Values are more valuable than ever Headteacher Sam Gosden explains why Dolphin School is ‘a greenhouse, not a hothouse’ Love. Wisdom. Truth. These three words are our school motto and define our values at Dolphin School. Love – having and showing love for one another – being outwardly encouraging towards anyone and everyone. Wisdom – a love for learning and academic excellence, mental and spiritual growth. Truth – having the courage to be honest with yourself, understand your thoughts and mobilise your sense of self worth to motivate, aspire and dream. In recent years children have been, and continue to be, put through the mangle in their global, local, online and offline worlds. For our older pupils and teenagers at secondary school, these worlds have already merged – the noise from the news, social media, parents and friends can be deafening at worst, confusing at best. We are not long out of a global pandemic where pupils learnt new words such as self-isolate – the idea that humans have to choose or are told to withdraw from society and not see our grandparents, our friends or do something as simple as go to a supermarket or a cafe. Some children I’ve worked with in previous schools
20
enjoyed wearing masks as it gave them the security from the world – allowed them to internalise and control their self-expression. We won’t know the visceral effect of the pandemic on children for a long time. If ever. Now, they are faced with words such as invasion, shelling, violence, nuclear, refuge or shelter – words which conjure the real and terrifying images of being forced to withdraw from your world, to run, escape and seek sanctuary. As parents and educators we face the challenge (and opportunity) of supporting our children through this fast paced and ever changing world. The additional layers of understanding our children have embraced has been inspirational to watch – the agility they show in accepting and dealing with change, their compassion and foresight to tackle discrimination and bias, accepting that the world isn’t perfect. They seem to navigate their way through the challenges with an entirely different mindset than perhaps we may have done. They know the world has complexities from a young age. At Dolphin School, it’s clear that the very thing that binds us together in adversity are values.
