Oppidan Schools Lunch - July 2022

A group of school pastoral leaders joined us for the second Oppidan Schools Lunch in Hammersmith as term was winding to a close in July - here is what we shared together

Henry and I were joined for lunch by Ed Richardson (Deputy Head Pastoral, Marlborough College), Finley Way (Head of Mentoring, Dulwich College), Greig Trout (Director of Kindness, 52 Lives) and David Anderson (Head of Community Engagement, Eton College).

Covid and other political events have catalysed a growing focus in our society on the importance of wellbeing and broader character education and personal development. We discussed how we can harness this energy to benefit students. 

01. Young people in schools have seen their development slowed by the pandemic

There’s a real feeling that the effect of two years of interrupted education, and reduced crucial face-to-face time to develop interpersonal skills and resilience, has led to widespread immaturity. Less time in ordinary human interactions has had a noticeable effect, particularly when it comes to developing the life skills that employers increasingly say they value (we don’t say soft skills at Oppidan - they’re some of the hardest to acquire, and most valuable!)

02. Important skills that young people have missed out on developing can be taught

Greig, from 52 Lives, explained how important a skill like kindness is in creating a thriving school community, and yes, that’s correct - kindness is a skill. 52 Lives teach the habits of mind and action that constitute kindness in schools, and show young people the benefits that it brings to themselves and others. There are lots of other skills that we want children to have that we can teach too - resilience, communication, creativity and teamwork, to name a few. These skills were relevant right across the range of experience at the table with us, from community volunteering to mentoring with either a wellbeing or more character-driven focus. 

03. Pupils can and should be given an important role in their own personal development and that of others

It was great for us to hear how our colleagues support their pupils in developing a sense of responsibility and supporting others. Developing that responsibility (and learning the relevant skills) can come from community volunteering (Eton), wellbeing ambassador roles (Marlborough), a more conventional or academically focused mentoring programme (Dulwich), or through encouraging children to take responsibility for being kind. We see all of this as encapsulated in the role of the mentor: someone who is a leader, who is kind, who is a listening ear, and who supports someone in achieving their goals.

04. Everyone agrees on the ideas - the execution is the complicated part 

The universal challenges with extra-curricular initiatives, especially anything coming from outside the school, remain the same: integrating ideas from outside the institution; modelling good attitudes to the students so that they take things seriously; minimising the impact on busy teachers; finally, proving the impact of programmes when many parents are laser-focused on grades to the exclusion of all else.

At Oppidan we try to make sure that even us up at ‘head office’ are in schools regularly (or at Oppidan Camp this week!) My main job though now is to be there for schools to address these issues - to know them well, understand what their priorities and needs are, and be a source of support and information around how to manage running a programme like peer mentoring.

Thank you to everyone who made it such a pleasant occasion, and we’re looking forward to having another ‘school council’ soon.