Mrs Payne's Reflections
With the theme of the week being ‘Solidarity’, it was a brilliant opportunity for the new captains to bring each house together and ask them to stop and think about how we can demonstrate solidarity across the school. Each house then wrote letters of appreciation to people across the school who help/support them throughout the day. This included catering staff, office staff, the estates team, boarding staff and teachers. As I have moved around the school throughout the remainder of the week, I have seen these cards pinned to noticeboards or placed on desks having been gratefully received. A thoughtful activity that did exactly what it was intended to do – unite the students in a collective goal and bring together the whole school community in one small gesture.
Acts of kindness such as this very much fit with our ethos as a Methodist school. Coming together in solidarity is a regular occurrence here at Kent College which is what makes this place so special. You can’t help but feel proud of the actions of our students and seeing them when they are all together united in a purpose and each week and I am fortunate enough to have a front row seat to all this. After watching the whole school come together and uniting for Kent College’s version of Eurovision last week (and the shock of the UK actually wining a Eurovision competition - do we think this could be repeated in reality on 16th May?! I doubt it sadly, but I will be watching! Next week our Student Voice committee will meet, again with new leaders who are full of promise and enthusiasm which will be another opportunity for our students to come together with a collective aim – to make a difference in the lives of the students at Kent College.
These house and whole school assemblies are, however, just a small part of how at Kent College we are encouraging our whole community to stand together. Throughout each term in our chapel services Chaplain Katie leads the students collectively focusing on unity and compassion and emphasising the need to come together. Additionally, for our students to stand together authentically they first need to feel that they themselves belong. This means acting out in kindness on a day-to-day basis and we see this in our students standing up for someone to include them, supporting each other through different challenges or celebrating each other’s individuality. These moments of unity and compassion are a powerful reminder of why Kent College is so special and I am grateful and honoured to see our students living out these values so consistently.