Tuesday 25 June 2019

Pentrehafod School Achievement Evening


School presentation evening are an essential part of the education process, ensuring that hard work in both academic and non-curricula activities are recognised and rewarded. As a school governor, this is the second time I have attended the Pentrehafod School Presention Evening. This time I was attending as Lord Mayor and giving the keynote speech.

It was a fantastic evening at which nearly a hundred pupils were rewarded for their hard work over the year in front of their parents, carers and guardians. This is my speech:

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Chair of Governors, Headteacher, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I wanted to start by congratulating you, for the effort and commitment you have all put in over the past year both academically and in your extra-curricula activities, all of which hard work and achievement has been recognised this evening.

I didn’t have an easy time at school, but I knew that if I worked hard and applied myself then the opportunities were endless. The same opportunities lie ahead for each and every one of you.

Success is something that we define for ourselves, we set our own goals and we focus on how best to achieve them. But whatever any of you decide you want to do in the future, never forget where you have come from.

We are, all of us, rooted in our community. It defines us and it supports us. Our friends and neighbours are part of a wider family, and like any family we look out for each other and we work together to better ourselves and each other.

But no community gains anything by looking inward. We have a bigger responsibility to those less fortunate than ourselves, and we should recognise that the contribution of others can make us all stronger and more prosperous.

I came to Swansea in 1978 to study for a degree at the university, attracted by a beach-front campus.

I stayed because of the city’s friendly, welcoming people, its deep-rooted communities, good sporting and cultural links, fantastic scenery and because I enjoy living in a City with a strong sense of identity.

Like every other City in the UK, Swansea has its problems, but it remains a great place to live and work.

As a city, we have a proud tradition of social justice and community cohesion based on cultural, racial and religious tolerance.

I am proud to call Swansea my home, as so many others who have moved here have called this city home. In fact, Swansea has a long history of integrating new arrivals into its own distinctive urban identity.

We have welcomed large numbers of people from Ireland, many fleeing famine; we have had a significant Welsh-Italian community here since the early 1900s running local businesses, while during the early twentieth century, many men of Chinese origin were employed here as cooks, stewards and firemen on merchant ships in the docks. The first Chinese restaurants opened in Swansea in 1959.

During the first world war a small Belgian population was established here, many of whom were employed in the town’s spelter works.

During the Spanish Civil War Swansea became home to child refugees, while following the accession of Adolf Hitler to power in 1933, we also welcomed Jewish refugees, two of whom brought the Mettoy factory here.

The war produced millions of displaced persons from eastern Europe, many of whom settled in Swansea, leading, amongst others, to the establishment of the Ukrainian Club in Morriston.

While in the early 1950s, Swansea industrialists recruited thousands of workers from southern Italy to help address the chronic labour shortages in the local tinplate industry. There is also a significant south Asian population in the City.

The world is a much more dangerous place, with millions of people displaced from their home by war, oppression, religious and sexual discrimination and climate change.

Many are impoverished, starving, separated from their family and friends, and placed in life-threatening situations as they seek to escape violence, famine, torture, sexual assault, intolerance and the loss of fundamental human rights.

We continue to receive refugees and asylum seekers in Swansea, the majority from Syria, Somalia and Afghanistan, and I am proud that we have built up a culture of hospitality and welcome, and that we became the UK’s second official City of Sanctuary in May 2010.

We should not forget that if you have food in your fridge, clothes on your body, a roof over your head, and a place to sleep, then you are richer than 75% of the entire world.

Pentrehafod School is at the centre of a wider community. It is one that embraces us, offers us hope and opportunity, and brings us together.

Our history and the history of our community is what defines us and defines our City, but we should always remember that others are worse off than ourselves and may need our help and support.

You are our future and that of our community.

Congratulations once again for everything you have achieved so far and best wishes for the bright future that lies ahead of all of you. Thank you.

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