One kind word

We spent a very pleasant week with the children back in mid-November considering the importance of building and maintaining effective relationships.

The idea underpinning this was that of ‘One Kind Word’ which, when adopted, should see children become even better integrated into their school community and their friendship circles.

We also examined how easy it was to destroy relationships with careless, lazy and unkind words. Our painstakingly-constructed giant Jenga tower made an impressive display as it crashed to the Russell Hall floor!

Of course, we can all learn from this simple metaphor, especially in the sphere of social media where seemingly normal human beings all too often become vitriolic tyrants attempting to cancel anyone with whom they choose to disagree, even before evaluating the complexities of political, economic, scientific, artistic or educational discourse.

In this world, in increasingly challenging times, perhaps as we approach the Festive Season, we might all benefit from taking a pause before pushing the ‘submit’ button? ‘Tis the season for us all to be jolly, after all.

Craig McCarthy
Headmaster