schools

Thomas Garnier Headmaster, Pangbourne College

I believe that schools which are successful in fostering resilience in their pupils will have a strong ethos with values at their centre. At Pangbourne College, we have ‘Flag Values’ which include ‘Resilience’ alongside Kindness, Selflessness, Moral Courage, Integrity, Initiative, Industry and Respect.

For us, the Flag Values underpin everything we do, from class rewards to staff recruitment. They are absolutely fundamental to our community as a boarding school and help to create a secure and respectful environment in which all pupils can thrive.

Resilience is one of those Flag Values because it is a strength which will support pupils throughout school and beyond. Any pupil or staff member who displays particularly strong resilience is recognised and, on occasion, rewarded. In our experience, the Flag Values permeate through the day-to-day experience of school and become instilled in pupils over time.

Learning To Be Resilient

In addition to strong values, schools should provide opportunities within the curriculum for pupils to experience adversity in a safe environment, so that they can practise ‘bouncing back’ and their resilience can be developed. Naturally, our PSHCE curriculum includes a scheme of work on resilience, which we run in the first term of Year 7, and the rest of the programme has resilience embedded throughout. Alongside this, we encourage pupils to undertake all sorts of activities which foster a strong sense of resilience. These include The Duke of Edinburgh’s (DofE) Award and the Combined Cadet Force (CCF) programme.

We are licensed to provide the three levels of DofE Award: Bronze (which all pupils do in Year 9), Silver and Gold. Around a third of sixth formers do the Gold Award. The combination of volunteering, physical activities, skills-based exercises and challenging expeditions gives an all-round experience which is fun, rewarding and recognises a young person’s journey of selfdiscovery and development. In particular, the expeditions really teach pupils how to dig deep and keep going, despite the sometimes inhospitable environment!

The CCF is based on a foundation of strong shared values, disciplined behaviour and selflessness towards others. Cadets develop effective communication skills and the ability to think clearly in complex situations, solve problems and exercise good judgement and initiative. The programme has a unique appeal because it gives pupils the opportunity to do something completely different.

Opportunities To Take The Lead

I believe that trusting young adults to take responsibility for others and to serve others, also helps to build resilience. At Pangbourne, there are many opportunities for older pupils to take up important roles, such as cadet captain (prefect), peer mentor or captain of sports. All these roles involve leading and supporting younger pupils and help pupils grow in confidence, self-esteem and, of course, resilience.

Almost all our senior pupils volunteer to be trained as peer mentors and exercise responsibility for younger pupils, who may feel more comfortable talking things through with a peer, rather than a member of staff. Our sixth formers tell me they really enjoy this aspect of being a student at Pangbourne College and experience a real sense of joy in serving others.

So back to my original question, what is resilience? Nelson Mandela said: ‘Do not judge me by my success, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.’ Getting back up, or ‘bouncing back’ – for our pupils this is one of the most important lessons we can teach them.