New Head at a Prep School

Week 1

Wednesday was a new start for many new pupils and I was delighted to welcome them in the first St. Peter’s Assembly of the year.

The theme of the first assembly was ‘The Flag’. We discussed the recent Olympics and the excitement and pride that the teams felt in the opening ceremony walking under their flag. We discussed whether Olympians had always been able to flip from the 10m diving board or whether they had always been able to lift such heavy weights. The answer is of course not. They had to practise, to fail, to get up and try again, to be determined and know that they could achieve it if they work hard. All lessons that I wanted the children to take on as they started their new term. I explained that a brain is a muscle which needs to be worked to get learning to happen, the ethos of Growth Mindset.

We then talked about flags and the shared identity they celebrate. The fact that they give people a shared spirit and values, something to help them celebrate success together and show the world we are proud to be in the team. The Head Boy and Girl then brought to assembly the St Peter’s School flag which we all then watched them raise at the flag pole in the centre of St. Peter’s. The school gave three cheers for the term and then all the pupils were off to focus on identifying their individual targets for the new year with the St Peter’s Baccalaureate.

Walking around the classes on my first day I was struck by the sophisticated language that the children were using when talking about their learning and their targets. They all understood what they needed to do to improve and were excited and motivated by the structure of the Baccalaureate.

I shared my targets for the term with the children, to know all of their names by Christmas, to spend lots of time in lessons, activities and games, to spend time with parents and to fly the flag and cheer for St. Peter’s at matches. A super first few days.