Outside the Box Friday 12th June 2020 Great Minds Don’t Think Alike
A newsletter helping the Box Hill School community stay together, stay informed and stay happy.
Recovery, refocus and readiness A warm welcome back after what we hope was a restful and safe half term break. With the lockdown beginning to ease after nearly ten weeks, we turn our attention to the way forward. Huge uncertainty still lies ahead, but there seems now to be path through to some version of ‘normality’; a return to physical school, to being able to visit friends and families, but not to our lives as they were before the COVID-19 crisis. That world is gone. So, what’s next? In Buddhist thinking, everything that exists is constantly changing and will eventually come to an end. This first “universal truth” (known as anicca or impermanence) gives rise to the second “universal truth”, called dukkha in the Pali language of the Buddha; the truth of suffering. For the Buddha, because we crave permanence where none exists, we are inevitably disappointed, leading to suffering and ‘unsatisfactoriness’ – the sense that there can be no true contentment. As the revered Zen Master Thích Nhất Hạnh states; “it is not impermanence that makes us suffer. What makes us suffer is wanting things to be permanent when they are not.”
Wellbeing Tasks Go out of your way to be kind to someone else Do something that makes you uncomfortable – work on a tough problem, go for a hard run, take a cold shower. Reflect on it once it is done – was it really that bad? Was the dread of the thing worse than the thing itself? Read a book – it doesn’t matter what, just something you love Achieve something, ideally something tangible, then tick it off your list
Norwegian photographer Eirik Solheim glued a camera to a window shelf in his home and rigged it to take a picture every thirty minutes for a year. From more than 16,000 digital images the camera fed into a computer system, he selected 3,888 daytime photos. By taking one vertical line from each of those images in sequence and compiling them from left to right, he created this single photograph encompassing all four seasons. (Source: https://www.lionsroar.com/impermanence-is-buddha-nature-embrace-changemay-2012/)
As the Ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus put it; “the only thing that is constant is change”. The secret to living in a constantly changing world, such as the one in which we now find ourselves, is to change with it. You’ll go FAR. Be Flexible – develop the skills to adapt quickly to a changing environment Be Accepting – there is nothing you can do to change what has happened Be Resilient – develop the ability to bounce back quickly
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Wellbeing “There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so” (Shakespeare) Wellbeing, or flourishing, is at least in part related to mindset. Our mindset is, like everything else, influenced by both our environment and our genes and it is therefore vitally important that we build a culture of positivity, of potential and of possibility. If despair and depression are linked to an absence of hope, to the belief that the future will not be better, then to increase the likelihood of happiness we need to show young people that there is hope, the future can be a better place. With so much negativity in the world at the moment, the key question for young people is this; “what can I do to make the future better?”. Effectively there are two ways to make the future better; the first is to work hard to implement changes now that are likely to have a positive effect in the future and the second is to change one’s own reaction to the world itself. In the last edition there was a discussion of setting SMART goals and achieving them to ensure continual progress. Clearly this is hugely important but, in a world where the goalposts are constantly moving, it can be hard to set the right SMART targets as the landscape has shifted unrecognisably by the time you come to evaluate your progress. Therefore we also need to reorient our relationship with values themselves. The values we have are often those passed down to us by parents, our own schools and the culture in which we are brought up. They often promote a relatively rigid dichotomy where objects, behaviours and beliefs are divided into “right” or “wrong”, “virtue” or “vice”, “good” or “evil”. Shakespeare’s Hamlet took a morally relativistic stance and claimed that things are neither good nor bad, but were labelled as such by people; he was effectively saying that if we can avoid conceiving of events, people, places, emotions etc as either good or bad we can recognise them for what they really are: cosmic facts and valueless phenomena. Doing so will reduce, or even remove, the suffering of which the Buddha spoke. Is lockdown good or bad? It depends on your mindset. Is work, or homework, or your friend, family member or mortal enemy good or bad? Not intrinsically so. They become good or bad depending on our mindset and the emotions they provoke in us. So, reframe your conceptions of that thing you dislike and you can reframe your dislike of it. Don’t like that person? Try reframing it; they behaved the way they did in the past because of the same human stimuli that you yourself are affected by. If you had grown up in their situation, in their shoes so to speak, and had the same genetics and upbringing, you would be the same as them and you would have behaved the way that they did. So try to see things from their perspective and instead of reaching first for hatred or contempt, aim for compassion and understanding.
