wonderful friend that others want to be friends with, you have to put yourself out there and get involved in the myriad opportunities that this school offers. You need to work on your relationships with your teachers and listen carefully to their feedback.

May you have a year in which the friendships you have nurtured, the goals you have achieved and the learning you have established are all the best they can be and all are taking you towards becoming the champion that we know that you can be.”

Shabbat Shalom,
Marc Light