With Mr Smith away inspecting another school, I have the pleasure today of writing this week’s bulletin. With the week we have had – all of which you can read more about below – I really have enjoyed reflecting on the events that boys have attended, and hosted. More specifically, however, I have enjoyed reflecting on the way in which the boys approached these events, and how I think they were able to do so in the manner they did.
Monday to Friday this week has really demonstrated to us here at school how comfortable the boys here are at just stepping up and getting on with it. We know it is all too easy to just say, ‘go on, give it a go’, and everything then just happen. Teachers, parents, communities, and society more broadly, recognises that in order to instil this mindset we need to teach young people to be confident, yet humble, competitive yet compassionate, and ambitious yet self-aware.
This critical balance was clearly demonstrated this week on two occasions that I witnessed, and, of course, no doubt on plenty of others too.
The first was with regards to our Junior Travel Ambassadors (JTAs), who under the guidance of Ms Busby invited a number of local primary schools to the Prep to discuss the benefits of healthy, environmentally friendly ways to travel to and from school. I watched as our JTAs confidently welcomed children and teachers, hosting them so well and showcasing many of the aforementioned values we know are needed to successfully ‘just give it a go!’. This is something that as a child their age, I am not sure I would be so comfortable doing.
The second example comes from Mr Salt’s well-organised Hampton Prep 7s tournament. With one team pulling out of the competition the day before, Mr Salt invited our U10 B team to compete. With less than 24 hours notice, our B team were thrown in to play against A teams from some of the strongest rugby schools in Surrey. Whilst registering a win and a draw, they approached the day with an excellent attitude and spirit, and certainly did more than just stepping up and giving it a go!
We are proud of the progress boys make here in lessons and in their preps, but we are more proud of the young people they are becoming.
Have a great weekend.
Mr Ford – Deputy Head