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Mental Health As lockdown continues into the tenth week, maintaining mental health is a hugely important issue for everyone, but in particular young people. We know that young people are more susceptible to mental health issues and being aware of issues and getting help is critical. The below website (for the charity Mind) is a fantastic resource for children and adults alike. Have a look! https://www.mind.org.uk/ As ever, there are lots of organisations out there to provide support. Have a look at the websites to the left. Think of it this way; if you were ill, you would get help from a medical professional; so why would you not seek help for issues with your mental health?
Mindfulness According to the neuroscientist, philosopher, podcaster and creator of the Waking Up meditation app; “Mindfulness is simply a state of open, nonjudgmental, and nondiscursive attention to the contents of consciousness, whether pleasant or unpleasant. Cultivating this quality of mind has been shown to modulate pain, mitigate anxiety and depression, improve cognitive function, and even produce changes in gray matter density in regions of the brain related to learning and memory, emotional regulation, and self awareness.� Although many people are concerned that meditation is at root a religious endeavour, there are many secular mindfulness meditation practices that do not require adherence to any particular faith or belief system. Modern mindfulness meditation focuses on the practice of deliberately spending more time paying attention to the present moment rather than being lost in thought. Easy to describe but difficult to master, it nonetheless offers significant advantages to those who practise it regularly. Smartphone apps are an increasingly popular and effective way to access live and recorded guided mindfulness meditation sessions. In addition to those on the left, apps such as Centr and Waking Up provide support for beginner and experienced practitioners alike.
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e-safety Although lockdown is perhaps beginning to ease, many of the changes it has wrought cannot be undone. Increased home working in adults and the likelihood of increased online learning mean that an awareness of e-safety is vital. The resources below will help you manage this complex area.
The NSPCC has an excellent website and bank of resources to help parents – bookmark this page! https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/ Useful Links www.internetmatters.org – A onestop shop for all things “e-safety”, aimed at parents. Bookmark this website! www.childnet.com – Hugely useful and engaging website aimed more at young people themselves. www.ceop.police.uk – A Government-funded, Police website focused more on illegal online behaviours such as cyber-bullying and grooming.
Gaming and Livestreaming
Game streaming and e-sports are one of the fastest-growing areas of online growth in recent years. Although like almost everything else when used correctly online gaming can be rewarding, it is not devoid of risk. Bullying, trolling, scams, in-game purchases and unscrupulous strangers are all issues that can arise in any community, but are particularly prevalent as a result of the relative anonymity of the Internet and vulnerability of some its users. Knowledge is power though; help your children become more alert to the potential dangers and empower them to be able to stay safe online. Read the below link for more information: https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/online-games/
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Counselling Students are incredibly fortunate at Box Hill School to have access to a wonderful counsellor, Cathy Coombs. During these challenging times, Cathy is available for one-to-one remote counselling for students so please get in touch if you would like to speak to her. She is also offering small group counselling sessions to students so if either of these options appeals, email (cathy.coombs@boxhillschool.com) who can book you in. In addition, on Wednesday afternoons at 2.30pm Cathy will run a drop in ‘hot chocolate and chat’ session for years 7, 8 and 9. Please email her if you would like to attend.
