Most organisations, I daresay, have aims and an ethos. Principles they seek to uphold, values to which they adhere, which they hope will permeate through every decision and interaction.
Highgate is no different. Our aims and ethos state that this is a place for learning and scholarship; a reflective community; and an exemplar for the healthy life.
Such is our commitment to them that they are literally carved in stone. If you happen to be passing our main entrance, take a close look at the doorframe. You’ll see them etched into the masonry.
We try to make these values “live” in all sorts of ways, but the shocking events of this summer brought one of them, a reflective community, to the very forefront of my mind.
The July murders of three young girls in Southport and the riots, hatred, arrests and convictions that followed were appalling, frightening and utterly depressing. Racist, Islamophobic and anti-immigrant in intent and character, the violence and online venom attacked and unravelled community cohesion and security.
At Highgate we are committed to creating an inclusive community in which all members feel a true sense of belonging. It’s evident, though, that the summer’s incidents will have caused some members of that community to feel unsafe.
The parts of our community we see most often are, of course, our pupils. These are the young people we work with to ensure that when they grow up, they will work and live in ways which will make the world they inherit and pass on fairer and more sustainable.
Our adult hearts may sink at the intense anger dividing communities, at racism, sexism, homophobia and more. But as teachers we have a duty to help inoculate our young people against online hatred and intemperate violence, cynicism and selfishness, judgmentalism and flabby ethics.
The vaccine we have to hand at Highgate is in our values: the reflective community through which we teach our pupils to see caring for and serving others as a way of life; promote sustainability; and practise making moral decisions, while learning good manners and courtesy. For us, this means many things we do externally in partnership and, internally, putting service to others at the core of school life; challenging prejudice and valuing and understanding difference; and respecting our ethos within an inclusive, Christian tradition.
I often refer to this, committing yourself to others, as the “cost” of community: the idea that you cannot just take the bits you like. You have to pay, in full, the price of belonging. Sometimes – often – that means doing things for the benefit of others: recognising that outreach and partnership can become a model for life and feeling the fulfilment offered by service.
I addressed these ideas in my start of year assemblies to all pupils. I told Year 7 that I want everyone going home every day to be saying and feeling that those they have met have made them feel welcome, and that they have welcomed others.
I reminded Year 8 that language or behaviour, in the virtual or real world, which makes someone feel excluded or unwelcome is wrong. And I encouraged Years 9-13 to work out their red lines: what they will and will not stand for, and what they will do if those lines are crossed – especially if they are crossed by a friend.
I advocated a two-pronged approach, which promotes inclusion and protects us from actions which damage it. Painting your red lines, I argued, is part of the latter: staking a claim for what you believe in. If you don’t stand for anything, you fall for something: the rioters this summer fell for anger, violence and intimidation.
The present may be dispiriting and frightening, but it also shows us what needs to change and how the next generation needs to behave. This is what is brilliant about working with young people: we can root our teaching in aims such as living more sustainably, aspiring to judgment through learning and wisdom, and seeking compromise and solution.
In these ways, schools can compete with the ephemeral influencers of our children’s online worlds. We have the time with them, face to face, and we can make a difference. We should bounce out of bed to come to work and be the influencers of their real world. We must help them build their own reflective communities.
About the author Adam Pettitt, Head Adam has been Head of Highgate since 2006. He was previously Head of Modern Languages at Abingdon School and then Deputy Head at Norwich School. He read French and German at university and continues to teach both subjects to Y9 pupils at Highgate. Beyond work, Adam enjoys running marathons and is a recent convert to inter-railing.
