Courage and Resiliance Assembly 2025

You might ask, what does “ethos” really mean? I believe it’s more than just rules or expectations. It’s the shared values that shape how we treat each other and how we carry ourselves. You might not always be able to describe it - but you can feel it. And others can feel it too.

At Chigwell, we’ve defined our ethos through five core values: happiness first, courageous and resilient, innovative approach, community of kindness, and life-long learning. These values reflect who we are and who we aspire to be.

It’s easy to talk about values - but they only mean something if we live them. So, my assemblies will be a chance to explore what they really look like and a chance to keep reminding you who we say we are.

Today, I want to talk about what it means to be courageous and resilient. In other words,stepping out of your comfort zone to face something that scares you, and having the strength to recover when things don’t go to plan. Let me illustrate this value with a real-life story - one that some of you may know, and one that has become personally meaningful to me over the past ten years. I’ll explain why at the end.

I want you to imagine the world in 1913. In that year, an advert went out in the national newspapers that read:

Men wanted, for hazardous journey, small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honour & recognition in case of success.

I wonder how many of you would have applied for such a role? No creature comforts, no Wi-Fi, no hot showers, no social media, no Deliveroo - just hardship, silence, and the unknown.

But this was an advert published by Sir Earnest Shackleton as he looked to recruit his crew for the ship ‘Endurance’ to be part of an adventure that would take them to the Antarctic, across it and back home again. Over 5,000 applications were received, and Shackleton was said to have sorted them into piles titled ‘mad’, ‘hopeless’ and ‘possible’ before selecting his 28-strong crew for his Antarctic expedition.

Sir Ernest Shackleton is regarded as a British hero. He is often described as, ‘the stuff of legends – demonstrating one of the greatest feats of leadership and survival of all times’. The period in which he lived was known as the romantic age of exploration, prior to the mechanisation of the world. Expeditions were based on human toughness, ingenuity and daring. This was the age of the race to the poles, stories of Scott and Amundsen – a time where explorers travelling the seas were described as, men of iron in boats of wood.

I want to share with you today Shackleton’s remarkable story and look at what we might learn from his experiences.

Ernest Henry Shackleton was born in February 1874, in County Kildare, Ireland. The second of 10 children, and oldest son, he was raised and educated in London at Dulwich College. Despite his father wanting him to follow in his footsteps and go to medical school, the 16-year-old Shackleton had his own dreams, and joined the merchant navy. In 1901, he joined the noted British explorer Robert Falcon Scott on a difficult trek to the South Pole that placed the two men, closer to the pole than anyone else previously.

Shackleton’s early expeditions sparked a deep obsession with reaching the Antarctic. In 1907, he came within 97 miles of the South Pole before brutal conditions forced him to turn back. But after Amundsen beat Captain Scott to the Pole in 1911- and Scott tragically perished with his team - Shackleton set his sights on a new challenge: to cross the entire Antarctic continent.

So, on August 1, 1914, Shackleton departed London on the ship ‘Endurance’, heading for the South Pole and the treacherous journey that awaited him. However, Shackleton’s trip was halted in early 1915 when ice closed in on his ship crushing it. For 10 months the ship was stuck in the ice before it sank. On an unbelievable journey, Shackleton would lead his 28 man team, for nearly two years, in the most gruelling conditions walking across the frozen ice pack dragging a small 23-foot rescue boat called the ‘James Caird’to the most northly point of the Antarctic peninsula, Elephant Island. It was there that they re-engineered the boat to include sails, a solid top, a rudder and ballast in order forfive crew to sail with Shackleton to South Georgia. Fearful that they may not make it, Shackleton left a message for the crew he left behind:

‘In the event of my not surviving the boat journey to South Georgia you will do your best for the rescue of the party. Convey my love to my people and say I tried my best’.

In the ‘James Caird’, Shackleton and his five companions made the epic open boat voyage of 800 miles from Elephant Island to South Georgia during the Antarctic winter of 1916. This journey involved crossing the world's most inhospitable ocean. The boat was buffeted by hurricane force winds and 50ft waves. Ice built up on the decking, fifteen inches deep, threatening to overturn the boat, navigation had to take place by holding one crew to the mast and if they were more than a degree out on their sextants they would miss the island and continue to sail forever. Hour by hour, frostbitten and numbed with cold, the men had to chip the ice away from the vessel. After 16 days at sea, the six men finally sighted land. Their troubles didn’t stop then. Hurricane-strength wind prevented them from landing for a day, then they realised they were on the wrong side of the islandso they had to trek over mountains to get to the whaling station on the other side. They managed to achieve all this, but then when they tried to sail back to get the rest of their men, the ice prevented them, and it took another 8 months waiting for the ice to melt before they were able to see their crew again. The remaining men from the 'Endurance' were rescued in August 1916, two years after they had first set sail. Unbelievably not one member of the expedition died.

Now, that was a quick summary of the story, but I encourage you to read the full story in more detail in your own time – it is fascinating as well as gripping.

So why share this story?

I hope this tale illustrates a powerful example of resilience - and for me, it’s deeply inspiring. It reminds me of a time when people actively sought out challenge and adventure. They weren’t chasing for comfort, recognition or unearned praise. They were willing to embrace discomfort and uncertainty in pursuit of something greater. That mindset - choosing the difficult path because it leads to growth - is something we can all learn from.

Resilience isn’t something we’re born with - it’s something we build. And like Shackleton and his crew, we build it through experience. That means facing setbacks, making mistakes, and crucially, learning how to fail well. School offers the perfect environment for this kind of growth. Here, the stakes are low, but the lessons are real. Every challenge - whether it’s a tough exam, a group project that doesn’t go to plan, a friendship issue or a moment of personal disappointment - is an opportunity to strengthen your resilience. So don’t shy away from difficulty. Lean into it. Learn to sit with discomfort and become comfortable with it - discover what you’re capable of when things don’t go your way. That’s how resilience is forged.

So some advice in the coming days, weeks, months, think about how to develop resilience:

• Aim high. Set ambitious goals. You won’t always reach them, but stepping outside your comfort zone is how you grow.• Stick with it. Don’t give up at the first hurdle. Resilience is built through persistence.• Talk to others. When things go wrong, don’t bottle it up. Speak to friends, teachers, family. Use your support network to help you through.• And look after yourself. You can’t face challenges well if you’re not caring for your physical and mental wellbeing.

You don’t need to cross Antarctica to show courage and resilience. You show it every time you try something difficult, every time you bounce back from a setback, and every time you choose to keep going. And as I look around this morning, I know many of you have already shown remarkable resilience - keep building on that. And if you haven’t yet tested yourself, why not start this week? Do something that scares you, even just a little.

Finally, why is this story close to my heart? Because I had the privilege of designing the space at Dulwich College where the ‘James Caird’ - the lifeboat Shackleton used to cross from Elephant Island to South Georgia - now rests. I walked past it every day for ten years. I could see it, touch it, and it reminded me daily that courage and resilience aren’t just qualities of explorers - they’re values we can all live by, in our own way, every day.

Be ambitious. Be courageous. Be resilient. That’s what it means to be a Chigwellian.

Mr Damian King