The Windlesham School Promises
There are a small number of very important traits which go some way towards a person having credibility. These might include an extensive knowledge of a specific subject area, a consistently respectful demeanour, behaviour which embodies sound values, and perhaps highest on the list is a person’s ability to keep a promise. Promises are key to defining our ability for others to depend on us, to trust us and to believe in what we say.
In 2012, a man named Alex Sheen was reading a eulogy for his deceased father, touchingly entitled ‘Because I said I would’. The title epitomised the thing which Alex remembered and respected most about his father – his commitment to keeping promises.
As a further dedication to this important trait, Alex launched a website called https://becauseisaidiwould.org/ with a single intention; to invite people around the world to commit their promises to cards in the hope that they would be more likely to keep them. The website still shares Alex’s cards and since its inception over 11 million have been added. It features links to Alex’s TED talks and examples of promises which people have kept under very challenging circumstances.
Alex’s website serves to highlight a couple of important points. The first is that promises matter. The ability to keep promises features highest among traits which people respect and conversely are key to maintaining self-respect for the person making the promise.
The second, which we know intuitively, is that people are more likely to fulfil their promises if these are recorded. In one of his talks, Alex cites a study conducted among Dominican University students, in which one group was asked to state their goals and the other to write them down. The group which had recorded their goals was 42% more successful in achieving them.
At Windlesham School, we have decided to indicate the value we place on your children’s education by making you, our parent body, 10 promises, each representing a specific and valuable commitment.
We promise to do our best to:
- Ensure your child is happy and safe in all areas of their school life
- Give your children the attention they need to make the most of the opportunities we offer
- Provide a supportive and encouraging environment for your child
- Nurture your child’s individual and unique talents and abilities and bring out the best in them
- Help your child face every challenge with confidence
- Fill your child with an abundance of fond memories
- Always listen to your child.
- Ensure that your child never feels ‘lost’
- Help your child to feel excited about learning
- Prepare your child for the next stage of their education
Over the course of this year, I will be writing blogs about each of our promises. While I cannot guarantee you will always find these blogs entertaining, I promise that they will highlight the many ways Windlesham School fulfils each pledge and how they benefit your children.
Best wishes,
John Ingrassia
