Of the very many questions that we can ask of ourselves within society, perhaps the most important is how well we are providing for and nurturing children and young people. It was interesting to learn that the common greeting of the Masai, “Kasserian Ingera?” translates as “How is it with the children?”, this being considered within their society as the most important barometer of the wellbeing of the community as a whole.
Certainly, this is the most important question that we as a school community can ask: how are the young people in our care? For this reason we seek to canvas the views of learners in myriad ways throughout the school year, via tutorial representatives and the school council, via our pupil ambassadors, via pupil forums convened to discuss major issues and proposed changes, and via regular questionnaires to name but a few. Thanks to the feedback from our pupils and the ideas and proposals that they have put forward,we have been able to make several improvements to our site with further improvements planned, including the addition of garden areas and an expanded canopied area. Pupils have also made excellent contributions to curriculum planning across the range of departments and have proposed involvement in and activity planning for numerous charity activities, truly leading in this area of the school’s work.
On this note, we are looking forward to seeing how many shoeboxes of gifts we are able to collect for this year’s ‘Operation Christmas Child’ appeal. Each year, the pupils really excel themselves in contributing to ensure that children who would otherwise be without Christmas gifts receive carefully-chosen presents that mean a very great deal to them,and that certainly spread joy! We look forward to updating you in the Christmas newsletter on this and the other fundraising projects.
In supporting these projects, we aim to ensure that pupils throughout the school are growing in the capacity to be‘grateful and generous’ young people. These two character traits form part of the Catholic pupil profile upon which we are working as a school this year, and you can read more about this in the next blog post. These traits come very naturally to our wonderful pupils at Bishop Vaughan and it is always humbling to witness the genuine compassion that our pupils have for those less fortunate than themselves.
With very many Bishop Vaughan pupils taking part in Remembrance Services, including singing at the Festival of Remembrance, there are numerous and poignant reminders over the week ahead of the sacrifices made by previous generations. We will pray in the coming days “for peace and reconciliation between nations; that enemies may put aside all differences” and“for all those who have died through war or acts of violence; that we may never forget their sacrifice.”
We hope that all pupils and their families have enjoyed a restful half-term holiday. I wish you all a fulfilling and happy half term ahead.
Mrs Pole
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