The School Year Started with a Poem

The school year didn’t start with policies, schedules, or reminders about uniforms.

It started with a poem.

The principal addressed all parents seated in the school hall and spoke to what many of us feel but don’t always say out loud. The first day of school is a big moment for children and a tender one for adults too.

You’ve held their hand. Now it’s our turn. We’ll nurture them as if they were our own. Then came a small gift such as a little chocolate for cheers, a mint “to keep your cool”. Such a simple gesture, but it signalled something powerful: we see you, and we’ve got this together.

And then… the principal turned the hall into a classroom.

We, as parents, were asked to follow her instructions and draw something. Husband and wife not allowed to peek at each other's drawings. Step by step, we drew along. No overthinking, just listening and doing.

Only at the end were we allowed to look at each other’s papers.

The room filled with laughter and surprise. Same instructions, same pace, same space and yet our drawings weren’t identical. Some confident. Some hesitant. Some interpreted the steps differently.

Our Butterflies!

And suddenly, Primary One made visceral sense.

Children spend their days following instructions, sometimes clearly, sometimes imperfectly, often under pressure, surrounded by others doing it “better” (or just differently). How we respond as adults matters: do we rush them, rescue them, compare them… or help them slow down, clarify, and try again?

I left thinking: this is how you start the year right. Not with compliance. With connection. Not with a checklist. With shared understanding. Strong school leadership setting the stage for strong partnership.

And then came the final touch.

Each incoming Primary One child received a handwritten note from a current P1 (Class of 2025), personally addressed to the P1 2026 child. A small voice saying, in essence: I’ve been where you are. You’ll be okay. No adult explanation needed. No reassurance from a podium.

I have been there and it was OK!

Just one child reaching out to another.

That’s how you start the year right. By calming parents. By modelling learning. By letting children lead with kindness. Culture isn’t built in handbooks. It’s built in moments like these that are intentional, human, and quietly wise.

When a school begins by building trust with parents and modelling what learning feels like, it sets a tone that lasts far beyond the first week. Forward Together, TMPS.

What small, intentional moments have you seen, or created, that quietly shaped the culture of a school or community? I’d love to hear them.

My Linkedin newsletter post and comments here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/school-year-started-poem-rosvinder-kaur-nlsic/?trackingId=Ie9h4OhdTveVk6u8s6pn%2Fg%3D%3D