FRIDAY FLYER-Issue 114
21 Jan 2022
Headmaster's Review
Dear All,
Welcome to the first Friday Flyer of 2022!
I hope that you enjoyed your winter break and managed to spend some precious time together with your loved ones.
We are delighted to welcome you to a New Year with us at Epsom and we have lots of exciting initiatives afoot, notably the launch of a pioneering partnership between Patrick Mouratoglou, founder of the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in France and one of the most influential coaches in tennis, and Epsom College in Malaysia
As Serena Williams’ full-time tennis coach, Patrick Mouratoglou has been credited with the training and development of several young rising stars including Stefanos Tsitsipas, Coco Gauff, Holger Rune and Alexei Popyrin.
The Mouratoglou Tennis Programme at Epsom will be the Mouratoglou Academy’s maiden overseas expansion as it relates to its flagship Tennis and School programme – a harmonious blend of tennis youth player development and academia – equipping students of all ability levels with the knowledge, skills, competence and confidence to perform both on and off the court. The Programme can also provide talented young athletes with a rigorous and intensive training schedule in order to work towards a professional tennis career. Regardless of the pathway chosen, all students share a mutual love of the game and the desire to experience a learning environment where tennis and a first-class academic education are seamlessly woven together. Please reach out to us if you have any questions or would like to know more. There will be tennis camps available as part of our Easter & Summer break enrichment programme – more information to follow on this soon.
Sport is a key element to the holistic education that we provide here at Epsom. As we all recognise, sport develops so much more than physical attributes – it develops character and this was the theme of this week’s assembly.
The theme for our whole school assembly this week was ‘Character’; what it means and why it matters.
During this interactive assembly, students agreed that character represents the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual, how they cope with challenge, failure, success, their levels of kindness, compassion and how they treat others – notably the vulnerable.
We discussed that in the context of school, character influences how we treat others such as students who are new to the school: a kind person, a person of good character, will notice a peer who may be alone in the dining hall or who has not settled into a friendship group yet and will take the initiative to support them to settle in. Our character will decide whether we join in when another person is being unkind or whether we challenge unkind behavior and stand up for what is right.
Emotional intelligence, self awareness and the ability to read a situation, responding with grace and dignity are admirable qualities that we seek to foster within our Epsom community. As Martin Luther King said:
Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.
And we closed with one of our favourite questions:
What will you do today to make you feel proud?
As we look forward to the coming year, we hope to achieve a great deal to be proud of! Whether it be in our actions towards our fellow man, our performance in academics, on the sports field / tennis court or as a result of having overcome a personal challenge. We will continue to strive to improve on our previous best, develop our character and make a positive impact.
Working in a school environment is such a privilege. It is also hugely life affirming as we, as school staff, are surrounded by young people who want to improve, who strive to better themselves. We are very grateful to you, the parents and guardians, for your ongoing support.
So to conclude, may we look forward to 2022 with hope, positivity and enthusiasm!
Best wishes,
Mr Matthew Brown
Headmaster
SJT (WJO)
From the Deputy Head
It has been a very busy start to the term, with Year 11 and 13 completing their mock examinations. As a result of the pandemic, many students have not yet sat formal examinations, thus it is most important that we provide them with the opportunity to experience what it is like to sit in an examination hall and go through the formal procedures of the exam process. In this way students will be better prepared mentally, as well as in terms of their ability to ensure the best exam technique on the day of the actual examination.
I am really proud of how our Year 11 and 13 students have conducted themselves throughout this stressful period. They have demonstrated resilience, independent study and maturity as they have prepared for, and sat the examinations. The results will be made available at the end of the week, giving students plenty of time to work on their areas of weakness before the real examinations take place in May and June. Our teachers and house staff will, of course, support students to make the required progress to ensure the best possible outcomes. On 21st and 25th January there are Parent Teacher Consultations (PTCs) where staff will give feedback and offer advice and information post trial examinations. I will host a Google meet for parents to discuss any concerns or queries that they may have.
Our academic newsletters, prepared by our Heads of Department, are available to all parents. These newsletters provide an overview of the topics that will be studied this term, as well as some useful resources. Please look out for the links to these documents.
