Principal’s Welcome

Dear Westholme Family, 

A fortnight ago, I wrote about the Roseto Effect. You might remember that it was a story of the survival of the friendliest. Today, I want to tell you another strange story by taking you to Florida and moving the clocks back to 13 May 1978. 

The dining room of Bay Harbor Elementary School was filled with 170 children rehearsing for their equivalent of The Circle of Life. Unfortunately, an eleven-year-old called Sandy started to feel unwell and the school needed to call 911. Within a few hours, seven other children were also taken to hospital, twenty-five more were sent home and another forty children received treatment at school. The children all had the same symptoms. 

Panic ensued. What had happened? Food poisoning? No. Gas leak? No. Isolated epidemic? No. At least, not really. 

In fact, it was a contagion or, to give it its full name, a mass psychogenic illness. Sandy had a relatively mild illness, but none of the other children were actually poorly at all.  

This kind of incidence is not without historical precedent. You might also look up the dancing plagues of the Middle Ages or the 1962 laughing epidemic in Tanzania. More recently, a variant has emerged called mass social media-induced illness. There has been, for example, a rise in Tourette-like symptoms, easily resolved by therapy, but directly linked to a popular German YouTube star. 

My point is not to scare you! Rather, I would venture that contagions can be positive as well as negative. The way, for instance, that our Year 13 students spread joy in our community with their performances at the Spring Concert and at their own Leavers’ Ball last Friday. Judging from the viewing figures on our social media feeds, they’ve certainly created a ripple of happiness! 

Mrs Gough has begun the process of putting together our own wellbeing strategy, a process that will continue into next year. The overall aim is to bring together the science of Positive Psychology with best practice teaching, to encourage and support individuals to flourish at school and beyond. I know that many parents are involved professionally in this field and I encourage you to share your experiences with Mrs Gough. 

Finally, many thanks to all parents who completed our survey. We are now analysing the results and I look forward to sharing with you how your views will help to shape the future of Westholme. 

With best wishes for the weekend, 

Paul Taylor