Brooke House College Impact Matters E-zine - Autumn 2021 Issue

AU T U M N 202 1

impactmatters t e r M lY i n s i g H t s F r o M b r o o K e H o u s e C o l l e g e

FIRS T EDITION!

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there can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.

– Nelson Mandela

Welcome

i am so pleased to be able to have this

opportunity to address our college wider

body as parents, students, representatives, guardians, friends and commercial

partners. You are all part of our college

community and at this time, with Christmas approaching, i hope you feel the warmth of spirit of our extended family.

Covid 19 has rocked our world, shaken our national infrastructures and threatened our very existence. However, as ever with human endeavour huge challenges have brought great innovation, collective compassion and solidarity. This can be seen through a micro and macro lens. Vaccination programmes are hopefully winning the battle with this awful disease and breakthroughs in treatment are happening on a day-by-day basis. At Brooke House we have been able to implement online tuition, testing regimes, isolation units, delivery of meals and worked with the NHS in the arena of vaccination.

The level of parental support of the college has been remarkable and I can assure you that the emails of thanks, appreciation and kindness, each and every one make our spirits soar. You don’t know how much you help us to help you and your children. I must at this time ask for your courage and assistance again. Initial research reports on the impact of the pandemic on students are alarming.

Teen anxieties and mental health issues are I am afraid stalking our children’s present and possibly their future. So now is the time for us as an older generation to put our children’s future centrally in our thoughts and actions.

Through our work at the college and through

the precis this ezine provides I hope you can discern our strategy to avert this potential mental health crisis.

Giles Williams MD and family at Leicester City Football Club with Kelechi Iheanacho

At Brooke House we have strained every mental sinew to devise a curriculum which will address the challenges the teenagers of today face and prepare them for a post pandemic world with confidence, optimism and established skill-sets. My plea to you would be to digest the materials which the college has provided and try to espouse the values, objectives and skills within your own family settings which we hold dear.

Mathematicians amongst us will know that triangles are the strongest of shapes. They represent geometric sturdiness no matter how much weight you put on any side. The triangle of support of student – parent – and school is more important now than ever and I hope we can all work together as the most important thing you can imagine – the future of our children - is at stake.

At Brooke House we will continue to accommodate with care, innovate with purpose, and dedicate via our staff to deliver high-quality education, excellence in football

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delivery and a cutting-edge co-curricular/ enrichment programme that is preparing the future generation for the future whatever that holds. We are hugely thankful for your support on this ongoing journey and let us not waiver from securing bright futures for a generation that has been so iniquitously affected by these wretched months which have stretched to years.

My late father was very fond of saying ‘we’ve never been beaten yet’ and as I cherish his memory this festive season I will be emboldened by his spirit and the spirit of a committed, determined college which has been challenged but which remains unbowed as we face a new year with renewed esprit de corps.

Giles E.I. Williams

Managing Director

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Termly reflections from our Principal as a new school year begins with anticipation, a new dawn brings optimism and hope. in my first term as Principal of brooke House College, taking the reins from Mike oliver, it is a privilege to be able to contemplate the return of students from so many corners of the world, to their home from home. in this first edition you will find a compilation of my weekly blogs from september-December 2021.

Following the tumultuous past year, and mindful that circumstances can change swiftly, we continue to monitor the local and global impact of Covid, and our thoughts remain with those more significantly affected.

As a College, we have been diligent to update the Covid Risk Assessment and procedures aligned to the Boarding Schools’ Association COVID-SAFE Charter and the frequent updates from the UK Department of Education.

Our priority is providing a safe, secure and stimulating learning environment for the wellbeing of the whole Brooke House College community. On the first day, it was a joy to welcome in the Pre-Season and share the excitement with our parents from across the globe.

