How do lions behave? Well, sometimes they can be rather ferocious, at other times they appear frightfully laid back. What they have in common, however, is how they choose to live their lives and as we all know, that is in a pride. Given that our visual symbol is a friendly lion cub (a nod, of course, to the four rather majestic lions on and beside the Hampton crest), it seemed only right that the values we have chosen to embody at our school should be known collectively as our Pride Values.
We can be proud of our school and proud of our endeavours, but I believe most importantly of all, we should be proud of our behaviour: of how we treat others, how we conduct ourselves, and how we contribute to the wellbeing of our community. These Pride Values are not about roaring the loudest but represent we hope actions that help make a community flourish, naturally ours included.
I have already referred to the Pride Values we are seeking to reinforce across the Pre-Prep and Prep this term in my end of term letter to parents in December. Mrs Howard, in her role as Deputy Head (Pastoral), working alongside Mrs Murphy, other staff and, crucially, our pupils themselves, led the thoughtful selection of the values that mean the most to us. It is a pleasure now to see this project coming so clearly to life.
If we can help all our girls and boys here to carry these values with them beyond the school gates, then we will have done something truly worthwhile, in my view. After all, a Hampton lion should know when to show courage, when to show compassion and, every now and then, when it is perfectly acceptable simply to lie in the sun and look quietly pleased with itself, feeling (I hope perhaps even somewhat modestly) proud of their achievements!
