The Magic of Sharing
There is a lovely old folktale that I shared with children this week about a stranger and his magic stone. Arriving in a village looking dishevelled, his hopes of a warm welcome and a bed for the night are rebutted as the wary villagers head home in disgust, locking their doors and leaving him alone. Being nosey however, they watch from their windows as he pulls out his stone and announces his intention to make ‘stone soup’.
Intrigued, they watch as the stranger tastes the boiled water and declares it to be almost delicious. ‘What it needs,’ he says, ‘is some cabbage. That will add to the flavour.’ And before long, a brave villager appears from his home to give some cabbage to the stranger who duly applies it to the soup.
The stranger takes another appreciative taste but feels it needs some salted beef and, again, another villager brings a little of what he has to add to the broth. This continues and it is not long before the soup is filled with carrots, potatoes, onions, parsnips, leeks, herbs and seasoning. Without realising, the villagers have gone from cold-hearted selfishness to sharing the soup and socialising animatedly.
As the stranger slips away, his work complete, a child asks him for his magic stone. He replies to say that it is not the stone that is magic; what the people did – sharing their food for everyone’s benefit – that’s the magic!
This week, to tie in with Harvest, we have been focusing on giving to others who are perhaps less fortunate than ourselves and the story above illustrates this perfectly. There is nothing wrong in building a comfortable life for ourselves but it should never stop us from sharing our gifts for the benefit of others. For this reason, I am so very grateful for the abundance of items we have received as donations to the Eastbourne Foodbank. They do a wonderful job and they will be so grateful.
One of my highlights over these first few weeks has been meeting the new pupils for a drink and a biscuit to see how they are settling in. The feedback has been nothing but positive comments about the friendly atmosphere, the yummy food, the interesting lessons and the buzz of all that is going on. It was the turn of the Reception class yesterday and this really was a treat as they eagerly enter my study for the first time expecting something magical to happen. Once again, the magic lies within them and the things they say.
On Monday the children watched the BIG Anti-Bullying Assembly 2020 which featured television and sports stars delivering important messages about bullying, kindness and speaking up. It is an important topic that features in our discussions and values throughout the year but it rightly has a greater focus from time to time.
Next Friday it is Hello Yellow Day and we are inviting all pupils to come to school that day wearing something yellow as part of their uniform. It could be socks, a tie, a hat…! They also need to bring in a £1 donation to the charity Young Minds who have organised the day nationwide in a bid to raise awareness amongst young people of the importance of mental health.
Strong pastoral care is fundamentally important to the journey of any child through school and you may be interested in this article in Independent School Magazine to which I contributed: https://www.independentschoolparent.com/school/support-network/. It explains why pro-active support is essential.
Activities are on as normal tomorrow. Have a good weekend everyone!