Finally, this term sees the start of our transition activities for students progressing to the next Key Stage. The transition involves our Year 6 students who will move up to secondary school, our Year 9 students who will progress to commence their IGCSE years and our Year 11 students who will soon commence their A Level studies. We recognise the importance of this progression in the lives of our students and parents and aim to support our community through the process. Thus there will be a series of parent and student meetings and activities, as well as individualised guidance and one to one meetings for students in these year groups. Please look out for the overview of the process and the support on offer to both parents and students in upcoming letters which will be sent via email.
Ms Wendy Jones,
Deputy Headteacher
Crawfurd House
Crawfurd House welcomed back all our girls to the new year 2022! It has been an eventful few weeks at Crawfurd House. The girls have returned from their Christmas holidays and have settled into life once again at the House. We are especially excited to welcome the new girls, Yuzuki, Ayeesha, Louie, Zi Ee, Zi Yi, Nurfaitha, Kaegan, Eunyu, Rin Murakami, Rin Ueda, Maria, Vicky, Katie, and returning online girls from previous years, Julia, Shiloh, and Nadirah. It is an absolute honour to be able to lead this lovely group of girls and it is great to hear the buzz and chatter amongst the girls on a typical day in the House.
This term has been designated as the Crawfurd Charity Term. I have been speaking to the girls about the importance of having an outward-looking attitude. No matter what our personal circumstances may be, we can always choose to give our time, money, and love to others who are going through tougher times than us. We discuss world leaders and humanitarians who have led exemplary lives by giving to others such as Nelson Mandela, Ang San Suu Kyi, Gladys Aylward, and a few others.
The girls have been busy thinking up various creative ideas and ways to raise funds and needless to say, I have been impressed with the level of excitement, commitment, and creativity that is going through this planning. We came together as a House to nominate a number of organisations that we would like to see this money going towards and after a show of hands, the majority voted for the Karenni Humanitarian Team (KHT) in Myanmar. This is a cause that is very dear to our very own Kaith, who herself hails from Myanmar. KHT is devoted to providing aid in a humanitarian crisis using donations from the community. Karenni is a state in Mayanmar where a fierce battle is taking place and almost 150,000 Karenni civilians have fled their homes in search of a safer place. KHT team members are volunteers who provide food, medical supplies and temporary homes for those displaced. Kaith’s parents have been supporters of this directly and we would like to join in and contribute through them. I hope the girls will be able to raise a good amount of money, and parents are encouraged to get involved in any way they can too.
We are proud to announce that our very own Haneesha Veerakumar (Year 9) participated in the US Junior Squash Open in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania last December. She finished a strong 13th place out of 128 players from all around the world for the girl’s under-15 category. She was already in the top ten in the Asian Junior Ranking (ASF) and we are extremely proud of her commendable performance in the US. She is indeed a role model for the girls in the House who are equally proud of her achievements and celebrate with her.
The girls have been busy in the kitchen too, baking cakes for the birthday girls amongst us, ice cream making with Ms. Suhada, Japanese cooking with Ms. Masako, and finally, our very own baking maestro, Louie, showed the girls how to bake some of the softest and gooiest chocolate chip cookies I have ever tasted! We topped it off this week with a movie and popcorn night during one of the public holidays.
It is wonderful to see how the girls rise to the challenge of the activities on offer. It warms my heart to see how they are happy to take the younger girls under their wing and act as role models to them, Sarasa and Ria helping little Angela change the duvet cover on her bed or seeing Kaith guiding the younger ones with their violin fingering, being ‘buddies’ to the new girls or the prefects reminding the girls to keep the kitchen and Common area clean by modeling good practice themselves. These are invaluable skills that they are acquiring, skills that will take them into their adulthood in years to come.
Ms Denu Sankey,
Crawfurd Housemistress
Propert House
At Propert we challenge the boys to always go the extra mile. To be able to see that ‘just enough’ insufficient, and that dreams and aspirations are what drive us to be better people.
To this end we decided to lauch a campaign within the House. The BE MORE campaign is designed to create awareness among the boys and to develop a sense of drive and determination to go above and beyond. This notion of BEing MORE will hopefully begin to make an impact in the way the boys interact with each other as well as how they take on new challenges and opportunities.
Each week we will discuss a topic related to their development, from being more mindful of others and their feelings, putting more effort into preparation for academics, cultural pursuits and sport, or by being there for someone when they need to talk or just not be alone. For me personally, I would like to see the boys go the extra mile in all areas. I believe that they can. Making their beds before being told to, choosing to wear the right colour socks – it may be menial and insignificant, but these small actions add up and develop the boys into fine young men. It refines them and allows them to see that the world will be a better place if we all chose to do more than expected. To practise an extra hour for that music exam or football match, to spend an extra 5 minutes with their friends while waiting for their parents to collect them, so they are not alone. My hope is that the Propert boys will continue to improve on their previous best and am feel so proud when they show care for their ‘brothers’.
