The line ‘Integrity is doing the right thing when, even when no one is looking.’ is commonly misattributed to the author of The Chronicles of Narnia C S Lewis. Although Lewis covered a similar theme in his work Mere Christianity the quote is actually taken from ‘Shattering the Glass Slipper’ the work of contemporary motivational speaker Charles Marshall. Whilst many of us will be familiar with work of C S Lewis far fewer, myself included will have read Marshall. Of course, the truth of an aphorism is not dependent on its authorship but the idea itself.

This week, for the fourth time in three years, Warwick School has found itself dealing with the loss of a much-loved member of our community.  Tragically Mr Robertson (Dan) lost his battle with liver cancer on Tuesday. He leaves behind a wife, our colleague, teacher, and friend Kat, and two children.  I am incredibly grateful that we were able to share news of his illness with the community before the Christmas holiday. This gave those closest to him an opportunity to contact him, and I know that the messages he received from pupils meant a huge amount to him. That his last days were calm peaceful and pain free, that he enjoyed Christmas with his family, and died surrounded by those he loved, is some consolation. 

Warwick School has two towering memorial stones in Chapel to remember the Old Warwickians who died in the First and Second World Wars. At the time, the school worked hard to trace every casualty, and ensure no-one was missed from the list of names. However, this was not an easy task; the World Wars were huge, international conflicts, fought long before the advent of easy, instant communication. And tragically, we now know that a number of names were missed off these original memorial stones.

Just a week into the new school year and already the summer seems like a distant memory. Every year on the day before the start of term we welcome our new Year 7 cohort and give them a chance to familiarise themselves with the site, spend some time with their tutors and generally get themselves ready for the move to secondary school and its accompanying challenges.

How do you react to behaviour that has a negative impact on you? Anger, judgement, and blame?  How productive is this reaction?  What if the slights you’ve experienced or the harm they have done was not inflicted intentionally?  What if the perpetrator thought that they were doing the right thing – for them or even possibly for you?

What do the following all have in common?

Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Ghandi, Margaret Thatcher, Martin Luther King Jnr, Greta Thunberg, Winston Churchill, Jacinda Ardern