On Friday morning, Mrs Cameron visited the staff and pupils of St Joseph’s in the Park to give an assembly talk on the theme of ‘Feeling Safe’. She spoke about her own experiences of, quite literally, ‘getting back on the horse’, and shared some thoughts about the importance of learning from failure.

After the talk, she met up with headmaster Mr Douglas Brown and OQ Emma Mottram, who works in the Drama department at St Joseph’s.

FEELING SAFE

How do we know that we feel safe? What makes us feel safe? Why is it important that we feel safe?

I would like us to consider how failure is important and occurs best when we feel safe.

We are told all of the time to just have a go. To take the risk, without trying you can never succeed.

But, the wonderful thing about failure is that it's entirely up to us to decide how to look at it.

We can choose to see failure as "the end of the world," or as proof of just how inadequate we are.

I would like to share a personal journey of my own with you.

I love horse riding and I love competing and eventing. I have an ambition to compete with my horse at a high level one day. I have ridden horses all my life and recently bought a new young horse which I have dreams of training to become a top eventer...

A couple of weekends ago I decided it was time to teach my young horse how to jump some cross country fences and this happened:

(To reassure you, no horses or headmistresses were harmed in the making of this film!)

This did not happen once, or twice, but three times! But finally...

So we can look at failure as the incredible learning experience that it often is. Every time we fail at something, we can choose to look for the lesson we're meant to learn. These lessons are very important; they're how we grow, and how we keep from making that same mistake again. Failures stop us only if we let them.

Most of us will stumble and fall in life. Doors will get slammed in our faces, and we might make some bad decisions. But imagine if every time someone failed they just stopped trying. The most successful people fail much more than anyone who has not failed.

Think of the opportunities you'll miss if you let your failures stop you.

Failure can also teach us things about ourselves that we would never have learned otherwise. For instance, failure can help you discover how strong a person you are. Failing at something can help you discover your truest friends, or help you find unexpected motivation to succeed.

But let’s just stop and think for a moment about the term failure. It is so negative, when in fact it is the most positive thing you can do for without it you will not feel success.

So let’s redefine failure; in fact, let’s not use the word at all. Every moment that we choose to take, to seize, to challenge ourselves and to make the most of is an opportunity to learn, to grow and to be better.

The story was about a man who was the sole survivor of a shipwreck who was stranded on a small desert island with only the items from his ship that had washed up on the shore with him. The man carefully constructed a small hut to store his few precious belongings and to protect himself from the weather. One day as he was standing in the ocean fishing for his next meal he turned back to shore to see that his hut was on fire with smoke billowing into the air. The worst was happening. “God, how could you do this to me,” he cried. He believed that all was lost. Later he heard the sound of an approaching ship in the distance. It was coming to rescue him. “How did you know I was here?” asked the man of his rescuers. “We saw your smoke signal,” they replied.

Redefine failure as any time that you allow your fears to stop you from doing the things you truly want to do in life. Then move forward and get "it" done!

Not giving yourself the opportunities to learn and grow…that is failure.

Giving yourselves the opportunity to fail and therefore succeed is easier when you feel safe and you are in a supportive environment like here at St. Joseph’s.

Feeling safe is the first step to opportunity and success.

So, I always wear my riding hat and body protector so that I can take measured risks to success with a couple of bumps along the way to learn and be better!

REFLECTION

The world can seem a scary place,
so much to think about if I want to stay safe.
But it’s not really scary when you know
when to stop and when to go,
when to move and when to stay still,
what's good to eat and what will make you ill.

We learn to be safe as we grow,
and the longer we live the more we know.
So the world isn't such a scary place.
Just stop and think - make sure you're safe.