Contacts Sue Salmon, Deputy Head Pastoral
susan.salmon@boxhillschool.com
James Trinder, Assistant Head Pastoral james.trinder@boxhillschool.com
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Competitions
Results of the Box Hill Bingo Challenge‌ ‌will be announced by Monday 15th June latest, so keep an eye out! We have had 12 amazing entries in to our Box Hill Bingo challenge, which was great. All students clearly went to a lot of effort and we have some beautiful PowerPoint slides of all their activities. Every entrant receives an email and certificate from Cory thanking them for taking part. Unfortunately, there can only be 1 winner but all entrants should be very proud of themselves. Entrants are (in no particular order, with year group in brackets):
Kiera D (7) Oscar W (9) Jack D (9) Charlie R (7)
Eric B-T (7) Rolando W (9) Benjamin D (7)
Philip P (8) Finlay H (7) Katya C (8)
Victor T-G (9) Rishil A (9) Piper G (8)
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Lateral Thinking Quiz i) ii)
iii)
How far can a dog walk into a forest? A completely black dog was strolling down the road during a total blackout affecting the entire county. Not a single streetlight had been on for hours. As the dog crosses the center of the road a Ford Anglia with two broken headlights speeds towards it, but manages to swerve out of the way just in time. How could the driver see the dog to swerve in time? I have keys but no locks. Space, but no rooms. You can enter, but you cannot leave. What am I?
Pictures
Where were these pictures taken around the School?
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Advice for parents during coronavirus
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Answers (from the previous edition) i) ii)
iii)
Which famous American was born in 1959 and couldn't bend her legs for the first six years of her life, has a brother called Todd and two sisters? Barbie You leave your tent and walk five kms due south. You then walk another five kms on a bearing of 090°. Finally you turn 90° anticlockwise and walk five more kms, returning to your tent. Inside the tent is a bear! What colour is it? White (the only place on Earth you can make this journey is the North Pole – the bear must be a polar bear) A man died and went to Heaven. There were thousands of other people there. They were all naked and all looked as they did at the age of 21. He looked around to see if there was anyone he recognised. He saw a couple and he knew immediately that they were Adam and Eve. How did he know? They did not have belly buttons as they were never attached to a mother through an umbilical cord.
Dalewood Girls’ Common Room
Burmester 3 Acre Allotments
High Wires
Staff Room
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A Little History Dalewood Girls’ Common Room – This room is enjoyed by the younger girls who board in Dalewood. Located on the first floor within the boarding house, it is a bright and airy room with comfortable and homely decor and a perfect place for hanging out, watching TV and relaxing in their free time. This is part of the house that was originally private ‘apartments’ for senior members of the family and there are similar rooms at the other end of the Dalewood corridor on the same floor. This is likely to have been a bedroom, less grand than some other rooms in the house, but also endowed with intricate stained-glass windows and an attractive fireplace. Burmester 3 Acre Allotments – The allotments are part of Burmester Field, which was part of the original Burmester House grounds. The allotments used to be, and to a lesser extent now, used to grow the majority of bedding plants and some small amount of produce for the school. The school gardening club was moved to the school allotments about 8 years ago from their rented site in Bookham, and specific beds, a greenhouse and potting shed have been created and installed over the years to give the pupils a chance to learn about propagation, to grow vegetables or cut flowers. Jon Savage and Chris Wilson presently run the activity and manage the allotments imparting their knowledge. Staff Room – The Staff Room was originally the Dining Room when Dalewood was a privately-owned country house and also in the early days of the School. Back then, the room was large enough to accommodate all the pupils for their meals and was laid out with long trestle tables for the children. As in much of the rest of Dalewood, there are many original features including the exquisite stained-glass windows, wood paneling and imposing fireplace with its huge oak-framed mirror above. This room also houses a collection of weapons and other artefacts which have been lent to the school by the Winthrop-Young family, whose history is so closely linked to the School. Jocelyn Winthrop-Young was instrumental in the founding of the Round Square network of schools, the creation of the Round Square Conference and was an early governor of the school. His daughter Sophie most recently visited the school for the opening of the Winthrop Young building in 2015. High Ropes – The high ropes were first installed 14 years ago, originally as a low ropes course, and then the high ropes course was gradually installed and added to after the music department was built. The original army-styled assault course was located on the sports field, dismantled due to H&S about 18 years ago, and ran along the edge of the tree line to the right of the field under what is now the earth works from the sports hall.