Head of School’s Comment

Mrs McKendrick is in Italy attending a Conference of the Renaissance Schools, our sister schools from various parts of the globe. She will be back at school this Monday 20th July…

“Someone asked me today, as the Conference draws to a close, what role Philosophy played in the school.

In considering this I thought that we do have Philosophy lessons, but the lessons are not the Philosophy which runs through the school, it’s much more than that.

The Philosophy is, as it were, a living organism that pulsates through every fibre of the school, and into every corner. In a sense it is the school. It’s the values we as teachers, and I’m sure you as parents, hold dear, and which manifest every minute of every school day.

It’s the child who owns up, it’s the Infants child who holds back the tears when he/she has fallen over, the Primary child who gives some Shakespeare lines to a new child, the winner of a race congratulating others for their fine efforts, and so I could go on. We see it in all the children.

As teachers we must have the values running in our own being, and must live the values on a daily basis. Very importantly, the children learn most from real examples, they learn from what people actually do, not from what they say they do.

The younger children also learn from the older children, who, time and time again show examples of Stillness, Truthfulness, Courage, Service, Respect, and many of the other virtues. In this way the older children teach the younger children.

Yes, we do teach Philosophy, but this is not just something taught in a lesson for half an hour a week, it is a way of life – learning to stand on principle and finding the courage to stand up for the good and the true.”

Mary McKendrick
Headmistress