Building positive memories for the next generation of pupils
Headteacher of the new Eastern Community Campus in Cardiff Armando Di-Finizio reflects on a momentus week as his new school opened for business...
ON THE evening before the old Eastern High (Rumney) school building was due to close its doors for the last time, we invited ex-Rumney pupils in for a last look around.
A few locals had asked if they could have one last look and we obliged those few who were very grateful for the opportunity.
However, just in case there were others out there who wanted to see the school, we put a message out on the Rumney Community Facebook page offering time-allotted tours.
We expected a few to reply – in the end around 250 turned up.
Some had booked as groups of friends, some came in pairs or alone.
There were even a few who had attended the school building in its first years during the 1950s.
The evening was certainly a highlight for me since coming to work in Cardiff. Listening to all the stories and witnessing a few emotional reunions was a great experience. Many brought in old photographs and report cards and shared them around.
We had found some old admission books (handwritten documents with the names of everyone who attended) from the 1950s and 60s which were pored over by our guests.
One of the tours I led had mostly ex-pupils around my age, and what struck me was how similar their stories were to my own memories of school in Scotland.
The memories of walking into the gym and our eyes lighting up to the sight of all the equipment out, which meant only one thing – a game of Pirates.
The various nuances every teacher had, the fights, the first kisses, the nit nurse, the day the chemistry lab had to be evacuated at speed.
The list of memories went on all that evening.
At the end of the night (which went on a lot later than we anticipated), we had a job to clear the building. Everyone was engrossed in sharing their own personal memories of those days. All in all, it was a wonderful evening and I’m glad we put it on.
The next day, in our final assembly, I asked our pupils for a moment’s silence, just to listen to the sounds of a school that’s seen more than 64 years’ worth of pupils pass through it.
If we average out the numbers to 150 in every year that’s at least 9,600 pupils without taking the sixth form into account.
That works out at about 2.5 million lessons over the course of the 64 years and, if each year group had an assembly each week, that’s roughly 12,800 assemblies.
And for those of you who really like statistics, if three quarters of those who attended took a school lunch, that’s just over 92 million school dinners served.
You’d think with those statistics we would have heard or felt something from the past in our assembly.
Perhaps we would have, but there were a few nervous giggles from our pupils and so my little experiment fell flat. We didn’t even feel the presence of the legendary “Green Lady” who is said to haunt certain parts of the school.
The closing of the building at this time of year made it all the more poignant. Christmas and New Year is a time for reflection, and I’m sure the closure at this time encouraged many involved in the school over the years to think about their own school days and what they meant to them.
There were around 250 who attended our evening, but that still left about 9,300 who didn’t.
Sadly, many will have passed away and there will have been some who couldn’t attend for various reasons and many who didn’t hear about the event.
After we take all these into account, there will also have been those who just could not tolerate stepping foot into the school again.
Recently, I asked my friends on social media to anonymously give me one happy memory of school, one unhappy memory and to say whether the unhappy memory or the happy memory sprung to mind first.
The results were interesting: the vast majority of happy events were centred on achievements related to school performances and sports events.
I expected the unhappy events to be centred on bullying incidents.
They were, in a sense – but not from fellow pupils. In the main they were from comments made by members of staff.
Finally, significantly more people remembered the unhappy events, compared to the happy events.
These findings, although anecdotal, do nevertheless bring to mind how important it is to be aware of how each individual pupil who passes through our school perceives their experiences.
Yes, schools will undoubtedly generate many happy memories for many pupils but, for some, they can’t wait to rid themselves of their school days.
If my little bit of research is worth anything, it does show us that it is within our power as members of staff in a school to significantly reduce the negative experiences students have.
We can achieve this by improving our working relationships with young people and being proactive and ever-vigilant when it comes to encouraging and observing the interactions pupils have with each other.
Today, as you read this, our pupils and some CAVC students will be turning up for their first lessons in their brand new facilities, where more than 10 million meals are likely to be served over the coming years.
Expectations are high and we all want the investment in this new building to pay off in terms of improved learning opportunities and ultimately improved standards.
While we will use this new opportunity to take forward the values we hold dearly to ensure our pupils have that sense of familiarity, we will also be especially mindful of how important it is that our pupils leave with fond memories of their school years.
This doesn’t mean we want to wrap every child up in cotton wool and protect them from every evil, it’s about helping them to develop the attributes and resilience to deal with difficult situations so that they can look back and reflect on how well they handled those moments.
With this in mind, hopefully in another 64 years there will be many more than 250 ex-pupils, all with positive memories, turning up to visit the school before it too is finally demolished.