In other House news, we are pleased to report that Propert has continued to fly the interhouse sporting arena. The House went on to win the Interhouse Badminton as well as the Interhouse Cross Country.
The Interhouse Battle of the Bands took place towards the end of last term as well. We were able to win the best solo category as well as best ensemble piece, but fell short of the big crowd pleaser which was the Pop section. I was very pleased with their efforts overall as we managed to place 2nd in the final rankings. Propert boys are always so very enthusiastic and willing to get involved. Long may this continue as we face a number of interhouse challenges in the term ahead.
Christmas Dinner was a great end to the term in December last year. This was greatly received by all the students and staff and a delicious meal was served! The evening ended with a performance of the 12 Days of Christmas and many good memories were made.
Term 1 was also a very sad occasion as we bade farewell to the founding Housemaster, Mr Ian Squires and his family. Many of the boys and indeed Old Epsomians came to wish him and his family well as they departed for the UK to be closer to family. A tree has been planted in front of Propert House in his honour.
We look forward to a new term with new opportunities and reasons to be proud to be Propertian!
Mr Ian Schoeman
Propert Housemaster
English
Memories
All students in Years 7-9 have contributed to our Key Stage 3 ‘Memories’ short story competition over the last two months, and there has been some lovely work produced. It is always particularly exciting when students new to the secondary school produce work as brilliant as the stories written by Nexus Khoo and Soi Men Chow, both in Year 7, but there can only be one winner – so congratulations to Rin Murakami in Year 8 for her winning entry, below.
Memories by Rin Murakami
Even in silence there is a divinity to musical instruments. Strife watched how their form interacted with bright sunlight. He licked his wilted lips, fatigued from hours of playing.
There they were, in his hat: the last few cents.
As he stands up steadily, he starts to walk by, finding a new place of business.
Summer sits upon the hill as a great floral wedding hat. The trees rise to the occasion, showing off their best hues, and everywhere are the flowers, the scattered rainbow. The sky blazes blue and the sun, reaching like petals across the sky; is a celebration of yellow, freedom and brightness.
The hot sidewalk had Strife dancing along a little faster. The weather was just like a sauna; he felt his saxophone bear hard upon his shoulder. He sweated like a chilly glass of water under the boiling temperatures. Travelling across the artificial, sun-baked asphalt with white dilapidated plastic lanes, he felt as if he was being barbecued.
Midgal was an innocent, undeveloped countryside; it was unblemished. No particular landmarks, only a small-scale downtown. No stations, no entertainment facilities,
just some normal countryside.
Strife sighed faintly, then walked along to the distant staircases down to the eastern side of the town. He pulled a frowny face as he saw the steep, dilapidated steps that might fall catastrophically at any minute.
As he reached the bottom, he glanced at the field painted yellow in front of him; it was packed with vibrant flowers, as yellow as his morning butter. Specifically a flower of stunningly gorgeous colours of yellow and brown: sunflowers.
“Oh come on…”
Hoping for travelling towards the midtown, he gazed at the unspoiled, sterile landscape.
However, the more that he searched, the more his eyesight was strangely pierced to the yellow and the attraction between him and the sunflower became a tangible thread in the air. He felt his improperly shod feet step closer and closer to the field of gorgeous flowers.
And there they were, the gems. He wandered between them, taking in the curves of each, letting his brain think perhaps why they’ve grown this beautifully. The sunlight staged itself in the blue, torching the field anew with brilliance.
The gentle-early breeze made strands of his hair for a moment, then his silky hair stirred up to his ears. His coat was a mid-blue leather that demonstrated the ocean hues, with the finest blue-green waves made of wool.
“He……ight?”
As he caught the melodious female voice with his ears, he likewise felt a gentle tap on his shoulder. He felt his heart pounding like persistent waves against the crumb cliffs. Prompted by the sudden warm breeze, he steadily moved around to look at the back.
A girl.
Gentle braid that tumbled in such rich autumnal hues, was the restful visual poetry of one’s soul. Crimson-rose jackets, adorned with her faded pink-laced skirt. Under the sky, as blue as indigo, her silhouette was the brightest thing around.