This First ezine summarises the highlight moments and contributions that form our collective story and journey. We embark upon a new school year with new beginnings to experience, new friendships to nurture and new challenges to tackle. The slate is wiped clean, and anything is possible – with dedication, commitment and a creative zest to explore, question and solve. As a staff community, we came and shared the events of our summer and planned for the lessons, enrichment activities and sporting opportunities ahead. Sure, if you want to go fast go alone – but if you want to go far go together – as a community. Think of others, show kindness and, with the wisdom that comes from perspective, appreciate the value of collaboration and compassion.

Watching Carl Sagan’s beautiful film ‘Pale Blue Dot’ (click link below) as a community at Brooke House on INSET Day, we reflected on why we are here. Voyage 1 was about 6.4 billion kilometers (4 billion miles) away, when it captured earth as a tiny point of light, a crescent only 0.12 pixel in size.

So much happens at Brooke House College and our talented and committed staff play their part in our growth and success. At the centre of this vibrant learning community, that cultivates curiosity, creativity and the courage to learn from mistakes, is the child.

Everything we do seeks to provide the opportunity for every pupil to thrive and become the best possible version of themselves as engaged, confident, agile, resilient, socially responsible and globally aware learners. As Greta Thunberg tells us, you are never too small to make a difference on our precious planet.

Personal highpoints during the first week included sharing in the celebrations of our visiting Ukrainian students hosted at our Summer School by Wylie Wright and his team. Together, we enjoyed performances and an incredible video diary illustrating five years of activities. The Director of the Center of Linguistics Akademia, Iryna Bednarska, presented our Director Mr Giles Williams with a wonderful Certificate of Association.

Further, at our Staff INSET BBQ we acknowledged the huge contribution to the success of the College by former Principal Mike Oliver.

Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there - on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.

“…preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.”

Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.

The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.

It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.

— Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot, 1994

“THINK OF OTHERS, SHOW KINDNESS AND, WITH THE WISDOM THAT COMES FROM PERSPECTIVE, APPRECIATE THE VALUE OF COLLABORATION AND COMPASSION.”

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Exciting partnership announced with High Performance Learning We are excited to announce that the College has been chosen to become a partner school with the High Performance Learning organisation, founded by Professor Deborah Eyre. Together, we shall work towards the World Class School Award, a prestigious accreditation recognising our development in terms of collegiate working to secure enhanced student outcomes.

High Performance Learning (HPL) is a research-based, pedagogy-led philosophy that responds to our growing understanding of human capability. HPL makes the goal of high performance the expectation for all students across academics, sport and community engagement, and uses a unique teaching and learning framework to systematically cultivate curiosity and grow minds to develop cognitive skills, values, attitudes and attributes needed to reach success.

We shall provide more information in due course. www.highperformancelearning.co.uk

Did you know?

As at October 2021, boys and girls currently studying at Brooke House College represent 60 countries around the world. !10)%&$ !7)1#$&8$% 64"3$1&$ I."$%* ?&%"$%* J.0$%&$ ,".L$E&$ @)10$%A ':

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a sense of belonging Spending some time one Thursday evening, in the company of the boys in Burnmill House, provided me with valuable insights into the boarding experience and a flavour of the Brooke House spirit within their home from home. Key to fostering a hard-working, purposeful and nurturing atmosphere is the cultivation of a caring environment, comfortable and tolerant, to build strong friendships and connections. The feeling of belonging was a big takeaway that the boys shared. A characteristic of our school community that encourages, enables and empowers young people to find their place and thrive. A competitive session of FIFA closed the evening, after they finished homework and tidied their rooms. After a demanding pre-season, practice and fixtures, relaxation was richly deserved.

In assembly, together we explored the challenges and opportunities of fitting in and of belonging within a new boarding environment, a new tutor group, meeting new teachers and getting used to a new place. We rely on the support and kindness of others to help.

Making a good first impression helps to establish those relationships and develop the connections, so important in the busy and vibrant learning community that is Brooke House.

US Open champion Emma Radacanu

A group of enterprising students even made a good impression on a visiting member of the royal family! HRH Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex and Sophie, Countess of Wessex made a surprise visit to the town to celebrate the 800 year anniversary of Harborough Market. Dr Bremner and her Sociology students provided a Brooke House welcome and ensured that our royal visitors felt at home in the heart of England. Our visibility in the town is a big opportunity to display our values and celebrate our community impact, locally and globally.

