Bringing the community together is an important aspect of any school and it was an incredible statement of the support and commitment of the school’s emerging status that over 400 parents and friends attended the Diwali festival event. Headteacher James Biddulph reflects.
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Avanti Court’s first official event took place on a cold and damp British Autumn evening.
Guided by the excitement of seeing Year 1 children perform their version of the Rama and Sita story and hearing the beautiful sound of Kirtan, over 400 parents, governors, children, friends and extended families braved the elements to attend the event. The evening was also attended by His Worshipful Mayor Mohammad Javed, Mayor of Redbridge, who gave a short speech to spread the message of empathy and sharing.
Following a colourful and jazzy romp through the story of Rama overcoming the darkness and evil represented by Ravana, the Reception children sang an Indian song and the well known Gospel song, This Little Light of Mine. One of our parents is also a classical Indian dance teacher and kindly brought her more experienced dancers to entertain us with stories of Krishna’s pastimes.
Before the fireworks started, we ate prasadam (blessed food) together, offering flowers to Krishna during this month of Kartik and writing prayers on paper diva lamps. And NUSound radio provided cultural music while we ate and chatted.
[quote]the spiritual growth of children is as important as their academic achievement[/quote]
As Headteacher, this was a special event for me. To stand in front of such a positive and committed community, which I humbly take the opportunity to lead, reminds me of the privileged task we have as school leaders and educators – and also the enormity of it! A wise man told me once that schools are holy places. They are holy because they can inspire awe and wonder, community, understanding, friendship and define our responsibilities as individuals in our societies. Our first event in our very young history helped define our responsibility: to continue to find courage and strive for excellence, to mould our young people to want to achieve our seven values and to guide them to find and develop their spirituality on their first steps on a journey of self-discovery.
How schools develop the Festivals Curriculum is down to the staff and leadership to reflect the needs and desires of their own school communities. What was discovered at Avanti Court was a great commitment to the ethos and vision of Avanti Schools – that the spiritual growth of children is as important as their academic achievement.