“Hey…are you alright?”
A prolonged silence followed as she slowly kneeled down for eye contact. 18 or 19, presumed Strife from her tone and height. About the age he was.
That light embarrassment from the situation had him slightly blushing, the colour of fading sort of pink. Closing his deep-set grey, unblinking eyes, he unhurriedly lifted his body to stand up. It felt as if the pathway of sunflowers were the path of evil and cold-heartedness; it felt like he was in the middle of the stage of public execution.
“Sorry to be of a bother, I’ll lea-”
As he attempted to stroll to the staircases with his leathery, clunky boots, he felt a gentle touch in his gloved, competent hands. As he withdrew his hands, he caught the silhouette of that girl.
“If you’re travelling towards the midtown of Midgal, the gate is currently closed ‘cause of the earthquake yesterday. You could stay over at mine while they’re closed if you’re okay with my younger sister?”
A brief silence pierced the atmosphere. He slowly started asking;
“Why in the world would you let a stranger in like me? You’re not even sure if your younger sister would be pleased with it. We haven’t introduced ourselves either.”
She giggled a little, then began clarifying after taking the hands of Strife.
“My sister will be alright, she always handles pretty well even with guests! Oh! Ahh… I’m Aerith. Well, to be honest, to let you in I have one favour to ask …
Could you write a letter for me please?”
Quarter past 3.
The afternoon recess for Sally. Tea with her sister, Aerith brings out her sense of grace, bringing her into the blessed moment. Every time she takes a seat on the white, straight-backed chair, against the brick pathway luminous under the sun. Amid each green leaf and delicate petal, there are the dancing birds and the splash of red berries.
Having four eggs fried in the brushing of olive oil, lightly salted on top of the soft loaf of bread. Sometimes soft pancakes and berries, as warm as they would be in the sun, maple syrup threaded upon the top.
But that day was different.
From the verandah were plants that reached up past the ceilings, enjoying their fair-weather home. As she looked down from the verandah to welcome her back, she saw a brilliant cyan coat.
Strife.
She pulled an extraordinary dull face, unwelcoming the possible disturbance of her tea time.
As she went dashing through the bedrooms, back to the tortuous, but clean wooden staircases, she slammed the main door open at full tilt as she arrived.
“I’m back!”
Brilliant sunshine skimmed through the wooden door, reflecting a shimmer from the ends of her eyelashes. As Sally attempted to get her eyesight used to the sunshine, she caught a glimpse of something similar.
Aerith’s great charming smile.
“Welcome back, sis….Who’s next to you?”
Sally mentioned unhurriedly and briskly; but solemnly as she caught a silhouette of Strife, acting like an epitome of self-confidence that never sees the value of blending in with anything around him.
“Oh uhm… He’s Strife, he’s going to be our guest for a few days until the gate’s back to usual! He’s literate; so he’s going to support me with my letter to a very important person! Strife, this is Sally, she’s still five. I would appreciate it if you can get along with her.”
“Seems alright for me.”
He uttered stiffly as he offered a handshake with her sister by reaching out. However, seemingly oppressed by his grey-florentine eyes, Sally hid behind her large wooden door.
“Sally, he will be alright. Big sis will be out for a while in the garden with him, the typewriter must be in that shelf…right?”
She kneeled down and softly murmured to her ears.
“Right.”
That was the beginning of her jealousy, and loneliness.
The clock hit quarter past 5.
Sally heard the distant murmur and giggles of their discussion in the garden as she fiddled with her dolls on her quite comfortable sofa. On her turquoise sofa in front of the brick-walled fireplace, there lay some classic board games, sketchbooks, vibrant, colourful crayons and some leatherbound novels. All that she’d used during the day; however she didn’t have Aerith who would normally battle against her, read for her and praise her artistic sketches. She felt as if the world, that used to hug and laugh with Sally, held her no longer.
The clock hit 8.
“Strife, where’s Aerith? I need her to listen to my jokes and unbraid my hair like usual before I sleep!”
As Strife turned the ordinary, hexagonal doorknob of the door to the guestroom after his shower,
Sally appeared in her pretty faded-cyan pyjamas.
“I believe she’s in her room for checking through her letters for today, didn’t she mention that we need to do stay away from the room? … What about I do that for you?”
He responded courteously and opened the thick oaken door.
The rooms were lit in the lamp-light glow, electric rays spreading as petals upon the walls.