The same sense of belonging was evident in the high performance of Emma Raducanu as she progressed through each round of the US Tennis Open in Flushing Meadows, incredibly without losing a set. Asked how she felt about the challenges of being in the lockerroom preparing for the biggest semi-final of her life, she replied

that she felt she belonged there. At eighteen, she is the youngest British tennis player to reach the US Open final in the Open era, in only her second grand slam and ranked 150th on the world. I recall watching her progress in her first Wimbledon before she retired tearfully in the fourth round this year. Resilience and the importance of wellbeing for personal growth is evident in her progress within elite sport.

Emma was born in Toronto, Canada on November 13, 2002 before moving to Britain at the age of two. Her father Ian is Romanian and her mother Renee is Chinese. She started playing tennis at the age of five at the Bromley Tennis Academy. A shy child, her parents had encouraged her to try different hobbies to boost her confidence. She credits her parents for her determination, resilience and work-ethic.

“THEY BOTH COME FROM VERY HARD-WORKING COUNTRIES. THEY HAVE HIGH EXPECTATIONS, AND I’VE ALWAYS TRIED TO LIVE UP TO THAT”.

Emma certainly belonged on the US Open Final Court. She had the chance to realise her dream against another talented teenager, 19-year-old Leylah Fernandez and took the crown winning once again in straight sets.

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summer school looking forward

Whilst we were one of the only summer schools in the uK to remain open during summers in 2020 & 2021, it was massively reduced in terms of students able to attend & participate. We are optimistically looking forward to a more normal summer school in 2022. early indications are that we’ll welcome students back from countries we’ve recruited from before (36 nationalities in 2019) as well as a host of new countries; Czech republic, Hungary, slovakia and uae.

Wylie Wright - Director of Summer School

Enquiries for Summer School via - w.wright@brookehouse.com

New Enrichment Programme launched in September 2021

“Pre-CoviD very few, non-Duke of edinburgh students would know who i was” says Wylie, he goes on to say “ i was someone they’d see occasionally around the main campus or in my office as they walked past to see our admissions and student support Director sarah Doye”.

“COVID brought my travels to a standstill and I was asked to roll up my sleeves and crack on with COVID testing, managing isolation houses and when students couldn’t return home for Winter or Easter to run camps. I ran these like Summer School… and was pleasantly surprised with the level of engagement students showed to get involved in activities we offered them”.

A new project for the 2021-2022 academic year The Brooke House Enrichment Programme which was informed by a comprehensive student survey provided valuable insight into their perspectives on activities.

The offering promotes employability, academic attainment and teaching our young people the skills they need to make good choices – skills that have benefits well beyond the classroom.

A tweet from Tim Peake, the British astronaut living and working on board the International Space Station for six months, summed up perfectly the need for both character skills and work experience.

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He wrote:

Our aim is to offer a successful enrichment programme that will promote the life-skills needed for everyday life, develop “soft skills” that employers and universities look for, while also giving students the opportunity to find out more about their interests and passions.

Current enriCHMent oPPortunities: • Afternoon Tea • Duke of Edinburgh Award • Entrepreneurship Club • Excursions

• First Aid - Become an emergency First Aider • Music Club • Social Responsibility • Sports & Games • Student Magazine looKing to tHe Future: • Cooking Skills • UK Theory Test, Driving Lessons & Car maintenance • Sports Leadership Award • Young Enterprise • Young Leaders Award • 8billionideas

…and more! Follow us on our social media pages to see how the enrichment programme develops over the year.

student Council launch new brooke House magazine brooke House student Council have just released a new college magazine called the Post which is now available to all.

Click the college brochure below and it will take you to the latest online issue!

Our intrepid reporters Anita Hunt, Radina Stoyanova, Lynet Heng, Mooktapa Senamuang, Malika Sarsenova, Stefan Milea and Sam Kiff have worked on bringing you the latest stories from around the college.

