Last night was opening night for our Year 9 thespians who were performing their comic, clever piece ‘Bright Young Things’, set in a TV production studio and centring around the contestants who are competing to be crowned the cleverest child in the country. It provided plenty of licence for clowning (particularly embraced, I must say, by the hosts, Bea & Valentina who were hilarious) and was a great choice for this year group, brimming as they are with character and humour. But as with all of the best drama, there was a thread of considered – sometimes dark – thought running through, touching on topics such as identity, pressure and corrosive comparison, the latter being beautifully emphasised by the identical twins who are struggling to find the balance between being competitors and sisters. I often tell our Wimbledonians that if I could give them one gift, it would be never to compare themselves with others: it’s a fruitless pursuit, leading either to unwarranted feelings of vanity or superiority or – and much more commonly for WHS students – feelings of inferiority or despair. What we see of others is only their shiny, outward-facing carapace (especially true on social media, of course), whereas we know only too well the darker corners of our own self; so inevitably a comparison with someone who seems cleverer, sportier, happier, more popular (the list is, unfortunately, potentially endless) is unhelpful and misleading at best, and really destructive to our own self-esteem at worst. It also of course leads to the worst kind of learning atmosphere, as we saw in the play, where the success and achievement of others is seen as threatening and fear-ridden, rather than inspiring or uplifting.
The best kinds of school – and we sit very firmly in that bracket – are filled with students who are gladdened by good things happening to those around them, and that spirit becomes contagious and encourages us all to become our best selves. So it’s not pressure or competition or comparison that leads us to fulfilment, but generosity and joyful celebration of our different and many talents and skills. And I’ve seen this in action at WHS, on many, many occasions: most recently of course last night in the brilliant ensemble acting and atmosphere of Year 9; but also in the teamwork on display by Year 7 in their WimGrimm performances (see photos here); in the grace and dignity of the students on receiving news about Oxbridge, good or bad; and very movingly on the day of the Nine Lessons and Carols Service (watch here) when our opening soloist from Year 13 was, very sadly, forced to self-isolate rather than perform; and when a Year 7 was asked to step in, the other Sixth Formers – who could have been annoyed not to have been approached themselves, or snippy about someone so young being given the job – surrounded her with hugs and warmth, and told her how amazing she would be. And she was. Because they were. And so we look forward to a term of celebrating each other, building each other up, and in doing so finding the inspiration and confidence to give things a go for ourselves.
