Headmaster's Blog: Why you should really watch your children's matches.

In the middle of a fairly dry academic conference last week, one of the speakers delivered a surprisingly heart-warming nugget. We want our children to be happy, he told us, so we have to remember that the greatest source of happiness is love. And for almost all of our children, it is within a family context that love is expressed. The speaker quickly moved on to something completely different, but I was left pondering this thought and in particular what this has to do with schools and in particular Ashfold?

Last week we had our Open Afternoon where parents, including me, had the joy of being shown by the children what they have been doing. The expectation was that nobody would feel under pressure to perform (either teachers or pupils), but that the afternoon could be enjoyed together as a precious family time. That was the intention and it was certainly my feeling.

Family, in whatever form it comes, is so important for children. This is a major reason why we encourage parents to come to matches, concerts, plays and other events. It is why we try to have as many of these occasions as possible: not because we are showing our school off, but because we want to help to create family memories. We believe in the ‘Ashfold Family’ and at school we strive to be as inclusive and nurturing as we can. But I also hope that through these occasions we can enhance actual family life through what we do at school. And in doing this we hope that the children will feel truly loved.