Anita Hunt

Purposeful, Original, Stimulating and Timely is the aim of their newsletter… The Brooke House Post where students get their say.

Here you will find the student launch of our new Principal, Mr Ian Smith – an insight into him as a person through questions derived by the student council.

There is also a piece on one on our student football players, Rihanna from Kenya along side Student of the Month and Teacher of the Month.

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“Beam me up, Scotty”… one of the most iconic lines in television history.

The transporter essentially dematerialized a human body at one point only to rematerialize it in the transporter bay on the ship. Somehow, it broke down atoms and molecules within the body - scattered them through the vacuum of space from point A to point B, then the person re-emerged out of thin air. No inventor has been able to realize such a concept. Looking back to early days of watching Star Trek, some inventions did materialise.

Whenever Captain Kirk left the safe confines of the Enterprise, he did so, knowing it could be the last time he saw his ship. Danger was never far away. And when in distress and in need of help, he could always count on his mates… on Bones to come up with a miracle cure, Scotty to beam him up or Spock to give him some vital scientific information. He'd just whip out his communicator and place a call.

Fast-forward 30 years and wouldn't you know it, it seems like everyone carries a communicator.

We just know them as mobile phones. The communicators in Star Trek were more like the push-to-talk, person-to-person devices first made popular by Nextel in the mid to late 90s.

The communicator had a flip antenna that when opened, activated the device. The original flip cell phones are perhaps distant cousins.

Whatever the case, the creators of Star Trek were on to something.

“The progressive development of man is vitally dependent on

inve As I child, I loved the escapism of programmes that looked forward to the future, the next frontier. This week, we learned of the passing of Sir Clive Sinclair, his innovations democratized computing and inspired so many. I vividly remember my first computer, a ZX80, and the sense of wonder and empowerment – Football Manager was no FIFA21… but the early home computers created a powerful autonomy and cultivated an ambition to design, solve problems and create… to innovate.

Sinclair, an entrepreneur and inventor, popularised the home computer, bringing it to British high-street stores at affordable prices.

Of the ZX Spectrum, Elon Musk wrote, “RIP, Sir Sinclair. I loved that computer”.

Resilient in the face of disappointment, his battery-powered electric trike called the C5 was not as successful, and Sinclair had to sell his business. But his legacy endures through the ubiquitous pocket calculator, the pocket screens of our mobile phones and electric scooters of our age. His daughter reflected,

“IT WAS THE IDEAS, THE CHALLENGE, THAT HER FOUND EXCITING. HE’D COME UP WITH AN IDEA AND SAY… THERE’S NO POINT IN ASKING IF SOMEONE WANTS IT, BECAUSE THEY CAN’T IMAGINE IT”.

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Pioneering inventor Sir Clive Sinclair with his C5

The ZX Spectrum computer

ntion.

– Nikola Tesla

It is the most important product of his creative brain.”

Our Drive Team – like innovators plotting a new course, on a journey to a new frontier – participated in the World Class Schools Award Induction with our new partner organisation High Performance Learning. Head of Faculties, Lucy Clarke (Creative Arts) and Karen Randon (Maths) joined Vice Principal Gary Chalmers and I on a two-day launch, alongside colleagues from leading schools across the UK and globally.

Over the next two years, every part of College will engage and collaborate to integrate the framework, aimed at building the capacity of every student to secure the best possible outcomes in preparation for lifelong-leaning and personal development. Cultivating as climate for confident, creative, compassionate, enterprising and innovative young people ready to make a difference in the world.

By way of recommendation, a great read is the recently published book Invention: A Life by James Dyson. In the week that saw the passing of one Great British inventor, the words of another to close the introduction are worthy of reflection:

“We should be encouraging the young to become doers, to help them strive to solve the problems of their age while looking forward to a better future. During my career, i have tried to seek out those young people who can make the world a better place. i have seen what miracles they can achieve. some may well become heirs to my heroes – inventors, engineers and designers. like them, they will not find it easy, and they will need oodles of determination and stamina along the way.”

