The care-groups are not friendship based. The purpose is for all girls to have someone to communicate with regularly, via School email, text, or social media and to demonstrate kindness and push comfort zones as girls interact with others with whom they may not usually spend time. Ensuring students are able to maintain their sense of belonging to the School community will be very important throughout this period of learning remotely.
In many ways, the House system has never been more important for students to remain connected with one another. As Head of England House, Ms Alysia Stark, communicated to England House, ‘we want to keep all ‘Eaglets’ in our ‘Nest’, listen out for any ‘sqwarks’, respond calmly to any worries, and if there are any concerns about girls sounding a little fragile or are teetering on ‘falling out of the nest’, please be in touch.’
From a wellbeing perspective, young people are used to constant connection and peer-to-peer conversation and for many of our girls, they might be grappling with not seeing their friends on a daily basis. Houses are using Minerva to facilitate connections through morning check-ins via forums, sharing stories on newsfeeds, and participating in weekly fun activities such as bake offs, photos of pets, shared playlists and weekly chat circles. These will continue to evolve as time progresses.
Our Student Council are also finding new ways for girls to be the #grammarglue that binds the #grammarblue. Head Girls, Arwen Dias-Jayasinha (12G) and Abbey Grice (12E), have been leading the student body to implement values of love, spirt and teamwork through their Instagram page, with initiatives such as live-streamed morning workouts, yoga, and positivity challenges, and they are also looking forward to future plans such as sharing girls interests through a passion series.
While there are many opportunities for girls to connect creatively, adapting to a new rhythm of learning from home will be a challenge for many students. If you have concerns about your daughter’s academic engagement or her social and emotional wellbeing, please contact her Head of House.
Mrs Emma Lowry
Dean of Students