A clock hung; it was an antique, that had old deep wood and a classic curvy shape.
“I actually wanted Aerith to do this, but thanks. I’m happy with it.”
She mentioned on the neat little bed while Strife unbraided her hair and unattached her broad cherry ribbons.
“I’m glad.”
“Alright, here’s a joke for you. What did the hat say to the other?”
She asked with the uttermost energetic voice as possible.
“ ‘You wait here. I’ll go on a head’, pretty famous one…isn’t it?”
Strife responded exultantly as he took her (complaining that Aerith would praise her always with her jokes) down onto the solid-tiled ground.
6:30 am on the next day.
She could see a breakfast that Aerith made on her dining table downstairs from her bedroom. But ignoring the delicious-looking toast and butter, she headed straight to her sofa.
As time went on, Sally’s loneliness felt more like solitude, for she tried to find ways to cope. Yet it was much more melancholy than it’s ever been. It tells her that she can’t ask for a hug nor reach for the sunshine. But from her cluttered sofa, she gazed at the empty kitchen, the birthplace of the homiest of aromas, the kind of fragrances that spoke directly to the best of their memories together. Instantly there came a realization; Aerith haven’t had her breakfast yet.
In the garden, full of aromatic fragrances of dandelions and poppies, Aerith could see the sunrise as a canopy of gold, bright amid the blue from her chair. As darkness surrenders, every colour changed from tinges of charcoal to vibrancy.
“Keep talking, there is only one more paragraph left according to your plan. Correct?”
Strife, sitting quietly down on a white straight-backed chair, interrupted her as he added space on his typewriter set on the white, artistic coffee table.
“Oh yes- so..”
Creak.
As she opened her dehydrated mouth, she heard the main oaken door creaked open.
As Strife turned his chair for a better look,
There stood Sally; carrying some biscuits with earl grey tea, exhausted.
“Sally!? I told you to not come outside, didn’t I?”
Even in a great surprise, Aerith seemed to be in an upset tone.
“But you haven’t had breakfast yet! When will this letter-writing thing end?”
A prolonged silence occupied the atmosphere.
But then she gave a big smile. Her smile was one of happiness growing, much as a spring flower opens. Strife could see how it came from deep inside to light to Sally’s eyes and spread into every part of her.
“It’ll be finished soon, Sally. Could you wait a little more for me please?”
“It’s something that finishes in another few hours. We’ve come this far. Sorry that we left you alone, but it can’t be completed this quick.”
Strife added.
“Yes, it can!!”
A great tremor overtook Sally. Tears raced down her cheeks. She could hold the heartbreak no longer and her grief poured out in a flood. She cried as a deep emotional scar was still bleeding from her delicate heart occupied by loneliness.
Her lips trembled as she cried out.
“Strife, you don’t understand anything! Aerith can only live for another day from cancer! I’ve heard from the doctor when he visited her room! I know that Aerith kept it secret for herself because she didn’t want to see me shocked! But why would you send a letter to someone that far away when I’m here, why would you stay with someone you’ve met a day ago for the last few hours!! As long as you live, I can be next to you! I can make you smile until the end!”
Strife could see the biscuit and teacup crashed on the ground, as well as Aerith, covering her face with shaking hands that wiped her cheek every few seconds.
“Please…Sally, stop. He does understand.”
The clock hit noon.
“I’m sorry Strife, Sally seems to have locked herself in the room.”
Aerith, her cheeks still stained with her tears, stood steadily in front of the house.
“It’s alright. Thanks for providing the guestroom, say goodbye to Sally for me please.”
She stood with the greatest smile Strife had ever seen and giggled a little.
“Could you deliver those letters to the post office in midtown? I think the gate’s already up and ready.”
Strife said no words; just smiled a little as he saw Sally, supposed to be “locked up” in her room, waving a little from the verandah.
“See you.”
News spread in Midgal that on the next day a new gravestone joined the graveyard.
“So, which letters need to be delivered?
A chubby post officer asked Strife after looking through some of the letters briefly.
“All. It’s all for Sally. G, yes.”
A year after Aerith’s funeral.
“Sally, yes you birthday girl, look at this! You have an incredible letter here.”
Even the most humble of envelopes can carry the most poetic messages of the heart.
Sally opened the white, almost-blank envelope and took a glance at the hand-written card stored inside.
“My dear Sally,
I’m glad you’re well set for your 6th birthday!!
