This week, we focused on Attachment figures during our well-being tutorial; the second critical takeaway of this Pillar 5. Attachment theory focuses on long-term interactions and bonds between people, such as those between parents and children and romantic partners. The quality of our early attachments has a significant impact on two things:

• Our Personality

• Our later-life relationships

Our pupils empathise with others, communicate sentiments with others, display trust, engage in long-term relationships, have high self-esteem, enjoy intimate connections, seek out assistance, and so on, depending on their attachment style.

We don’t recall much about this stage of development since our attachment styles are formed so early, and we don’t have influence over it. As a result, our attachment tendencies are often unconscious and automatic. We may find ourselves repeating the same unhealthy patterns again and again in our relationships with ourselves and others.

Since awareness is the first step toward change, we requested our students to complete an attachment questionnaire quiz this week to help them determine their attachment style.

https://quiz.attachmentproject.com/

Our goal is for students to identify the type of attachment style they have and see whether this has an impact on their current relationships. If they see a link which needs to be shifted or changed, they then have the enlightenment to do so.

With final exams just a few days away, our students are taking advantage of the spring weather to take care of their body and mind.

Aleks & Ilya started the weeked at the rock climbing center.

Tony took part on the 10k running race of Boarding.

Mr. Jakob supported and joined the race too.

Kirill and Nikita enjoyed the beautiful weather while playing golf.

Wenyan joined the cooking workshop.

In the meantime Kaishu was playing tennis.

… against a very motivated and focused Leo.

Chris added boxercise to his work out routine

Our students also help the community. Ayu was helping to clean the surrounded areas of campus.

And Alex joined the badminton games. Ready to start the weekend.

On Wednesday we had a lovely Oriental Food evening and enjoyed it outside in the warm weather. We welcomed an outside chef to cater this delicious offering.

We have now reached the 5th Pillar of our Wellbeing Programme. We are focusing on Making Safe and Responsible Choices.

In the Boarding Assembly we introduced the key takeaway points of:

• Time in: how do you connect with inner world?
• Attachment figures: how our attachment style influences the way we make our decisions?

This week we will focus on Time in!
What we experience in our inner world, which includes our feelings, thoughts, perceptions, memories, beliefs, hopes, dreams, desires, motivations, longings etc, can occur even without us being aware of it. The lack of self-awareness entails the failure to see the patterns in our behaviours and thinking. As a result, we risk making choices that are not aligned with what we really are and with what we really want.

On the contrary, when we develop the habit to pay attention to these inner experiences we become more self-aware. This can help us have more control over the decisions and choices we make and prevent us from being at the mercy of our own feelings, desires and external negative pressure.

This weekend we had another action packed offering of activities in our Weekend Programme. The students had the choice of Tennis, Cooking, Horse Riding, Woodcraft, Photography, Running, Climbing, Golf, Music Club, Nature Walk, Chess, Boxercise, Baking and a trip by boat to Yvoire.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Pongs were Pinged! And Tables were thoroughly Tennised in the crucible of sport that is Olympus and we would’t have it any other way with two of our boys fresh from the fight!

(left) Firdavs of Concha Blanca faces off with (right) Olympus’ own Davyd who they should call the Disgruntled Diner, because he sends everything back!

(left) Our very own Nikita does battle with another Concha Blanca boy!

Ping Pong is a vigorous sport filled with strategy and incredible amounts of core strength to stop yourself from flipping the table after a close call in your opponent’s favour. It’s a firm favourite and we’re proud to have been a part of this season’s championship!

On Wednesday we had our weekly international dinner. This week we enjoyed the cuisine from Japan.

You would think the passé Neo-Californian fad of avocado toast wouldn’t even register in a creative mind as cutting edge as Boris’. But this evening, he put his own spin on the dish to serve this evening for Bruno, Kevin and Mr. Jakob (who has provided these photographs).

(left to right) Boris and Bruno dig into the Guac, spreading it on lightly toasted bread for an imitably tangy crunch. The lot complimented by salt and pepper dispensed at ones own discretion. 

The onions were not skimped on. You might want to keep some mints handy but that doesn’t change the fact they make the mellow freshness of the avocado pop like nothing else.

Bruno and the bread.

(left to right, Boris & Bruno) Any and all adventures in the kitchen -no matter how successful- should only ever be capped off with a thorough clean-up. Whoever partakes in the food, must help with this. Judging by how popular Boris’ Guacamole Bread is, we’re done in no time.

As I’ve mentioned before, bringing your own skills to the community is what gives this communal living true meaning. Sharing skills and passions is true partnership and leads only to benefits. It sets the bar for others to match in the fun and growth that comes with sharing and honing skills that prioritise ‘giving’ and ‘sharing’.

Best of the best from The Olympus Boys!

After a refreshing break, it’s time for everyone to roll on back into Olympus, ready to dig into what’s left of the Spring Term and forge on into the incipient Summer. Welcome back, everyone!