What makes a ‘Happy School’?

Dear all,

The United Nations Educational and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) continues to carry out its amazing work globally, and no more so than in the realm of school improvement throughout the globe. On Wednesday of this week, UNESCO will be celebrating ‘Happy Schools’ and what it believes constitutes such a place. This work is set against the background of some startling statistics.

Fifty million children and youths are out of school globally; more than half of the world’s children and adolescents are not accessing any form of learning worldwide, 1 in 3 learners is bullied in school every month and 44 million teachers are needed to solve the global teacher shortage. These are pretty scary statistics that don’t make reading comfortable for anyone invested in the education of children.

Armed with this information, in Monday’s assembly I asked the children what makes them happy at school and what should happen in a ‘Happy School’? Their answers were quite revealing, and the majority of responses were about their positive (happy) relationships with their friends and peers as well as with their teachers. Music, sport and maths were among the favourite subjects that made them happy. Vitally, all of the children were able to make the unbreakable link between showing kindness and respect and the happiness this brings to others as well as themselves.

I do hope that you have a happy weekend when it arrives.

Jason Whiskerd