Dear Wildflower Nelson Families,

It is amazing how time flies. We are rapidly nearing the end of the school year and I am changing from the ‘new’ principal of Wildflower Nelson, into just the principal of Wildflower Nelson. I have moved from counting my time here in weeks, to counting it in months, and soon that will become years.

I would like to thank everyone who came out to Family Fun Night, and also add an extra special thanks to the PAC and Marika for organizing this amazing event. Everyone I spoke to had a ton of fun playing games, socializing and eating delicious food. It was great seeing laughter and joy being shared, and in many ways, I think this event typifies what makes Wildflower unique as it highlighted the focus the school has on community.

Similarly I would also like to thank Emily for organizing a basketball tournament for our students as well as an amazing staff student basketball game. It was great seeing our school community interacting with other schools in our district as well as our staff and students competing against each other. We hope to continue the successes of these events by taking students to the district track and field meet in a couple of weeks.

Community is not unique to Wildflower, but our emphasis on it is. We put community and connection at the forefront of our practice. Our classes all incorporate circles and we strive to ensure diversity and inclusion. This is not easy and requires a commitment from our students and their families. It also requires a recognition of the importance of dissent. I, and I think the staff of Wildflower at large, try not to shy away from the hard conversations, and find that it is these hard conversations that are actually the most important for bringing us together. Along these lines I would like to conclude with a quote from Peter Block:

“Dissent, as a form of refusal, becomes authentic when it is a choice for its own sake. When it is an act of accountability. Authentic dissent is recognizable by the absence of blame, the absence of resignation. Blame, denial, rebellion, and resignation have no power to create. A simple no begins a larger conversation, or at least creates the space for one. This is most clearly embodied when we realize there is nothing to argue about. Once again, when faced with a no, or doubts, or authentic refusal, we move forward when we get interested and curious. The ultimate expression of useful power is a leader’s saying, “I must warn you that if you argue with me, I will likely be forced to take your side.”

We are never going to agree on anything and we shouldn’t want to. Wildflower is a place where uniqueness can grow and because of that it is also a place where we can openly share our thoughts and openly disagree.

All the best

Nick

Principal of Wildflower