New Day's Resolutions

I have to start by saying how delighted I am at the appointment of Lara Péchard as the new Head for Felsted School.  I first knew Lara when we were both Deputy Heads, with her at Norwich School, and have had a huge amount of respect and admiration for her ever since.  We are putting together some opportunities for parents to meet Lara in the coming weeks and months and I have no doubt that she will take Felsted from strength to strength in the years ahead.
 

As you will be only too aware, the New Year has started with some pretty cold and wintry weather, perhaps befitting a time when a large number of people take on New Year's Resolutions, dry January, new gym membership and other things of the kind. I have written before about the fact that I think that waiting for the New Year to resolve to do better is unnecessary, and we should actually reflect all the time, and go for New Day's Resolutions instead. Forming good habits, rather than making grand statements is more likely to lead to lasting change.

One of the reasons for the rush of good intentions in January is that many of us will have over-indulged over the Christmas period.  Perhaps a glass too many at the office party, or just one mince pie too many at the Christmas table.  Of course, parties are a big part of life (especially for those lucky enough to be in their younger years), but it can be difficult to get the balance right between celebration and school. It is really important to mark milestones, and an 18th birthday is a significant point in any person's life.  However, if every pupil who turned 18 celebrated with a party throughout the year, we would be having 18th birthday parties every three days, which would make it impossible to get anything done.  Therefore, we do ask that events are planned outside term time whenever possible.  

We would not support any party that takes place on a school night, and boarders would not be given permission to attend, as this can be detrimental to their work and focus at school. In order to get appropriate permissions from other parents (especially for any invitees who are traditional boarders), we would ask that we are given appropriate notice of guest lists, so that we can ensure that we fulfil our duty of care.

While it can be tempting to invite children from different year groups, this can cause problems, and in our experience is definitely best avoided. This is particularly true when one year group has finished exams, but others are still at school, and permission will not be given for them to attend. If you do intend to provide any alcohol, please consider carefully what measures you will take to control this, and ensure the safety of the children in your care at all times. Young people will not normally control their own intake very effectively, and spirits in particular can be very dangerous.

In all cases, plan and prepare for the worst case scenario! That way, your surprise may be a pleasant one. If you do not plan for the worst, you might be dealing with the worst on the next day. I hope that this is useful, and we are always happy to talk to you about any plans, and to try to provide help and advice from our experience of parties over the years.

Have a very good weekend.

Chris

PS Two notices: 

1. The next Heads' Seminar will be on Vaping on Saturday 7th February.  You might have seen this in the news this week -  Vaping: Schools want help in 'lonely battle' - BBC News - which is a good starting point on this topic
2. We are opening the Coffee Shop up to parents, for an opportunity to meet with other parents, and also chat to staff each Wednesday morning, beginning on Wednesday 21st January, from 8.30 - 9.30am.