By Matt Burnett, Head of Pastoral Care
In Whole School Assembly this week, I challenged our new and returning pupils to think through their plan for the year. I asked them: “What do you want to build?” and “How do you want to succeed?”.
I started with the analogy of my family holiday this summer when my young children challenged me to build not just a sand castle – but a ‘sand car’. After some thought, I decided to rise to the challenge and began digging! After some toil and commitment with my only tools for the job being a trusty little bucket and spade, I had shaped a passable car-shaped creation made entirely from beach sand and with a plastic beaker acting as a steering wheel! My audience thought it was improvisation at its finest, but it also required some planning and thought.
Putting in place the building blocks
Taking that simple and light-hearted analogy and thinking about the academic year ahead, I believe success for our pupils will depend on their approach to seizing opportunities as well as tackling challenges. This is not a journey they need to take alone and I recommend they embrace the following elements:
- The vision and the plan: pupils should have a vision or a plan, whether that’s about how best to tackle their homework, how to be brave, personal decision-making, or making the most of co-curricular activities. So that means reflecting on things in their lives that would make at least a small difference. For instance, this could be to ensure they catch the train to school on time, or it might mean ensuring they eat a decent breakfast to avoid being distracted by a rumbling tummy in Lesson 2! As has been said: “Small disciplines deliver big results!”
- Learn from your own life experiences: pupils should use their experiences and talents to learn from what went well, and learn from any mistakes. The things that go well for them – and less well – all add to their bank of experience that they can draw on to make decisions that should help them achieve to the best of their abilities.
- Ask for help along the way: I always advise pupils to ask for help when they need it and to try not to be afraid to do so: teachers will be happy to help if they’re asked. While they are busy people working through their lesson plans and daily timetables, they will invariably make time to help and support any student who wants it, either on academic matters or for pastoral support.
- Commitment: we urge pupils to give it their all and make their best attempt to achieve something. If something is worth doing, it’s worth doing well. It might be a school project, a sports fixture or learning an instrument and then putting new skills into practice. This approach will reap dividends and increase greater levels of enjoyment in the long term.
The journey through the school year isn’t always easy and will sometimes feel hard but the determination pupils show and the approach they take will help them to achieve their goals. As I said in assembly, good character isn’t built when the road is easy but when it’s hard. As the Leadership expert, John Maxwell, said: “Successful people do consistently what others do occasionally” and “Your future self is the result of the decisions you make each and every day”. And that, I believe, is a goal worth aiming for!
