The Importance of Having a Plan ‘B’- From September 25th 2023

Morning Team.

I hope you all had a lovely weekend and managed to relax. Here’s what’s been on my mind over the past week.

What I LEARNED

Last year my my son moved up to senior school and joined the same school as my daughter whom is 2 years older than he is. Given that our daughter has settled in and enjoys the school, we naturally assumed that our son would settle in and enjoy it also. My wife and I were really looking forward to seeing him learn and develop in this new environment. He is generally a very positive, motivated and driven boy who has a thirst for knowledge. So when he started to come home looking sad and upset, we were taken aback and also concerned. At first you think its the prospect of going to a new school. Bigger kids, bigger expectations, bigger year group etc. That all played a part but it was the lack of discipline in the classroom that was frustrating him. Other kids ‘playing up’, making life difficult for the teacher that stopped his learning that he was getting frustrate about.

My wife and I were so confident that he would love and thrive at the same school as our daughter, we didn’t even consider that he wouldn’t enjoy it. After a number of conversations with the school last year, to raise our concerns, they did listen but ultimately its such a big school that they cant cater for individual children. Now that the kids are back to school, there doesn’t seem to be any change, and seeing your kids come up frustrated and upset is never easy as a parent. If the school cant change then we clearly have to. Fortunately we put him on the acceptance list for another local school where he is 4th on the list to enter. We are hoping the list moves quickly so we can see that thirst for knowledge and happiness to learn in the classroom return again.

What this experience taught me was a number of things. Firstly never to assume anything. Even though our daughter enjoys the same school, our son is a different type of learner and has different needs which we hadn’t taken into account.

The second learning was to always have a Plan B or back-up plan. Now we have one, but maybe we could have acted sooner. For those of you who watched the Rugby World Cup over the weekend, Wales smashed Australia on Sunday night. Why? Australia didn’t look like they had a Plan B either. They kept doing the same thing but more aggressively and not adapting to the environment at the time.

Our ability to adapt and control the controllable’s is important at work as we enter Q4, as well as in our personal lives, so something for us all to consider.

What I LOVED

Watching the Ireland V South Africa game over the weekend. It was always billed as one of the biggest games in the pool stage of the World Cup, and it didn’t disappoint. The velocity and ferociousness of the rugby being played was unbelievable. I was tense just watching it! What I love about rugby generally though is the sportsmanship. How after 80 mins of all out aggression against each other, the 2 sides are able to shake hands, say well done to each other and no doubt go grab a cold beverage with each other after the match.

What I LIKED

I finished watching a documentary on apple TV last week about the US Basketball player, Stephen Curry. I had a good sense about what a world class player he was, and the number of trophies he had won, but what I didn’t realise what what he went through to get there. At nearly every point of growing up and also in his career, people have knocked him and told him he wasn’t good enough. I dont need to tell you the rest of the story.

Final thought

Here is some music to kick start your week.

Have a successful week everyone.

Feedback is a gift, and I’m always trying to improve or understand what’s working and what’s not. Please leave any constructive feedback that you feel can help me improve or continue with what’s working.

Thank you for reading and I hope that you have a successful and fulfilling day.

One response to “The Importance of Having a Plan ‘B’- From September 25th 2023”

andy Jones

September 25, 2023 at 10:15 am

One of your best. Thanks for being so open, personal and willing to share! Really hope things work out for Harry and that you can get him into the new school soon

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Monday Morning Musings