Tim Smith explains the importance of teaching unquantifiable skills such as kindness and empathy,

rather than purely focusing on good exam results
Hampton Pre-Prep & Prep School  recognises that the quality of the relationships that exist among the pupils themselves, as well as those between them and their teachers, is incredibly important. I want our boys and girls to be able to get on with anybody ? I think this is a very important quality as children enter adolescence and begin to rely less on adults.
This will most definitely age me, but I have a great fondness for songs of a certain period and You?ve Got a Friend, by Carole King is chief among them. It never fails to get me humming along, not only because it is such a joyful tune, but also because, even after all these years, its simple refrain: All you have to do is call, and I?ll be there, you?ve got a friend, still has the ability to touch the heart. We can be led into believing that making friends is a pretty simple business ? be kind, be nice, do the right thing and we will all have more friends than we know what to do with. However, maintaining friendships, especially when we are young, can be more problematic for some.
Children fall out with one another over all sorts of issues, and being at odds with your peers can be traumatic when you?re small. Fortunately, pupils are also, in my experience, incredibly forgiving and easily guided to see the good in each other again.
Learning reliable social skil...