During my first week as Head of Brighton Girls, I have been talking to pupils and staff about our core values. In my experience, there is nothing more powerful than when an organisation knows what it is about. The point at which every member of a community can articulate clearly its characteristics and culture is the point at which you experience the magic of synergy: that is, when the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts.
The first thing that struck me as I began my initial research on Brighton Girls was that individuals here are encouraged to be both “kind” and “bold”. As I said to the Senior girls in assembly, I was drawn to this community because I believe that its values are aligned with my own and, to underline my point, I offered them three quotations, which I feel typify my approach to life; all three connect to either kindness or courage. The first was a question from Sheryl Sandberg, “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?”. The second came from Abraham Lincoln who, on seeing someone across the room was heard to say, “I don’t like that man; I must get to know him better”. The third was a line from my son’s favourite story-book, ‘Rosie Revere Engineer’ and relates to how we respond to setbacks and failure: “The only true failure can come if you quit”.
Those who were present in assembly on Wednesday may be able to remember how I elaborated on these three quotations, drawing on the themes of kindness and courage. But I have no doubt that all present will remember my last point, because it concerned the one thing on every girl’s mind: their mobile phone. “How can the words “kind” and “bold” be applied to our new mobile phone policy?” I sensed them thinking. My explanation was simple: we have limited the use of mobile phones in the Senior School because they encourage us to look inwards and downwards, not outwards and upwards, and this affects our wellbeing; we are not being kind to ourselves by allowing smartphones to sap so much of our time. Secondly, the step we have taken is a courageous one; we have taken the difficult path, knowing we will encounter resistance, because we believe it is the right thing to do.
In other words, our actions are both kind and bold.
I will be speaking to the Prep pupils next week, along with the Year 11 and Year 13 pupils who missed my first assembly due to mock exams. My message to them will take up this same theme. Parents, I look forward to meeting you at the upcoming ‘Meet the Head’ events and I am interested to hear your views too. As I get to know the community of Brighton Girls, my hope is that, together, we can revisit, revise and reaffirm the core values of the school.
