Headteacher's Blog #7

This week I have been leading assemblies on Dignity with our students. I have been telling the remarkable story of Viktor Frankl, the Holocaust survivor who withstood horrendous traumas and emerged convinced that happiness and fulfilment could be found, even in the most traumatic circumstances, through service and purpose. Stories like Frankl's remind young people that regardless of their circumstances in life, the choice of path is their own, they can choose their own attitude and define their own success. What Frankl learnt in the concentration camps, I have observed in 30 years in education.

Being a teenager has always been a traumatic time. I brought up two teenagers and remember the frustrations and conflicts as they pushed up against the boundaries of adult life. Teenagers have an uncanny ability to invent their own versions of the truth, their brains are still plasticine, their emotions still regulating. They are often expert at trying to manipulate their environment, they should be doing this as they are also asserting their independence. I know from my experience of struggling with my teenage children that this was the period where our boundaries were challenged on a daily basis. Running a secondary school is much easier than being a parent.

 As we move forward through this academic year, we will be strengthening our boundaries at LSA, this will mean that our young people will test them, and we will need your support. A great secondary school educates and socialises, ensuring that its young people are knowledgeable, disciplined and ready for the harsh realities of the adult world. This is our service to them. Thank you all for your support during my first term, I hope that you understand that by setting boundaries at LSA I am helping you to withstand the challenges of bringing up teenagers.