Message from the Principal
House Spirit is Alive and Well
This week I had the pleasure of attending the Senior and Middle School Sports Days at Kowloon Tsai Sports Ground. There were some outstanding athletic performances over the two days with some long standing records tumbling. Impressive also, was the participation levels and the general involvement of our students at the carnivals.
One factor that motivates our students to be involved on these days is our incredible house spirit. Students identify strongly with our famous houses of Crozier, Nightingale, Rowell and Upsdell and seem to genuinely care and contribute to the success of each house. This identification with our school and house is also a constant theme I experience when I talk to alumni. It is quite common for alumni to introduce themselves to me stating their name, and then straight away they will tell me their house. Some will then gleefully regale in a story about past house glories and their role in a particular episode of house triumph!
The idea of house spirit also makes me think about the idea of school and organisational culture and how a belief in something bigger than yourself can be an important driver. If members of any organisation actually believe in what the organisation stands for and are trying to achieve, then commitment, energy and participation in this agenda will get a boost.
At KGV School we are striving hard to build this clarity in our belief system. We conceptualise these ideas around:
What I observed at our sports carnival was powerful. A culture of belonging to the school and house as well as a belief in the effort for the ‘glory of the collective’. In many ways, the sports carnival was a microcosm of what we are creating as an organisation. Creating clarity about our belief system, our direction and values are fundamental to this. The magic is when the words on the paper start to come to life as people begin to behave and do things differently because we are all committed to our direction and values. A focus on learning for all and providing opportunities for each and every student to ‘be their own remarkable’ is what we are all excited to be working towards.
Kind regards
Mark Blackshaw
Principal
King George V
