![]() For some people standing up to speak in front of your classmates might be no less frightening for some than representing the school at a swimming tournament is for someone else. rather, it is doing things despite fear or trepidation. One thing it is not, is the absence of fear. Maybe you can’t directly teach a child to be confident but you can certainly introduce them to opportunities, situations, where they need to be courageous.Īnd it is worth mentioning that courage, of course, takes many forms. So where do we get it from?Ĭonfidence comes from taking chances and seeing things work out and it also comes from trying to do something - a project, an activity - until you get it right it comes from learning ways to cope with whatever the task in hand is and it calls for bravery, gumption, maybe even a stubborn determination to succeed.Īs has often been said, courage comes before confidence. ![]() Well this confidence is clearly not something that should be the prerogative of those whose parents are able to give them an expensive education. One characteristic that is often attributed to those who have gone to public school is that they have a thing called ‘public school confidence’, a kind of ‘have a go’ assertiveness that you have from certain types of school. So how can we ensure that what young people become is the very best version of themselves they can be? How do we instil virtues? How do we build character? It’s about more than what happens in the classroom. You and I know that education is about more than just academic achievement, important though that is. Now one thing I’m not going to do is presume to tell the Church of England about virtues because I fear it would be unwise.īut I think the sort of things people have in mind are kindness, generosity, integrity, humility, tolerance and integrity. There has been almost as much debate about what virtues are, as there has about character. So character must be grounded in virtues, in strong values. We want you to use strength of character to be good in the world and that is where virtues and values come in. Those four things would also set you up to a be a pretty good fraudster or bank robber. Finally, you need to develop the ability to bounce back from the knocks that life inevitably brings to all of us. You have to be able to stick with the task in hand, and see a link between effort today and payback some time in the future, even if it’s uncertain or rather a long way off. Plenty of people have defined it in different and often complicated ways but I would like to suggest four pretty straightforward elements:įirst you have to believe you can achieve. And, I hope to see more talented people to come forward, through your parishes, to join in this development, as governors and trustees.Īlbert Einstein once said: “Most people say that it is the intellect which makes a great scientist. There have been church schools even longer than state schools but now we are seeing a new development: with more and more Anglican schools converting to academy status, and the development of distinctive diocesean multi-academy trusts. ![]() Yours is one of the biggest names in education and in primary in particular. It’s one of the reasons your schools get such good results and 88% of them are rated good and outstanding. Now, the Church of England knows a thing or two about character. So how do we instil this in them ? How do we make sure that they are ready to make their way in the world as robust and confident individuals? ![]() These are the qualities, the inner resources, that we call on to get us through the frustrations and setbacks that are part and parcel of life. This is the aspect of resilience that I want to talk to you about today.Ĭharacter and resilience in people. These songs could hardly have been more appropriate: ‘This is me’ ‘Lean on me’. I think we should take heart and a lot of optimism from them. ![]() What about these folk? These amazing young people from St Mark’s Academy Mitcham and Archbishop Blanch School in Liverpool. All of us across the House of Commons, of whatever party, stand together to remind ourselves why we are there. What she does every day is the only private moment in parliament. Thank you Sarah for those very motivating words and I’d like to say a special thank you to The Rvd Rose. Nigel said how good it was to see so many of you many people here. ![]()
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