Follow and subscribe to Growing Pains by HoneyKids on YouTube. Or tune in on Spotify and Apple Podcast. Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram for the latest episodes.
Most parents wait for belonging to happen. James Sweeney says that’s exactly the problem.
James is the head of One World International School’s Nanyang Campus, with students from over 70 nationalities. He’s also spent his whole career watching children walk into rooms where they don’t know anyone and figuring out how to make that okay.
In this conversation, he unpacks what schools that get this right actually do differently, what parents say on the hard nights that help versus hurt, and how to tell the difference between a rough week and something that needs action.
He also goes on record, carefully, about what school is actually for. And it is more than just grades.
“I don’t think I fit in.” Few things hit a parent harder than those words. This episode is the conversation to have before, during, or after your child says them.
James Sweeney has led schools across the UK, South Korea, China, and Singapore. He knows what belonging looks like when it’s working, what it looks like when it isn’t, and what the difference usually comes down to. Spoiler: it isn’t luck, personality, or finding the right buddy on day one.
Steph brings her own experience too, moving to Singapore at 13, crying every day for months, and the buddy assigned to her who she didn’t connect with at all.
What you’ll take away
- Why belonging never just “happens”
- The one question to ask your child tonight
- How to tell the difference between a hard day and a pattern that needs action — and why jumping in too fast causes more problems than it solves
- What bullying actually is
- What James Sweeney suggests school is actually for (and it has nothing to do with grades)
About James Sweeney
James Sweeney is Head of One World International School, Nanyang Campus, Singapore, a school of over 70 nationalities built around a single core value: kindness. He began his career as an early years and primary school teacher in Birmingham and has since led schools in South Korea, China, and Singapore.
Learn more about One World International School.
Growing Pains is HoneyKids Asia’s podcast for the conversations you want to have after the kids go to bed.
If this one moved you, share it with a parent who needs to hear it. Or send your feedback and topic suggestions to podcast@honeykidsasia.com — we’d love to hear what you’d like us to talk about next.
Growing Pains is produced in partnership with Poddster, Singapore’s podcast studio.
