Creativity is a word which can be interpreted in several different ways. Most of us will at some point ask ourselves questions like: “Am I creative?”, “Do I live my life creatively?” or “how can I become more creative in my approach to things?”. At St Birinus School, we are fortunate to have many exciting opportunities to be creative; it’s up to us to embrace these opportunities! 

I would love to share a few of these with you:  

• Open mornings and Open evenings, where we have a chance to show off our wonderful school to the community. 
• Student Leadership conferences, such as the one being held this week to mark International Men’s Day (19th November). 
• Takeover days, where we have the opportunity to experience the world of work briefly. 
• School council, which enables us to have a strong and effective student voice 
• Weekly enrichment activities in tutor time. 
• The SBS Way – a leadership offer for all students in Year 7 and 8. 

I could go on and on! I’ve embraced many such opportunities which allowed me to grow and develop as a teenage boy. I’ve met hundreds of families and offered my help to the rising Year 7s of the 2021 Year group. Meeting and hearing multiple stories and getting to meet boys whose position I was in nearly 5 years ago full fills my heart and makes me reflect on what creativity means to me. Creativity for me starts with others. As Head of Leadership, I have the privilege of effecting the lives of younger boys in a positive way. Seeing the smiles on those boys’ faces proves to me that my life is full of creativity and diversity. It also enables me to think of creative ways to make their school experience better and inspire them to try new things. If you are reading this as a parent, please know that this is one of the best things you can encourage your son to do: be creative and try new things.  

We can even get creative about the way in which we respond to questions our loved ones ask when we return from school: 

“How was your day?” 

“Fine”  

“How were lessons?” 

“Fine” 

Maybe it’s time to find another word for ‘Fine’. 

Mrs Tottman wrote last week that “True creativity is about unashamedly being yourself. Whether this is building on the ideas of others or branching out in a different direction”.  I couldn’t agree more! Being you and only you is what I believe is the way to be the best and most creative version of yourself.  

Max Tunks
Head of Leadership for KS3 
St Birinus School