Thoughts, comments, ideas and pause for thought from members of our school and extended community.
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Growing Together has been the theme of this week's Pupil Wellbeing. The focus has been on physical and emotional growth at different stages of our lives, and acknowledging that we are supported by others in this, as they grow and change too.
Gender equality is more than just boys and girls being treated equally. It is more than ensuring all have access to the same opportunities.
In this blog, Matt Shroff, our Director of Wellbeing, considers equality and the importance of boys questioning accepted norms and becoming ambassadors for change.
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A quick internet search reveals a wide range of answers, all contextual. If it's a company maybe it's profitability or customer satisfaction. Sometimes success is ranked by a measure of improvement.
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The NHS website defines anxiety as, '...a feeling of unease, such as worry or fear, that can be mild or severe.'
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This time of year, much is written about the joys of Christmas. It is a great time of year for many people, and rightly so. There is much to celebrate and be thankful for. But here, I wish to say a little about those people for whom it is not such a great time - the homeless, the lonely, the bereaved.
Following on from Matt Shroff’s recent article on what it's like being the Director of Wellbeing, our Deputy Head (Pastoral), Tom Rainer, was also asked the same question about his role as Head of Pastoral Care.
If we time travelled back ten years, you would find me a fairly typical teacher when it came to PSHEe (Personal, Social, Health and Economic education). Yes, it was useful stuff, but not always very interesting, a bit of a pain to teach at times, sometimes something to be dropped when things were busy.
Recently, I wrote about self-worth and its value in all our lives, especially in the young. This chimes well with the nationwide focus on Friday 19 November, on Children in Need.
So many ills of society, and thus the tribulation of individuals, seems to come from what we value. Not money, nor property or possessions; rather how we feel about ourselves. The child who bullies others, someone who falls in with gangs and drugs, the person who considers ending it all - it seems to me all these stem from a need to belong, to be given value, to be made to feel worthy.
Sometimes, when teaching children, it can be tempting to dumb things down or swerve difficult topics. However, this can be a disservice to them. As head of PSHEe, I believe it is important to empower pupils with knowledge before they actually need it - not too early, but just when they are ready.
