The River Thames outside DLD College London

From The Principal #77

24th April 20

Welcome back to the start of the new summer term and I hope you all had a good Easter, albeit a very different one. The past five weeks have certainly been strange – we have all had to adopt to new ways of living, working and socialising (I wish I had bought shares in Zoom!). We have all had to make sacrifices in order protect our loved ones and society from the dreaded virus and adapt to this new norm which could last indefinitely. I know it hasn’t been easy for you but we are to here to provide help and support with the resources we have. We are all in this together.

Despite the negativity, there have been plenty of good news stories which has demonstrated how as a society we are coming together (metaphorically I hasten to add) to help those less fortunate than us. I have been impressed with those essential key workers who are out there putting their lives at risk protecting others and keeping the country moving. Our very own DLD has been described as ‘a beacon of hope’ as we continue to receive and display thousands of pieces of artwork from people all over the world showing their appreciation of all that our key workers do – it is truly inspirational and I thank our HouseParents who have been behind this international campaign.

Our teachers continue to deliver on-line lessons and I hope that our students are continuing to engage and learn from them and are looking at the bigger picture, rather than the now – this week’s online assembly highlighted that and it was an opportunity to welcome the new 18-strong Student Council for 2020/21 which will be led by Charlotte and Sofya. My thanks go to the outgoing Student Council of 2019/20 which has been admirably led by Tim and Alramina – they and their extraordinary team leave behind a powerful and lasting legacy at DLD and have certainly set the bar for the incoming team; we wish them all the very best going forward.

Life does goes on and we will all get through this and when we do I hope that we will be a little more tolerant, a little more respectful and a whole lot kinder to one another. We have a real opportunity to learn more about the subjects that we are passionate about and a little something about ourselves too.

#BeKindAndStaySafe

Irfan

Irfan Latif, Principal DLD College London