Building positive relationships and friendships
At the Battle of Agincourt (1415), according to Shakespeare, King Henry V finished his pre-battle speech with the famous phrase, ‘Cry God for Harry, England and St George.’ Thus, the notion of the brave, courageous and devout saint – qualities that Henry aspired to and his followers saw in him – was cemented into English folklore.
We celebrate St George today but very little is known about his life. It is thought he was a high ranking officer in the Roman army who was killed around AD 303. It seems that he stood firm against the Emperor Diocletian who, through torturous methods, tried to make him deny his Christian faith. Stories of St George’s resilience, courage, faith and loyalty soon spread through Europe and while certain tales are more myth than reality (slaying dragons for example), the legend was enough for the 12th century crusaders to invoke his name as an aid in battle.
And so to Shakespeare who strengthened the legend of St George at a time when nationalism was de rigeur. 23 April is the day St George supposedly died. It is also Shakespeare’s birthday as well as being the day he died too, a fete not bestowed on many, so the links between them are inextricable.
Shakespeare was a master observer of human strengths, frailties and relationships and we still turn to his insight to this day. In Coriolanus he taught us that lifelong friendship is in our destiny; in Henry VI he mused that making friends with new people is one of life’s greatest pleasures; and in All’s Well That Ends Well we are reminded that the emotional gains of friendship are far more important than material riches.
How we relate to others has been our theme for this week and the focus has been on how to build positive relationships and friendships. It is hard to be positive with everyone – there will simply be people who we do not get on with as well as others – but as we grow older we must learn ways of getting along with other people. It is part of growing up. We can still speak up if something is wrong; but in a way which is constructive and maintains a positive relationship. We can still form our own opinions and allow others to have theirs so that no-one feels pressured into behaving or thinking a certain way.
Ultimately the message this week has been about being supportive, respectful and not at all pressurising; about being inclusive and receptive to other people’s thoughts; and about being trustworthy, true and dependable. With the latter at least, a little bit of St Georgian spirit in every Androvian!
I have enjoyed reading a range of holiday diaries this week, written by pupils from the Pre-Prep. Seeing the creativity and improvement in hand-writing as well as finding out about the wonderful things they got up to, really does lift one’s spirits. Thank you everyone!
Thank you too to the Eco Committee who met this week to discuss ideas for how the school can become more environmentally friendly. With suggestions ranging from more bins to a new bug hotel, or more battery collection points and more effective ways to reduce food wastage, it is great that the pupils are having their say on these important matters and suggesting ideas to bring about change. Mrs Jordan and Mrs Garrett will also be leading on developing a garden area behind the Richardson building in which the pupils will be fully engaged and the Brownies group are sewing wild flower seeds in the Forest School in their efforts to protect bees. Great initiatives all round.
It was lovely to see the fields awash with cricketers on Wednesday playing in their first set of matches for over 13 months. Whether victorious or not – and there was plenty of success – it was wonderful just to be playing competitively again and the children loved it. Well done to all.
A reminder that on Wednesday evening (at 7.30pm) Alicia Drummond will be giving the talk How to Protect your Child’s Mental Health. You can register for the talk here.
And finally…Saturday activities will be on tomorrow and the forecast is for sun so please do not forget to protect your child with sun cream if they are going to be outside for extended periods and ensure they have their own water bottle.
Have a good weekend everyone.