Junior School

Special greetings, best wishes and many blessings to all the fathers and father figures in our school community. I hope last weekend’s celebration of Fathers' Day was a special one for you and you were able to feel and understand the love and gratitude you inspire in people. 

In last week’s Year 5 Pastoral Care Period (PCP) we explored ideas around masculinity, which led me to reflect over the weekend about the models and examples of masculinity we see in our dads, and that in turn our children see in us. Of course, none of us can (or would) claim to be the perfect father, but whether we are good, bad or indifferent models of masculinity, our young people are soaking it all in. What they see and understand from us is hugely influential and helps form the values and assumptions that make up their ‘schema’ of masculinity.

I asked the boys last week to think of a person they would consider a ‘good man’, someone they aspire to be like, someone who is a good model of masculinity. For me this is easy – my own dear father was a good man and I would be proud if people thought I was like him. What lessons about masculinity did I learn from my dad? Here are just a few:

• A good man is present to the people in his life
• A good man is generous to those he loves, and to those on the margins
• A good man can be depended on in good times and in bad
• A good man fulfils his responsibilities
• A good man is forgiving and looks for the best in others

I am grateful that I had the chance to watch and learn from my dad during his lifetime. I do wonder what lessons my children are absorbing from me and I hope I will be around long enough to ask them that question once they get to my age. Hopefully it’s good news!

When Junior School boys receive an award or earn a commendation slip, very often they share with me how pleased they are to be able to share that success with their parents – they really want to make you proud. Conversely, when boys find themselves ‘in trouble’, often their worry and regret have to do with feeling they have disappointed their parents. A great gift parents can pass on to their sons is to take pride in and celebrate their hard-earned achievements; it is just as important to also walk with them through difficult times and show them how to hold yourself with integrity and dignity while you make things right when you have done wrong.

We thank God, whom Jesus taught us to call ‘Father’, for all fathers and father figures.

Ben Munday

Director of Junior School