Recently, ahead of their night sleeping outside for our Community Action Sleep Out, I had the chance to speak to the Fifth Form in support of St Basil’s, a charity tackling homelessness in the Birmingham area. Following my talk, the pupils watched I, Daniel Blake, a movie about the horrors of homelessness, and I wanted to use the opportunity I had to prompt everyone to think more about what the film represents and what it means for us as Oundelians.
At Oundle, we are lucky to be part of a community that constantly and importantly challenges us to leave our comfort zones behind. In my case, I have been able to work with both Community Action and the Green Team to campaign against food insecurity and had the brilliant but equally terrifying chance to deliver a speech to the whole school in Morning Chapel last year on how we can create change as a community.
Recognising Privilege
Having access to an Oundle education is one of the greatest privileges that we as Oundelians will ever have the opportunity to experience. We are all inherently privileged by merit of being able to study at a world-class school such as Oundle. Yet our privileges often come from an underlying unfairness. In the movie the Fifth Form watched following my speech, I, Daniel Blake, characters were forced to throw away their morals, beg and fight to do something as simple as not starve to death purely because of the situations they were born into.
But why should we think about this uncomfortable truth? I would argue it is because acknowledging the existence of discomfort, and from there resolving to believe that a better world can exist, is the source of some of the world’s most powerful change. Feeling uneasy about inequality isn’t a bad thing; it’s a reminder to use what we have for something better.
Privilege and Agency
It is worth noting that alongside privilege comes another quality: agency. At Oundle, we have opportunities that enable us to make a difference both within school and beyond. The real challenge is why we choose to act. It is often easy to help others simply because we are told to by school, by parents or by the world at large. That can lead us to use our empathy from a place of cold overarching duty. While it is true we have a duty to help one another, this duty should not arise from being told what to do but from a place of genuine human empathy.
The political philosopher Hannah Arendt famously said that “the death of human empathy is one of the earliest and most telling signs of a civilization about to fall into barbarism.” Across the world today, from conflict zones to political divides, her words feel more relevant than ever. Empathy is what sustains community; it is the foundation of all human survival and flourishing.
Small Acts, Lasting Impact
At our age, we might not be able to change global systems or rebuild economies but empathy still matters. Small actions make a difference. Cheering up a friend, helping a lost Third Former or joining a charity event are all simple expressions of the kindness that helps to build the foundations of a healthy world.
Our school motto, God Grant Grace, captures this perfectly. Whether you see grace as divine generosity, luck or fate, the message is the same: to receive grace we must reflect it back into the world through compassion, kindness and service.
Putting Empathy into Action
Community Action at Oundle gives us the space to practise empathy in real and practical ways, from helping at Laxton Junior School or supporting elderly residents to the Charity Fair and recent Colour Run. These experiences allow us to merge empathy and agency and to learn how to turn privilege into something powerful and positive.
We will not always get it right. But by consciously striving to use our privilege with empathy and kindness, we take small but significant steps towards a fairer world, something our generation has both the agency and, in my mind, the responsibility to do.
