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Serving Others

Earlier this week I attended a pupil leadership conference and listened to an inspiring talk by Jo Kruse, the Managing Director of The Unreasonables. Having been a success through school and her twenties, her life came crashing down at the age of 29 and left her with no job, no idea what she would do and living back at home with her parents. Eventually she decided to walk from Alaska to Argentina and on the way meet young people in positions of responsibility to find out what has given them this purpose. Her adventure enlightened her belief that for young people to be successful and content with their lives, they need to understand themselves, exercise creativity and also recognise their social responsibilities. In short, enterprise and outreach which are the same driving forces of our own Year 7 Headmaster’s Challenge: Grow Your Money Project, which begins next week.

 

For those unfamiliar with the project, I will personally give each pupil in Year 7 a £10 note which represents an investment in them to make it grow through their own enterprise and creativity. Hopefully, with all pupils doing something over the subsequent six weeks, that £10 grows into something bigger and we end with a large pot of money which will go to charities decided upon by the pupils themselves. In each of the last two years, the Year 7 cohorts have turned £500 into over £2,500 for charity so, purely from a financial viewpoint, this project has merits. But, beyond just the financial gains, as the next generation of leaders it is important we instil in them early the personal rewards that can be gained from being philanthropic; to know that one’s talent has made a big difference to others less fortunate is the greatest reward of all.

 

And on this point of serving others, I would like to say a special thanks to all those members of our community who do so much without financial reward but simply because they want to help the children have a better experience. Not only do I refer to the incredible generosity of the Friends, whose time and commitment is extraordinary, but also to parents who help with the play costumes, or with sport or music or translating… the list is endless. These examples of service are so easy to take for granted but they enrich our community enormously and I am very grateful.