Welcome Back to Term Two 2021 – Two pieces of advice for our boys

Welcome back to all boys and families to the start of Term Two 2021. The School is very different when the boys are away. Hearing them in the classrooms, corridors, on the playgrounds and sports fields this week, makes Hereworth come alive.

At our Term Two Commencement Chapel Service last Monday I said to the boys that I want this to be another important, special term for them all.

And to that end, I'd offered them two pieces of advice as to how best to enjoy and make the most of this term.

I told them about a friend from my time at school. His name is Andrew. When we meet we usually reminisce about our times together as students, various funny situations that have stuck in our memories, even things that our teachers said to us. Sometimes people say things to us that we always remember. Sometimes we are given advice that helps to shape our lives.

I can remember Andrew sitting in class – it was a visual arts class; a pottery lesson, we were working with clay to make a bowl. He could see how it was done; everyone around him seemed to be doing it right, but it was not working for him. His product was more of a flattish sort of thing with centimetre high sides that resembled a plate rather than a bowl.

Towards the end of the lesson, we had to go and show our work to the teacher for advice or approval. Andrew stood in the queue chatting to me.

“Mine’s awful,” he said casually. “It’s really bad.”

He was only saying this to me but the visual arts teacher at the front of the room heard his comment.

“Well, then,” said the teacher, “if it’s no good, go back and do it again.”

Andrew could tell from the tone of the teacher’s voice that he was quite serious about this. He extracted himself from the queue, went back to the workbench, and tried again. His second attempt of course was much better – which was acknowledged by the teacher when he went forward a second time.

However, that sentence “if it’s no good, go back and do it again” was a gift of insight - something that Andrew says has stayed with him all his life.

There is no point in criticising what you make or what you do. When people say, “Oh, what I’ve done is awful,” what they are really saying is, “I want you to tell me it is okay. I want you to tell me it doesn’t matter that I didn’t try hard enough to do a good job.”

In fact, I think apologising in advance means that often we start off not making much of an effort so we can shrug it off and people will say it doesn’t matter.

What we all should do instead is do the best we can and present it with a smile.

The rule is this: you must not apologise for your work. Do not say “This isn’t very good”.Andrew will always say he was grateful for that gift of advice from the visual arts teacher. That comment: if it’s no good, go back and do it again from the teacher has stayed with him for life. He makes sure that what he does is the best that it can be, which when you consider that Andrew has been a chief mechanical engineer for airlines such as Air New Zealand, Qantas and Jetstar, is probably pretty important. He has licences to work on Pratt & Whitney General Electric and Rolls Royce jet engines. You wouldn’t want Andrew apologising for the work that he does on these engines. You would want him to be doing his best work.

So that’s my first piece of advice to our boys for this new term.

Make it your personal rule always to do work that is your best.

My second piece of advice for this term does not relate so much to learning, but more with our boys’ health and happiness. They are going to do a lot of great and interesting things this term. But remember that there's something equally as important as the things they do or the things they learn, and that’s the relationships they form with fellow students and staff.

I told the boys to remember to build their connections with others – not the virtual ones, the real ones. The number of people “Friending” them on Facebook won't be nearly as important to their growth and well-being as their teachers, teammates, classmates – and especially their own family – those people they share real face-time with on a regular basis. Give everyone a chance to be your friend. Value the people you respect, trust and love and similarly show respect, trust and love to others. It will be a great source of strength. Remember that Hereworth is a place where our boys do make friends for life. It is another great gift afforded to them at this great school.

So those two bits of advice again – keep going and do your best and build strong friendships with the people around you.

T Barman

Headmaster

Article added: Friday 07 May 2021