Ukraine Crisis

A lot can happen in a week and we have all been shocked and saddened to see the scenes unfolding in the Ukraine while we have been on our half term break. 

Our Whole School Assembly this morning began with a minute’s silence led by our School Chaplain, Revd Chris Briggs followed by a prayer for all those families in Ukraine who find themselves in such a dire situation. 

Our Headmaster, Mr Tyrone Howe then addressed pupils and staff about the conflict and the support we need to show each other and those in our pupil body who are from, or have family links with Ukraine and Russia: 

In the last week of last half term we had five amazing performances from around 60 pupils in ‘Joseph’. A parent said to me ‘I think the world needs a Joseph right now’ - and, after what felt like quite a gruelling first half of term, these sentiments felt extremely apt.

However, as we have watched events unfold in Ukraine over these last few days, this statement has been thrust into even sharper relief - what we would all give for a happy ending like Joseph for the millions of people in that country. I grew up knowing the capital city as Kiev, but it is now known as Kyiv, and I visited Kyiv some years ago myself. It is shocking to recognise the stunning domes of the Orthodox churches and the Maidan square now under siege – and all of this in 2022.

It is brought even closer to home in that we have Ukraine represented amongst our pupil body, and indeed involved in the performance of ‘Joseph’. On behalf of the College I have offered whatever support is needed for those families.

We also have pupils from Russia within our community – and it is really important for everyone to remember that these decisions are being made and driven by politicians, not the general public. Already we have seen protests taking place in Russia – incredibly brave people who risk arrest or mistreatment by taking to the streets. So we also have to be very careful not to brand a whole nation, a whole people, because of the actions of a relative few.

There can be few things worse than feeling helpless in such a dire situation. What can we at the College do? I am sure there will be initiatives in the coming weeks, months, maybe even years, to try to provide additional aid and support to those affected and displaced. However, for the moment, we can strive to do our very best to reinforce a sense of harmony and stability into our school lives. 

The world needs us – no, it actually demands that we do our bit in creating and contributing a sense of stability and harmony at this time. But it doesn’t happen on its own – we do have to recognise this as a challenge and work towards making it happen and that takes effort from all of us.

We talk about our three core values a lot at the College and the one that feels mot relevant at the moment is Individual. Shiplake prides itself on being a school where we recognise and embrace the fact that people are different.

Together we celebrate this and help each other to set our own individual personal bests. To some, however, a sense of difference can also be disconcerting, alarming, even posing a threat. Education and communication are key to addressing the potential negative effects of ‘difference’.

Mr Howe then showed a short video of an advert made by Heineken called ‘Worlds Apart’ which looks at difference and how through conversation and face-to-face interaction we can talk through what makes us different and resolve any preconceptions we may have.

This advert highlights the need for people to build bridges and talk to each other where there is a difference of opinion. One of our key responsibilities at Shiplake is to stimulate areas for debate and discussion and to acknowledge and accept that we will hold differing points of view. But the ability to sit down and talk rather than rise up against each other has never been more self-evident, and this is a message that we will keep revisiting over the rest of this academic year.

A notable development for Shiplake was to establish a Diversity and Equality Committee earlier this month and we will look to embed that over the next few months. Education and communication are key and we all have a role to play.

Above all, we want Shiplake to be a place where we share a common code for how we interact with each other and accept each other for who we are as human beings.

Everyone in this school has value, everyone has huge potential. But we have to try to create a Shiplake which is dynamic but harmonious in the way we treat and accept each other. 

If we can achieve this, then even in our own small way, the ripple effects will benefit the wider world outside Shiplake. 

How can we react? By being the best that we can be.