I believe you stopped playing with your dolls…
Though I bet you still love enjoying board games, ain’t I correct?
Made any friends or buddies? No rush, you still have a long way to go!
I’ve sent a letter to a woman who offers to be your guardian for you.
You can receive your school fees from her! Have fun learning! ”
A single tear squeezed out of her eyes.
“My dear Sally,
Are you ready for your 15th birthday?
Have you perhaps found…. a sociable boyfriend? I’ll be delighted to know!
I also would love to know your style of fashion.
Have a lovely period of youth!”
“My dear Sally,
Already 23?
You are much older than me now, I believe?
How tall are you? I’m desperate to see your weddings, too!
What are you interested in? I know you’ll be a great artist!
Remember, I’m always with you.
Sincerely,
Aerith”
At the other end of the school, enormous admiration is due to Cadence Ong in Year 13 for her efforts in bringing the latest edition of Epsom Monthly to print. This is an online magazine, founded last year, intended to be written and edited by students, for students, and Cadence and her team have done a brilliant job in achieving just that. The latest edition is available here:
Socials in Term 2
As we enter 2022, we also begin Term 2 of this academic year. Once again, not only will the students be busy with their studies and mock exams, but exciting socials as well. As social prefects, we are thrilled to be able to plan more socials just like we did in Term 1!
The socials that we hope can take place this term are the following:
Firstly, with Chinese New Year right around the corner, we plan to organise an event regarding this festival for all key stages. Students from Year 12, namely Kai and Derick are organising this event with a handful of activities, including a movie, quiz, karaoke and even serving Yee Sang which is a traditional Chinese dish.
Next, we will collaborate with the Service prefects to organise an event for Valentine’s day! Though the details are undecided, the essential idea is that flowers and chocolates will be sold to students, with the profited money donated to a charity. These purchases can be for their friends, partner or perhaps even their crush. In fact, this may be a perfect time for confessions!
Moving on, we’d also like to hold a picnic for each key stage or house, at one of our fields during the evenings. Though it is a simple social, we believe students would highly enjoy just mingling and relaxing with each other, whilst watching the sunset with some food.
We look forward to organising more social events as we progress further into the term!
Twenty eight of our students participated, of whom twenty-three earned an award. More than 33,000 questions were answered, and earned us nearly 24,000 points, placing us in 2nd place in Science and 5th place overall. However, if the scores were averaged over the number of pupils we registered, we came first, by a huge margin!
Our star student was Xin Ling who scored over 2,000 points. Not far behind were our Gold Award winners : May, Aviiniis, Youngmok, Ann Yi , Jing Yan, Sotaro, Yi Shan, Hitesh and Pei Wen.
Here’s what Ann Yi had to say about her experience :
“Participating in this competition encouraged me to revise a lot of topics that I’ve not interacted with in a while, especially those that I found more challenging. Through these two days of answering questions intensively, I had the opportunity to identify my strengths and weaknesses, and I think that will definitely help me revise for my IGCSE mocks during the holidays. Of course, the Gold Medal was a plus! Huge thanks to the science department who gave us this opportunity :).”
Social Prefects
Raihana Remee and Yi Chen Lee
Raihana Remee and Yi Chen Lee
Peer Support Expert Program
Epsom strives to deliver a holistic education that builds well rounded and resilient young citizens, well equipped and confident to take up their place in the world. We want our students to be self aware and mindful of the needs of others – in this way they will have a positive impact on their community whatever and wherever that community may be. With this in mind we have launched the Peer Support Expert Programme.
Through this programme, students will undergo training to develop appropriate skills to enable them to support others who are experiencing personal challenges or difficulties. These students will be Wellbeing Mentors, available to listen and to pass on information to our school counsellor in regular formal meetings so that appropriate action may be taken. These student mentors will wear a badge that will indicate to their peers that they have received the training and that they are available to help.
Being part of this programme will not only develop students’ sense of responsibility but will also develop their character and sense of purpose. They will demonstrate empathy as well as listening skills and the ability to read a situation and be able to respond appropriately. These interpersonal skills will stand them in good stead for their future careers and will enrich and enhance our school community in the meantime.
Applications for the role of Student Mentor are currently open and anyone interested is invited to submit a short video of 2-3 minutes outlining their reasons for applying and the qualities that they bring to the position. The deadline for applications is 23 January 2022.
We look forward to beginning the programme after our half term break!
Ms Pajan Kaur
School Counsellor
