FRIDAY THOUGHTS
Something wonderful happened this week - students were brought together to celebrate the final days of our Read-a-thon, in person! We were able to gather all the Children’s House and Primary students in the morning and all the Secondary students in the afternoon outside, to enjoy performances and reading together. While we were all still wearing our masks, the power of coming together in shared experience was palpable and it was the first time for me as the new Head of School (and wearing the Shark Mascot costume!) that I was able to look out over the sea of young faces and wow, did I feel gratitude to be part of this wonderful event! I hope many of you were able to follow on Instagram. If not, you can find photos in today’s Somersfield Star and on our Instagram page. A big shout out to our wonderful librarian Bernadette Tucker and the staff and student volunteers for a fantastic three weeks in honour of reading.
Uniform Survey

Thank you to parents, students and staff who took the time to complete the uniform survey. There have been nearly 400 responses to date and you are still more than welcome to add your voice if you have not yet had the chance to do so. Please click the survey below.
I plan to look more closely at the individual responses in the coming days, including the comments that many included. 

The top 10 takeaways to date:

  1. The topic is very important or extremely important to the majority of respondents (55%)
  2. Only 29% of respondents felt there should be no uniform
  3. 67% felt there should be multiple uniform options
  4. Only 28% felt there should be a ‘winter/formal’ uniform
  5. 87% felt that a sweater should be an option in place of the blazer
  6. 66% felt a sweatshirt should be an option instead of a sweater
  7. Only 20% felt that a tie should be required
  8. 55% felt there should be more sock options with a number commenting that this might be an area for personal expression
  9. 66% felt that more freedom should be granted for hair styles, including hair colouring
  10. And the number one reason offered for maintaining a uniform was so that there was no pressure to ‘fit in’ by wearing certain clothes/brands with ‘it’s easier to get dressed in the morning’ in second place.
 

The Fund for Somersfield

Next week will see the launch of the annual fund which we have renamed The Fund for Somersfield. Annual giving lies at the heart of our philanthropic efforts and provides the bedrock upon which we build. We appreciate that not every family is in a position to make a financial donation and we remain extremely grateful for contributions of your time and talents as well. We very much look forward to the day when we can reopen campus to our parent volunteers who are such an essential part of our community. Please know that all gifts of time, talent and treasure, regardless of size, are greatly valued.
 

Final thought for the week

In my reading this week, I came across a powerful assertion - that little value is attached to process, because it is difficult to measure and therefore has no value. For me, this claim resonates. Traditional education is focused on measurable outcomes (exam results) versus process (the learning journey). As one of my ex-colleagues used to say to his students when the going got tough - ‘it is all about the journey.’ That is where the learning takes place, including the transferable skill of tackling future unknown challenges. My continued commitment is to put the work in around process, with particular emphasis on restorative practices, as we endeavour to fulfill the vision, mission and values of Somersfield Academy.


Have a great weekend all!
Peter
Somersfield Academy | T: 441.236.9797 | F: 441.236.9789 | www.somersfield.bm