Firstly, I want to begin by wishing you all a belated Happy New Year and I hope that everyone enjoys a successful 2017.

The first week of 2017 saw students at Medtia Square return after their two week Christmas celebration. It also allowed us to review the effectiveness of the building since our arrival in September; for the pathways, it has allowed for progression in life skills. It is now time to be pragmatic and make the best decisions for our future. For some, that may mean moving on to mainstream colleges like myself or for others, remaining with our innovative pathways to continue their New Bridge journey.

Last Friday saw the inauguration of Donald Trump as the most powerful man on the planet. What on earth is going to happen over the next four years is anyone’s guess. I guarantee, however, that the world is watching this experiment very closely. We seem to have a rise in anti-establishment leaders at the moment; Britain, America, France and potentially Italy have all gone against the establishment in the last twelve months. If the old establishment thought the EU and going to war in Iraq were good ideas, you could possibly say it is a surprise that there are so few countries going down this road.

I can only apologise to the people of Spring Brook for having to put up with your new head of school, Mrs Tootill. Trust me, putting up with her for two lessons of badminton was more than enough, so to find out that she will be launching a blog soon….I may have to consider a boycott. I am only joking, Mrs Tootill is one of the greatest members of staff you could wish for within this Group. Without her support, I somehow don’t think I would be where I am today – former Head Boy, Grade C English student, on the brink of college. It’s safe to say that I joined New Bridge with a reputation comparable to a gutter so any progress from that is a success. Another improvement over the last four years is my ability to get friend zoned. Trust me, if there was an Oscar for the category, I would have won it for the last four years.

This week’s blog is fairly short, however the next few weeks will see things pick up around the Group as we approach our annual ‘mid-year break’, the second round of fixtures in the One City League as well as a return to weekly blogging the events around our little home in the middle of Oldham.

Have a good week,

Matthew

PS Mr Greenway is STILL a chicken!!!