School life has been trotting along merrily for more than a few weeks, with matches played, violins strummed, stories written, and maths problems solved. In short, we are all very busily into the swing of things here at Hampton Pre-Prep & Prep now, which feels rather marvellous to me!
The Values and Learning Skills we launched at the start of this academic year are becoming embedded, and it has been excellent to see how the pupils in the Prep especially have taken these revised dimensions of school life to heart so swiftly. For example, a highlight this week was the assembly from 5W this morning on the importance of creativity. The boys spoke from their own personal experience to explain how and why creativity plays a central role in their learning. They backed up their own individual reflections with examples from a selection of famous and inspiring creative geniuses whose work continues to teach us about the value of imagination and innovation, and the responsibility we all have to ensure those critically important creative juices keep flowing.
Parents may recall that a fortnight or so ago I attended the IAPS Heads’ Conference. The CEO, Dominic Norrish, began his keynote address to the hundreds of Prep school leaders gathered with the timely reminder: “As Heads you are responsible for developing the quality of the character in the young people in your care.” There was a collective ‘gulp’ moment from all of us in the room!
Jokes aside, that responsibility – and the joy that comes with it – never leaves me and is a large part of what keeps me going at our fabulous school on a daily basis. Whatever the skills, qualities, dispositions or personal characteristics that we are all in the process of nurturing in the pupils in our care, one thing is for sure: it’s always great fun!
