Thought For The Day – Friday 12^th July 2024

Another great week at TBSHS is about to close.

Visits still continue, from the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award Expedition to History and English educational opportunities.   Thank you to students, parents and especially to those staff leading, organising and supervising.

Inside school, we continue to finish the week, and academic year next week, well.

It is particularly poignant that we are now in our final few days on our current site.  You are part of this history.  Finish in style and with class.

Further memories will be created this weekend. Not everyone follows football, and not everyone supports England, or Spain, but many will be looking forward to the Spain versus England final in the “Euros 24” men’s football competition.

If your appropriate interest and inspiration is other than football, keep doing you and go for your passions.

This is not the first major football final England have reached in football overseas.  It is the actually the second.

For the original distinction was achieved by the Lionesses last year in the world cup, in Australia and New Zealand,  the final of which was also against a wonderful Spain team.  The Lionesses, who play this evening, also showed massive resilience to get to the final for they had key injuries before the tournament.

England have the chance to win a second ever European football championships and win a third ever major football competition.  The Lionesses won the women’s “Euros” memorably at Wembley, in 2022, following England’s World Cup victory at the same venue in 1966. The men’s team reached the men’s “Euros” final, at Wembley, in 2021, postponed by one year owing to the global pandemic,  of course.

Like the Lionesses,  England’s men’s team have shown great recovery, resilience,  teamwork and togetherness, and key moments of brilliance, skill and greatness, giving opportunities to a new generation, in this tournament.  There is a narrative of very calm, effective, reliable and respectful tournament and qualification consistency, progress and representation under Gareth Southgate since 2016.

The tactics, talent, technique and tenacity of Spain, whose passing and possession  style of play, which continues to adapt,  has been so influential in last two decades, and was influenced by  coaches from the Netherlands,  and whose players are so well-known,  will be a very significant and considerable,  but exciting and historic, challenge.