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Recently, Glasgow hosted a two-week event many believe to be the world’s best last chance to get runaway climate change under control. In my first lessons this week to Year 10 and 11, teaching the Horizons initiative to introduce awareness of future careers, agency and sustainability (CAS), students reflected on the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the impact of COP26. Sport, business, education…every sector is affected, change will present challenge and opportunity.

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the world’s to do list, produced in 2015, as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity.

For nearly three decades the UN has been bringing together almost every country on earth for global climate summits – called COPs – which stands for ‘Conference of the Parties’. In that time climate change has gone from being a fringe issue to a global priority. This year is the 26th annual summit – giving it the name COP26, with the UK as President. World leaders arrived in Scotland, alongside tens of thousands of negotiators, government representatives, businesses and citizens for twelve days of talks. Not only is it a huge task but it is also not just yet another international summit. Most experts believe COP26 has a unique urgency.

“Frequency of weather-related disasters has increased by 46% from 2001-2016 due to climate change (compared to the 1990s)”

“The current pace of global average temperature rise puts appr

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COP26 IS THE 2021 UNITED NATIONS CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE

“Average sea level is expected to rise 1 to 6 feet by the end of this century” “The average global temperature on Earth has increased by about 0.8° Celsius (1.4° Fahrenheit) since 1880” To understand why, it’s necessary to look back to another COP. COP21 took place in Paris in 2015. For the first time ever, something momentous happened: every country agreed to work together to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees and aim for 1.5 degrees, to adapt to the impacts of a changing climate and to make money available to deliver on these aims.

The Paris Agreement was born. The commitment to aim for 1.5 degrees is important because every fraction of a degree of warming will result in the loss of many more lives lost and livelihoods damaged.

They agreed that every five years they would come back with an updated plan that would reflect their highest possible ambition at that time. The run up to this year’s summit in Glasgow is the moment (delayed by a year due to the pandemic) when countries update their plans for reducing emissions.

But that’s not all. The commitments laid out in Paris did not come close to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees, and the window for achieving this is closing. The decade out to 2030 will be crucial.

It will take bucket loads of perseverance, resilience and empathy for the world to address the existential threat that is the climate crisis.

Each Principal’s blog has considered key words from our High Performance Learning programme at Brooke House College. We have partnered with HPL to build capacity for better outcomes in every aspect of our work.

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roximately half of all plants and animals at the risk of extinction”

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In the months ahead we will consider being creative and enterprising, skills much needed at the COP26 Conference for problem-solving, collaboration and problem-solving. Mr Chalmers, our Vice Principal introduced the focus for this week:

‘’To be creative and enterprising is to be open-minded and flexible in your thought processes; demonstrate a willingness to innovate and invent new and multiple solutions to a problem or situation; adapt your approach according to need; surprise and show originality in your work, developing a personal style; be resourceful when presented with challenging tasks and problems, using your initiative to find solutions.”

THE KEY COMPETENCIES TO BE DEVELOPED

We can encourage this trait in our students by using problem solving and enquirybased approaches to learning can help students to think in creative and enterprising ways, thinking for themselves.

This resourcefulness is an important skill in attaining high performance in all aspects of life. The ability to figure out what to do when it is not obvious is vital in areas as diverse as life and academic exams. Being creative and enterprising is not a tidy or linear process and progress on the journey can be hard to recognise and certainly hard to assess.

HOW DO HIGH PERFORMING LEARNERS BEHAVE

Kids Against Plastic

Sisters amy and ella Meek, 18 and 16 from Nottingham near Market Harborough are founders of Kids against Plastic, a charity taking action against plastic pollution. They were inspired to launch the initiative in February 2016 aged just 12 and 10 after finding out about the negative effect of single-use plastic. What started as a small school project while learning about the UN’s global goals in their Geography lessons turned into Kids Against Plastic – and one of their first goals they set was litter-picking.

