Yesterday I was reading an article defending young people from accusations of being ‘Snowflakes’, a term increasingly in use to describe individuals who are considered to give up too easily or to be too sensitive and easily offended. Prof Peter Fonagy, the head of an independent review into mental health, ADHD and autism noted that there had been a real rise in mental health issues among the young, citing issues such as the economic and employment climate and the effects of social media. I’m sure we’ve all heard the stories about having it tougher in our day (anyone else’s grandparents have a 10 mile walk to and from school, uphill both ways?!) but is it harder these days? Unless you can go backward or forwards in time to live both experiences, who can say for sure? What we can do is stop worrying about who had/has it worst a la an old Monty Python sketch and focus on how we can support young people. There are skills younger generations don’t develop because they’ve never needed to focus and concentration are waning, but when they’re born in the instant access era, that’s hardly surprising. It’s hard to explicitly teach skills that we weren’t taught ourselves, and by the time pupils reach school age there are so many mandated subjects and topics to cover that the crucial life skills can become sidelined. At Hollygirt, we try to ensure we promote and develop those life and people skills where we can, building the whole person and giving them to the resilience they will need for a tough world. It’s a key part of our tutorial programme and one of the reasons we have set up a partnership with St Ann’s centre to allow pupils to engage with the local community by volunteering and gaining valuable work experience. All year groups can sign up to volunteer on at the centre as part of our ECA programme, I can’t recommend it enough!
This week pupils have been putting final preparations for entries for the Southwell Ploughing match this weekend. Pupils have been making collages and mobiles in Art and Jams and Preserves in food; it’s been an excellent opportunity to explore their creative sides while considering the sustainability of the British farming and ecosystems. I will be at the event judging the scarecrow competition and I look forward to reporting on how our pupils get on.
Ever Onward and Upward
Ms Purdy
