We are not the same and that is wonderful
Today and yesterday marks the Hindu celebration of Holi, often referred to as the Festival of Colours. Like all festivals, Holi is significant in different ways to different groups of people. As a Religious Education teacher, I always go out of my way to explain to the pupils that Hinduism is actually a number of religious groups connected by key beliefs that thread through them and a shared history, but with lots of lived differences as well. This is true for most religions as the beliefs, rituals and values evolve over time as they are affected by events and leaders.
Holi is often associated with the start of spring, the season of new beginnings and also stories such as Prahlad and Holika or Krishna and Radha. Whatever the motivation for celebrating Holi, the tradition of dressing in white clothes and throwing coloured powder or flower petals on each other with lots of singing and dancing is a well known image. For some this signifies that nature sees us all as equal regardless of our outward differences. That is why the festival is also known as “The Festival of Love”. How appropriate then, that Holi leads us into Neurodiversity Celebration Week which begins on Monday.
Neurodiversity Celebration Week encourages us to challenge stereotypes about neurological differences. And thus, our aim at the Prep to be a fully inclusive community that champions our differences, can be supported by such spotlights. Educating the pupils about such differences and encouraging them to understand how our world is full of different people will ultimately make life better for us all. As part of our School Councillors taking on both the role of being the voice of their peers and also making the school the best school it can possibly be, the Key Stage 2 Council have been leading assemblies on how to be an anti-bullying school. Firstly presenting to every pupil in Key Stage 2 and then with an age appropriate version, presenting to every pupil in Key Stage 1. Of course, they are also presenting to the staff too which keeps these matters firmly in our minds. Although the official Anti-Bullying week is in November, discussing how to be kind and how to stand-up for each other is important all-year-round.
We had another fantastic nomination for the Head of Prep Award, this time for Emilia in Year 3 for her project designing a social space using sustainable materials. This work forms part of the current Year 3 Inquiry Unit which is focused on how human choices regarding buildings, towns and infrastructure impacts on the natural world. Our Year 3s are the first year group to move to the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (PYP) ahead of our rollout to all year groups from September. Already we are seeing a new level of engagement and ownership from the pupils and a drive to make the world a better place. Emilia showed excellent imagination throughout her project and persevered through material challenges to bring into fruition a great design. Well done Emilia.
Have a lovely weekend,
Alice Goodfellow