“We have a target to find 100,000 pieces of litter” The delegates at COP26 in Glasgow will certainly have to demonstrate creativity and enterprise in their attempts to solve the urgent problem of climate change.

Sir David Attenborough’s Address to World Leaders at COP26 – Speech in Full

‘COP26 is a failure’: Greta Thunberg rallies climate activists in Glasgow

‘We set ourselves the goal of picking up 100,000 pieces of litter, because that is the number of seam mammals that are killed in the sea by plastic annually. We are currently on 96,000 and hope to reach our target soon.

Once you start noticing litter it becomes hard to walk by.

Sustainability always sounds like a big and daunting thing, but its about everyone doing their own little bit and fitting it into their lifestyles’.

Recently, the School Council took over the blog and shared their thoughts on key areas of their focus this year: • Wellbeing and Mental Health matters • Waste, recycling and sustainability • events and the new team of teams • Communications and HPl LIKE THE SCHOOL COUNCIL, EVERYONE NEEDS TO TAKE OWNERSHIP OF THE CURRENT CHALLENGES AFFECTING OUR PLANET AND, HOWEVER SMALL, MAKE A CONTRIBUTION. TO BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD.

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Click on the link above to find out more from the girls.

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Harborough District Council approve renovations to The Angel now DJW House brooke House College has great delight in announcing that the new catering and dining provision has been agreed with Harborough District Council.

The new facility which will truly enhance the students’ user experience exponentially is due to open in Summer 2022. The dining facility will see major investments across the kitchen, the dining rooms and what will be the College’s very own sports bar (non-alcoholic beverages only).

The College’s new servery area will include a blend of dining options such as ‘grab and go’, student considered serving stations and international influenced cuisine. In addition, the nutritional offering will be measured that complements optimum physical performance for our elite sports athletes.

We truly hope that the new dining provision will create a perfect place for all students to socially interact within the College and that they benefit within an informal space that best lends itself to creativity and life learning curiosity.

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New Enrichment Programme begins at Brooke House the new enrichment programme has started well this term with students embracing the Duke of edinburgh award scheme. integrating High Performance learning and a new partnership 8billionideas provides rigour and an innovative dimension to careers education.

This Term, students have gained first aid certificates, started the first eSports club, created a chess tournament, learned about car theory and maintenance, enjoyed British Culture with Afternoon Tea and even recorded a music track in a professional recording studio. They’ve also found time to let their hair down with excursions to theme parks, the cinema, paintball, laser tag & the set of Harry Potter as well as having had the opportunity to visit and learn about UK cities and attractions.

We look forward to developing this further next term with the view of introducing language clubs – including sign language, the wider implementation of 8billionideas and much more based on student feedback. COVID dependent we’re also exploring the first European trip to either Paris or Rome within the next two upcoming terms.

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Compassion & resilience education as with most elements of life requires compassion and the resilience to adapt to circumstances for learning and personal growth. this autumn term, the whole community has delivered exceptional outcomes to enable every student to transition back to normal schooling in the most challenging of times. With that in mind, i would like to thank our Directors, the senior leadership team and the whole administrative and resident boarding staff for keeping us operational and safe throughout.

It is my privilege to be Principal of an outstanding school providing such varied and elite opportunities. Early next Term, I will share our FUTUREforward strategy to build upon secure foundations and transform the teaching and learning experience in partnership with High Performance Learning and 8Billionideas.

We are thrilled to have received an ‘excellent’ accreditation from the global HPL Team, led by Professor Deborah Eyre, for our implementation. This feedback acknowledges our progress and highlights the exceptional quality of FA coaching. We

are considered, by Chris Woodburn Director of UK Football Schools, to be ‘the best institution in the country to develop and progress elite football youth talent’.

With our new development of a bespoke catering facility, innovations in teaching and learning and a new intake in January, it is a very exciting moment to be part of Brooke House College.

