Education

St Swithuns, Winchester

The Power of Fun: by Jane Gandee, headmistress of St Swithun’s, Winchester

As I write this, I am ruefully aware of my skinned elbows, and a gash on my chin which necessitated a visit to A+E. In the space of a week, I managed to acquire the injuries of an energetic toddler. My elbows are the result of an over-exuberant slide down the inflatables that we had in school on the penultimate day of term whereas the chin injury is from falling over my own feet whilst playing a family tennis match. Did they hurt and are they faintly ridiculous? Absolutely, but I acquired them whilst having fun.

I came across the Power of Fun by Catherine Price earlier this year, and it has had a big impact on my approach to life. As I have got older, I have instinctively tried to take myself less seriously. Afterall, as a headteacher, it’s always safer to laugh at yourself before the students do. And now, I have evidence to reinforce the importance of a playful approach to life.

Price outlines the benefits of fun for everyone. As she says, ‘if you make fun a priority, you will be healthier and have more energy. You will be more productive, less resentful and less stressed. You will find community and a sense of purpose. You will stop languishing and start flourishing.’Frankly, who wouldn’t want to remove languishing from their life?

Price defines fun as activities that are playful, involve a connection with others and involve ‘flow’ or being so immersed in what you are doing that you don’t notice time passing.

She also points out that as we get older, we are often encouraged to take things more seriously. Yet there is no evidence that this produces any positive benefit. Our aim at St Swithun’s is to have fun in a range of different ways. And it’s not just about the students. Why would any of us want to work in a fun-free community? Indeed, as far as I am concerned, one of the most important advantages of working in a school is the many, varied opportunities for fun. Increasingly, however, we need to differentiate between true fun and the type of activities that our students are told are fun, but which actually leave you feeling ‘dead inside’ as Price puts it, such as scrolling through your social media feed.

Therefore, we have been turning to more traditional activities such as dancing. We now have a school dance featuring iconic St Swithun’s moves such as cradling (a lacrosse move) and playing the air guitar, which we have performed together on several occasions. Similarly, nothing beats communal singing or solving quirky, interactive problems in the style of TaskMaster. These activities are designed to include the three key components: playfulness, connection with others and ‘flow’.

On our final day of the term, we all (guests, students and staff) sang My Bonny Lies Over the Ocean complete with actions. There wasn’t a serious face in the marquee and we left for the holidays buzzing with a spring in our step and the intention of creating further opportunities for fun over the summer.

I am sure that the intentional creation of micro moments of fun would help everyone to enjoy life more fully. I am certainly looking forward to more minor injuries as I wholeheartedly embrace my inner child.

Bishop Waltham Rotary Club News

Rotary Shoebox scheme… Summer is over…Roll on Christmas

As I write this, plans for this years Rotary Christmas activities are already underway, most notably getting things in place for the annual Shoebox scheme which this year will hopefully bring a bit of Christmas cheer to the young children of Romania, Moldova, Montenegro, and Albania. Plus the many displaced children from Ukraine in Romania and Moldova will benefit and some are going direct to Ukraine with the help of Rotary in Romania.

The major change for this year is that we are able to supply boxes, produced specifically for this project. It has been increasingly difficult to obtain shoeboxes from shops and the variation in sizes has given us logistical problems.. BUT we will still accept your own standard size shoebox. The suggested donation per box has also increased to £2.00 which covers the cost of the box and transportation, which has unfortunately increased over the last year. Unfortunately as this goes to press we do not have the confirmed date for when the Shoeboxes need to be returned, but we normally work on having them in for the School October half term.

If you would like to support us this year please contact Paul Chesterman on paul. chesterman@bishopswalthamrotary.org.uk, who will be able to supply you with boxes and any more information needed.

Moshchun Village, Ukraine

Carnival, Family Fun day, Motorcade and Dog Show

Bishop’s Waltham Rotary Club ‘s everpopular Carnival, Family Fun day, Motorcade and Dog Show proved to be even more popular than ever after its enforced 3 year break. We had perfect weather and record numbers came to enjoy the live music, food, and drink plus the many stalls. We also had a record number of dogs entering the Dog Show with categories ranging from Fastest Biscuit Cruncher to Best 6 legs. All of this enabled us to make over £11,000 pounds, and at the time of going to press this figure was still rising. This amazing amount of money will help us to help others who are in need Locally, Nationally and Internationally.

New Rotary Year , New President

As June drew to a close we saw the end of the Rotary Year and with that our President Mandy Tourle handed over her chain of office to incoming President Sara Walker who in turn handed her Senior Vice President chain to Jason Rule. We look forward to the year ahead with Sara at the helm and I’m sure Mandy is looking forward to a well-earned rest. At the hand over meeting outgoing President Mandy had the pleasure of surprising 2 of our members, Maurice Tester and Doug Draper, with Paul Harris Awards in recognition of their many years of devoted service and numerous roles they have fulfilled over that time. There was also a third member who was awarded a Paul Harris Award, John Stream, but, unfortunately, he could not be there on the night.

Young Carers weekend and Henry the VIIIth.

As soon as one Rotary year ended, we were immediately out there with a very busy first weekend in July where we saw members putting in a combined total of nearly 100 hours voluntary service. Over the weekend we, along with other local Rotary Clubs, provided a pop up café at YMCA Fairthorne Manor as part of their Young Carers Weekend which is the largest festival in the world for young people with a caring responsibility at home.

Created in 2000 and run in partnership with The Children’s Society, the weekend provides opportunities for young people to enjoy a break from their responsibilities, have fun, make new friends and have their voices heard on issues that affect them. There were fireworks, a radio station, Voice Zone, silent disco, chill out/pamper zone, adventurous activities and more… We also supported the celebrations in Bishop’s Waltham marking the 500th anniversary of the visit of Henry the VIIIth to the area.

Like our Facebook page or take a look at our website for updates on what is going on, what we have been up to and how you can help us help others! ian.treveil@bishopswalthamrotary.org.uk