I lay in bed, lit by the starlight coming through the window, and thought how amazing it was that I was there to see that light: that I had this opportunity. From the Mars factory in Slough to being in space as the first British astronaut.

The line above is paraphrased from Helen Sharman’s speech to the School when she visited us last week. There’s a full report in this week’s Gateway.

As Nisha wrote last week, Helen’s talks were inspirational. It is hard to express how moving it was to hear her. As she said, she wasn’t a fighter pilot, an American, from a long military tradition. She didn’t look like the men from the NASA missions. She went to school, liked science, studied chemistry at university and went to work in a factory making display screens and then a factory in Slough making chocolate and helping to develop the first ice-cream chocolate bar.

And then one day on her way home from work she turned on the radio and heard news of an opportunity for a British person to apply for a mission to space. She thought her friends would laugh at her; she felt unsure; but she thought there was no way she could turn down this chance. So she applied, along with 13,000 others: and over arduous months of selection and training, she made it to the final two.

A student asked her how it was she thought she made it through and was picked not to be the first reserve but to make it onto the flight. Her answer was fascinating. Some of it was physical and down to genes: for example, resistance to motion sickness. But at the end, one thing, she felt, was key. Both the last two, Helen and the man she was up against, were excellent candidates: but where she thought she shaded the decision was teamwork. Her ability to collaborate and solve the endless problems that space flight throws up.

It wasn’t just the proximity to Slough, or Helen showing a picture of Reading from space, that made this feel like a perfect story for The Abbey. It was the courage to take the chance; the determination to get through the experience; and in the end, the understanding and collaborative spirit that saw her chosen – all these things speak to everything we try to do at school. We aim to live and learn with joy and to encourage students to have the confidence to seize every opportunity that comes their way. It is hard to think of a better role model than Helen for that mission and that sense of purpose!

A day or two after Helen’s visit we hosted parents, safely but with absolute delight in person, at our Upper VI devised drama performance. Students had put together a searing piece featuring women’s voices over a century: women fighting restrictions, confronting physical and sexual violence, confronting control of their lives by others and striving for freedom and a better world. It was captivating and inspiring.

Every Abbey student will find their own path in life. If we can help them do so with the commitment, assurance and hope that were on show in Helen’s visit and that drama piece, then they will go on to wonderful lives that continue to make a difference to the world.

Since the theme this week is opportunity, let me finish with one for all Abbey parents: to take a role in our re-launched Parent Society, TAPS. Expressions of interest open today. We would love to hear from as many of you as possible and to work with you in support of this special community. Please see the article in this week’s Gateway for more and to sign up.

Will le Fleming, Head