Issue 15: Planting Seeds of Integrity in Young Hearts

Helping children develop integrity is one of the most powerful gifts we can offer them. It shapes their character, strengthens their relationships, and gives them the courage to make wise and kind choices. In the Junior School, we are being intentional about this work through the establishment of our newly developed Junior School Essential Agreement (EA). A shared commitment to how we live and learn together.

Last year, our staff engaged in a book study of When the Adults Change, Everything Changes by Paul Dix. This practical and thought-provoking work highlighted the importance of the behaviours we, as adults, model and encourage. One of Dix’s key insights is that children are best able to remember and act upon just three clear and consistent ‘rules.’ Too many expectations, he argues, dilute the message but three is both memorable and meaningful.

With this principle in mind, our staff, together with valuable input from our students, developed a new Essential Agreement that reflects not only what we expect of each other, but also what our young learners told us was important. The result is simple, powerful, and accessible to every child:

• Be Responsible
• Be Respectful
• Be Safe

These three aspects form the foundation of the way we seek to live with integrity each day in the Junior School.

To ensure our agreement is inclusive and meaningful for all ages, we taught the simple signs that accompany each initial word. It has been a delight to see even our youngest Prep students confidently recall and demonstrate the agreement, using both words and signs. In many ways, this agreement is more than a list of ‘rules’, it is an invitation to live with integrity. When a child chooses to be responsible, respectful, or safe, they are exercising integrity in real time, making the right choices even when no one else might notice.

For parents, integrity is a value we can nurture together between home and school. Here are some simple ways you can support your child in this journey:

• Model honesty and fairness. Children are keen observers. When they see adults owning up to mistakes, keeping promises, or treating others with fairness, they begin to understand what integrity looks like in everyday life.
• Celebrate responsible choices. Acknowledge when your child does something responsible without being asked, perhaps packing away their belongings, helping a sibling, or persisting with a challenge. This reinforces the link between responsibility and integrity.
• Encourage respectful interactions. Whether at the dinner table, on the sports field, or in the classroom, respect is central to healthy relationships. Talk with your child about listening well, using kind words, and valuing differences.
• Talk about safety as care. Choosing to be safe is not only about following rules; it’s about caring for ourselves and others. Linking safety with kindness helps children understand that integrity is also about protecting and respecting those around us.

As a community, we recognise that living with integrity is not always easy. There will be times when shortcuts are tempting, or when peer pressure challenges our values. Yet it is in those very moments that integrity matters most. By grounding our expectations in the Essential Agreement, we are giving our children both the language and the framework to make thoughtful, principled choices.

Ultimately, integrity is about who we are becoming. As our children grow, we want them to be people who are trustworthy, respectful, responsible, and safe, not just when eyes are on them, but always. Our hope is that through the shared efforts of home and school, integrity becomes more than a value we talk about; it becomes a way of life that shines through every action and decision.

Jacqueline Faulkner

Acting Head of Junior School