No man is an island,
Entire of itself;
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
Of course, replace ‘man’ with ‘person’ and John Donne’s 1623 contemplations seem far more inclusive, though they do lose some of the internal rhyme in the opening line that drives the message home. However, if we replace it with ‘girl’, then we at least find ourselves at The Abbey with a nice opening gambit for an assembly or a Skills 4 Life lesson about the value of communities, so I guess we have something to thank Donne for, other than his metaphysical poetry that has bemused Sixth Form Literature students for decades.
It was with this year’s theme of ‘Communities’ in mind that the Senior School has just embraced the annual Mental Health Awareness Week. It has long been recognised that loneliness has been a cause of poor mental health (indeed, much longer than the term ‘mental health’ has even existed) and the value of being part of a community, or different communities, is widely recognised as a way of making life feel more meaningful and enjoyable. We hope that message has been heard loud and clear this week, as we promoted various communities within the school, and everyone took time to thank and value those members of our own community who are sometimes forgotten.
Starting with house assemblies, where our newly elected House Captains – who are eagerly awaiting their names to be immortalised in gold print on our wooden honour boards – gave rousing messages of community, team spirit and togetherness, we soon moved to shared tutor group lunches and, possibly most important of all, a chance for all students and teachers to create thank you cards for a member of the community who has made a difference to them. Catering staff, the Housekeeping Team, Receptionists, Bus Drivers and older students were among the recipients, boosting their wellbeing and allowing us to foster that ‘attitude of gratitude’ that we know also benefits our own mental health.
We finished the week with an inspiring video of some of our students, who volunteer their time and efforts to contribute to communities outside of our school, championing the personal benefits that one can reap from giving up their time to support others. Whether participating in church groups or charities, sports clubs or special one-off community projects, we continue to be so proud of what our students give to their own communities, and of course the one we treasure the most: The Abbey School!
George Morton, Deputy Head