SJB TOGETHER – 5TH FEBRUARY 2021

Dear Parents, Guardians and Boys –

I hope this latest newsletter finds you and your extended family safe and well.

Hopefully, you have by now been able to watch the short video message given by our head boy, George B, earlier this week. George’s message was extremely valuable to the school community for a number of reasons. Firstly, it recognises the collaborative role that has been so much part of the success of SJB Reach, between yourselves, your sons and their teachers, but he also reminded us of the strength of community and how fortunate we all are to be part of this. 

This week has been devoted nationally to the topic of children’s mental health and it has provided a valuable opportunity to emphasise the importance of addressing children’s resilience and positive mindset, particularly during a lockdown of this nature. Our approach to this will continue to recognise the challenges and opportunities that the boys face whilst also building their resilience by accompanying them through rather than avoiding these challenges. Our Books of the Week have been chosen particularly with this topic in mind.

I am enormously grateful to Mr Pearce and the SJB Eco committee who have been working so hard on our involvement in the Climate Coalition. As a Jesuit school, our care for the planet extends much further than an ecological stewardship. Pope Francis reminds us in his encyclical ‘Laudato Si’ (2015), that the way in which we manage and share the world’s scarce resources affects not only the physical world in which we live but also critically the lives of the very poorest. St John’s will remain resolutely committed in the future to educating boys about the potentially enormous impact they can have on the world, often through the smallest gestures. 

I look forward to seeing the boys and possibly yourself involved in our Green Mufti Day next Friday.

Meanwhile, I wish you an enjoyable weekend.

Giles Delaney