A very proud Housemaster of School House

I know that I said my blog would be about pastoral issues, resilience and the finer points of running a boarding house but there are weeks when you are so proud of the boys in the House that you just want to climb up the fire escape and shout from the roof about how great the boys have been!

This all began a week ago when Johnny Johnson returned to School House for Remembrance Day. Johnny himself is an inspiration to all. His no nonsense attitude and positive demeanour cannot help but enthral you with his tales of the dambuster raid, meeting the queen and anything else that he draws out from his vast back catalogue of stories and adventures. It does not matter what you ask him, he will reply with a fascinating tale. However, it was how the boys acted on that day that made me proudest as a Housemaster.


Hosuemaster Jonathan Pitt Johnny Johnson CBE


We had the largest number in the CCF parade, Tom D read the poem before the silence, Charles S led the march and then a whole host of boys returned to House to meet and greet Johnny, The BBC and a film crew that were then in House all day.


Any boys House is never a quiet environment but on that day, there was an almost tangible atmosphere of respect that percolated around the House. There was an eerie silence that was created by the boys as they raised the level of their behaviour to that needed on this poignant day.


The boys later turned up for House Basketball, gave their all but came last in both competitions. This did nothing to alter the fact that it was a brilliant day and as the boys returned to House for a pizza and film night, the results of the matches didn't matter as they had done everything within their power to represent the fallen soldiers of LWC.


I have previously mentioned the 6th Form Diploma that was launched in the Boarding House and it was fantastic to see a small queue of boys waiting outside the sewing room to learn how to iron their shirts and to get another box ticked off from their list.


The seminar section of the 6th Form diploma has also been exceptional. The idea initially was 'a seminar in your slippers' where the boys could just walk downstairs and experience a top level talk, lecture or seminar. This first was offered by Mr Calder and was an interactive, fun and hugely interesting look at brands, brand perception, market segmentation, value proposition and brand values. It kicked off the seminar season with a bang and was followed by Dr Bonneywell with her seminar on branding themselves. This involved the pupils analysing their key strengths, missions, visions, personal styles and values. The quality of talks was way beyond what I expected and I felt a bit guilty to be able to attend two high quality INSET sessions that I haven't had to pay for. Again, the boys did the House proud by responding so positively to the sessions and I can't wait to attend the next ones!


We then had the Attitude to Learning Grades this week and the Top 3 most improved performers in the School were all from School House. In Carol Dweck's 'mindset' book she talks about the danger of pupils being praised purely on their talents and how they can develop an inversion to difficult challenges through this kind of practice (it often involves praising natural intelligence rather than approach). The fact that this is the 'most improved House' shows that the boys are seeing their attitudes being praised. They are showing that they can separate the idea of performance from that of character. Pupils can see failure as a personal insult and this can lead to them avoiding the challenge in the first place. I don't want to go too far into growth mindset (some of you are far more expert in this than I) but what I have seen over the last 2 weeks speaks volumes for growth mindset (even if the pupils don't know that they are doing it).


The week was then topped off by Friday night. We hosted a Mario Kart and Pizza night between ourselves and a girls' boarding House. The boys cooked the pizzas and served whilst everyone played Mario, FIFA and pool. It was great to see the boys cooking for others, serving the pizzas and tidying up once all the girls had left. Again, I am going to use that 'proud' word.


Even as I write this, I am sat in the 6th Form Centre watching the Full Boarders Karaoke event. Two of the School House boys have just sung a song in English despite only having lived in the UK for the past 6 weeks.


With the School Band Aid recording having started on Friday, orchestral concerts, carol concerts, mice pies and mulled wine in House, Christmas Tree decorating, crackers4crackers and the Christmas Party all coming up in the next 3 weeks - The run up to Christmas should continue the buzz that is filling the House at the moment.



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