You can be so proud of your children. It is a pleasure to see more able children so generously and supportively assisting and encouraging learners who have greater challenges either with their speech or other physical or learning issues. The teachers and I have commented several times about the gentle and positive environment that makes this such a safe place for children to flourish in all their uniqueness. It was great to hear a new child's comment that he felt at home the first day he arrived for a Try Day because 'the school is just like a family.'
Some years ago I came to a realisation that we are all disabled in some way. Not one of us is perfect. Not one of us is clever at everything. Not one of us looks great in all situations. Not one of us is healthy or happy all the time. This means that we have to learn to be interdependent, to sometimes accept help from others, and to be sure to offer to help, if needed, as an expression of loving others.
As children grow older and become more aware of the differences between them and others, they tend to try to hide their own weaknesses and insecurities, feel a sense of shame about their differences, and then often, in order to make themselves feel better, imagine themselves as superior and pick on others. This 'picking on others' is usually a foil for their own insecurities. Often this lasts through to adulthood, when we judge negatively and gossip - to make our own failings seem less than they really are. None of us are immune to this temptation.
Jesus, in his time on earth, profoundly challenged those who thought that they were better than others. He spent most of his time with people who were aware of their weaknesses, knowing that it is in humility that we recognise our oneness with every other person in the world, and in humility that we become most open to God's work within us.
So, during this term, we will be building on the great work you, as parents, are doing in helping your children to learn to love. We will be seeking to value all the ways that we are unique, and all the ways that we are wonderfully made, and all the ways that we can use that unique wonderfulness to be a blessing in the world around us!
Some years ago I came to a realisation that we are all disabled in some way. Not one of us is perfect. Not one of us is clever at everything. Not one of us looks great in all situations. Not one of us is healthy or happy all the time. This means that we have to learn to be interdependent, to sometimes accept help from others, and to be sure to offer to help, if needed, as an expression of loving others.
As children grow older and become more aware of the differences between them and others, they tend to try to hide their own weaknesses and insecurities, feel a sense of shame about their differences, and then often, in order to make themselves feel better, imagine themselves as superior and pick on others. This 'picking on others' is usually a foil for their own insecurities. Often this lasts through to adulthood, when we judge negatively and gossip - to make our own failings seem less than they really are. None of us are immune to this temptation.
Jesus, in his time on earth, profoundly challenged those who thought that they were better than others. He spent most of his time with people who were aware of their weaknesses, knowing that it is in humility that we recognise our oneness with every other person in the world, and in humility that we become most open to God's work within us.
So, during this term, we will be building on the great work you, as parents, are doing in helping your children to learn to love. We will be seeking to value all the ways that we are unique, and all the ways that we are wonderfully made, and all the ways that we can use that unique wonderfulness to be a blessing in the world around us!
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