Life thrives on partnerships.
Ant and Dec, gin and tonic, fish and chips. Some things just belong together.
Take Alexander the Great and Aristotle. Brash, young, Macedonian prince (all ambition and big ideas) meets the great philosopher (who would probably think nothing of spending an afternoon pondering the ethics of cheese). Quite different, yet they forged a partnership that would change history.
Aristotle taught Alexander everything he knew, including how to conquer the known world without Google Maps or Life 360. Alexander soaked it all up like a sponge. By the time he set off to conquer Persia, Alexander wasn’t just a man with a big sword, he was a man with a big dream – of an empire that would blend cultures and ideas.
When skillsets are combined, magical things happen. Often, the more unlikely the combination, the more delicious the outcome. Who could ever have predicted Bing Crosby and David Bowie?
The partnership between a school and its parents is a classic example of two being better than one. No one knows a child better than their parents and carers – from their likes and dislikes, their motivations and fears, to how many days they can hold crockery and cutlery hostage in their bedrooms before surrendering. A good school listens to this treasure trove of knowledge. It’s gold dust (apart from maybe the cutlery count).
A school, in return, has the benefit of experience. It takes the gold dust and weaves it into bringing the very best out of our young people. It knows the strategies that work for some, but not for others. It has the ability to unlock potential and see horizons expand, or the nous to spot a threat before it becomes a reality. We’re also pretty good at figuring out how to engage a teenager at 3.30pm on a Friday afternoon.
The truth is that life thrives on partnerships and schools that don’t seize the opportunities to duet with their parents, do so at their peril. At LWC, the parent experience is a rich one and deservedly so – whether you’re signing up for a Parental Engagement seminar, or enjoying a match tea.
They are there to feed exhausted paddlers at portages. They are poised over the keyboard when the parents’ evening appointments go live. They offer counsel over relationships, refereeing decisions and recurring food requests. They are always at the sidelines, always watching. They are the best experts there are.
Nature, of course, is full of perfect pairings. A flower and a bee are individually lovely, but together? – nothing short of miraculous. Their partnership gives us apples, sunflowers and enough honey to spread on 1.5 billion slices of toast.
Then there are those lesser-celebrated partnerships – a rainy afternoon with a good book, long walks in the glow of a sunset, or a cup of tea and a biscuit, so perfectly matched that they practically hold hands on the saucer.
The world is full of examples of someone or something made better by the existence of someone or something else.
Although the jury is still out on ham and pineapple.
Yours,
Adam
