For this week's View from the Top, we've handed over to Samantha Price, the head of . Below, Mrs Price - the school’s first female Head in almost 160 years - explores the importance of belonging in these critical formative years...
One of the most important aspects of education is to foster a sense of belonging and individual purpose. As a head it’s vital to create and nurture school cultures in which every single child and his or her individual needs are known, understood, and supported. Academics are important, of course, but as educators we are in danger of getting so ground down in exam results being the barometer for success that we can lose sight of the importance of belonging and the role that individual purpose plays in the wellbeing of our teens and their successful outcomes. When a child becomes isolated, feels that they don’t fit in and doesn’t have a recognised purpose, they disengage and too often fail to achieve their full potential.
Belonging means inclusion and good Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) strategies are vital, but belonging is more than that. It is the creation of cultures that help each child to feel valued and to have his or her skills noticed and valued as part of a community. This is true equity and a young person who is valued at school and encouraged to play a wider supporting role in the community will inevitably reach adulthood as a rounder and more giving person who can play a valuable role in the society in which they live. Voluntary work or Voluntary Action as we call it at Cranleigh when our pupils go out to support other groups and organisations has benefits to the individual as well as those they help. Our engaged alumni continue to enact positive change in the world by giving back and volunteering and we know that this continues to enhance their sense of purpose and belonging. As a boarding school Cranleigh has more time with the children in our care and so we are well placed to celebrate difference by first seeing and recognising that individuals are all unique and that each individual has worth. We put considerable time and expertise into the formal structures that underpin this, such as a well-researched and expertly-delivered PSHE programme, and into the pupil-led groups championing tolerance and empathy. Our social programmes are specifically designed to help teenagers understand the teen years, outside pressures, social norms, an appreciation of the differences between the genders and a rational approach to technology.
A boarding environment provides the necessary time to dedicate to these groups and conversations, allowing teenagers the space and freedom to explore and talk through topics that are important to them. Pupil-led groups provide leadership opportunities as well as safe spaces. The Cranleigh Diversity Alliance is a pupil-led group that acts as an umbrella structure for our protected characteristic support groups. The Alliance banner emphasises the importance for all pupils of being an ally – this is central to one of the School’s primary values: Cranleigh Being which asks pupils and staff to recognise who we are, and how we are.
Adolescence is a difficult time that young people have always needed help in navigating. Teenagers today face a barrage of potential expectations from various sources including, and more increasingly, social media. For our children to become ready to face the world after education they need support to celebrate what makes them unique and different at a time when trying to fit in is the default aim. Much is currently written about ‘pick me’ girls and ‘toxic males’ but many young people are just making mistakes by trying too hard to find their tribe and impress their peers. These are formative years and their role models online are not robust. Society must understand that teenagers need strong guidance, good role models and clear boundaries to thrive instead of taking these away and then blaming them for getting things wrong.