 It's freezing cold outside and there's snow on the ground, but I'm glowing and it's not because of the woolly jumper I'm wearing or the fact that we've got our central heating on full blast, but it's because Pangea, a global village, has become a reality. And I would like to pass my congratulations to all of the people who have been involved in this venture from the initial concept through the planning stages and now the management of the conference which is about to take place. I have huge respect for all of you. Most people think that schools are places where children learn and of course that's true but it's also somewhere where teachers learn and I'm sure that the next few days will reinforce that belief. We all have moments of frustration, especially when things outside our control get in the way of us being able to fulfill our dreams and our aspirations, but in over 50 years of working in the education sector I haven't come across anybody who is fundamentally pessimistic. So the panel discussions are going to give you the opportunity to share ideas, to give each other support, to realise you're not alone and to come away with new perspectives, looking at things in a different light and I hope with a great renewed sense of hope. The students, well there's no need to worry about them because they always bounce back with every challenge that you give to them. So I'm sure like me you're all really excited to see what comes out of the cross-cultural stories, to see how young people from very different backgrounds and experiences and circumstances translate to their music in different ways and also how they interpret those feelings and put them into their individual pieces of art. So there's a great programme lined up, again huge congratulations to everybody, really looking forward to it and let's all remember all of us who take part to think about the theme of the conference, which is compassion and collaboration.