Are all your eggs in one basket?
Coming into Easter a lot of children (and… adults) will be looking forward to waking up with a basket full of chocolate eggs. Imagine for a second that you are such a child (or… adult) and you wake up to find such an Easter basket.
This basket is loaded to the brim with brightly coloured eggs, every treat as delicious as the next, all of them conveniently arranged by the Easter Bunny in one wicker basket of delights. As you walk toward this bountiful basket, you squeal (yes, you actually do). Just then, your trusty beagle (yes I know, it is always a beagle) bounds over to that stunning, little buffet and inhales every last egg before you can say “Peter Rabbit”. One event. One moment and Easter morning is ruined. Why?
One Basket.
That’s right. We’ve all heard the expression about the risks of putting all of our eggs in one basket but that is too often precisely what we do with our children’s well being. And generally, that basket is ‘school’.
Now, as a teacher of twenty-six years, and a parent who has two kids of my own, I am not saying the choice of schools we make is unimportant. It is important. But, what I would also say is that it is a mistake to think that the school can be some kind of one stop shop when it comes to your child’s development.
When your child has a hard time at school (as they sometimes will, no matter how good the school) you want to know that school isn’t their ‘whole life.’
Ideally, your child has a number of different communities where they feel supported. These could include their neighbourhood, their sports team, a special interest group, a scouting group, nippers, a charity they volunteer for and of course their family. All of these different communities are like a pair of hands, crossing over to create a net. So when one part of the net fails there are still enough hands to catch them.
Many Communities. Many Connections. Many hands. As they say ‘it takes a village to raise a child’. I agree. Thanks for allowing us to be a part of your child’s village. We are honoured. Happy Easter to you all.