Each week, since September, I have provided insights into our values and student outcomes through the Principal’s blog, many of the articles are reflected in

here in impactmatters. The blog records our journey as a High Performance Learning school, inspiring curious, creative and compassionate students, whilst encouraging an enterprising, innovative and collaborative mentality. At Brooke House, we relish challenge, chase excellence and embrace every opportunity to thrive. Joining the Bugle and the recent student magazine POST, as we develop our website in the coming year, the e-magazine will offer insights and perspectives from every aspect of College life.

At Christmas time, as with the many cultural celebrations through the year, we can pause and share thoughts and appreciation for others that help us along the way. Last year, as the whole Brooke House community we reflected on the passing of our inspiring founder, Donald J. Williams. One thing Mr Williams would not do is spend too much time looking back, no matter how challenging the context. He would want us to move forward to create a long-term, sustainable organisation that remains unique, relevant and compelling on the education horizon. To that end, we are delighted to have named the converted former Angel Hotel as DJW House, in memory of his commitment to quality and opportunity for every member of the Brooke House community.

DJW House (formerly the Angel Hotel)

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Equality for all!

equality is the right of different groups of people to have the same treatment, to be treated fairly and have the same opportunities - a fundamental pillar within education. our business studies teacher, barbara bialek, has inspired us to embrace equality with our participation in a powerful initiative that connects our community…

As Brooke House College we are registered with Show Racism the Red Card charity for Wear Red Day 2021.

It was our 3rd Show Racism the Red Card campaign. Over the last three years the Brooke House College community have stood up against racism and prejudice, wearing red as a show of solidarity and raising funds for the vital work of Show Racism the Red Card, the UK’s leading anti-racism educational charity. This year Wear Red Day was held nationwide on the 22nd October.

We showed support for anti-racism by wearing RED at a fundraising day at Brooke House on the same day to show support for anti-racism and raise funds for Show Racism the Red Card. Each student and staff member donated a minimum of £1 to expand the impact of the charity locally and globally. Our newly formed School Council was actively involved to demonstrate youth agency and advocacy.

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perspectives to bring forward improvements for everyone. I have enjoyed visiting all our boarding houses in recently with Leo, our Vice Principal (Pupil Development and Wellbeing). More up and coming football fixtures serves to reflect the collegiate strengths of different teams and the creativity of individual players to produce magic moments of skill and impact.

Teachers devoted lesson time in the week 18th-22th October to the anti-racism theme by discussing the most recent events, racism in football, famous people of colour, problems of marginalisation and violence, concepts of positive discrimination, workforce diversity, migration patterns, unequal distribution of wealth, to producing creative work, using different techniques, e.g. collage, to performance arts or creative writing. Films, music, quotes, art, mural art, also lend themselves to a variety of uses.

We Will MaKe a DiFFerenCe. Original Show Racism the Red Card red cards were available to the Brooke House community for selfies to reinforce the campaign on social media. Our Principal gave an assembly to reinforce our collective message of anti-bullying and our passion to be anti-racist brings us together as activists with a common sense of humanity and care for others. For interest, there is a cornucopia of resources at your fingertips when it comes to the theme.

We all have superpowers, the capacity to make a difference, to be nurtured and coached. At Brook House we celebrate individual talents and the opportunity to go far together, through collaboration and valuing community identity. Our School Council is a good example of this, drawing on individual and House

Barbara shares some resources to make us think and reflect on equality and the importance of demonstrating anti-racism to promote opportunities for everyone to make their contribution in our shared community, to our shared planet.

Please check out the equality act, making equality real on this link: https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v163 4399387/brookehousecom/zxpn4qoaesknv hn1u2vy/EqualityAct_easyread.pdf#page=1&zoom=auto,-256,692

World Class Coaches at Brooke House as an independent school with a Football academy, a learning community that offers an exceptional provision for elite sports development alongside achievement in the classroom, we have the support of world class coaches, under the leadership of our Fa Manager istvan Kislorincz and technical Director Micky adams. resilience in sport is fundamental for progress and success. it is inspiring to read about Micky’s life in football, the ups and the not-so ups – a genuine legend who took leicester City to the Premier league in 2003 - https://www.lcfc.com/news/2223469/former-managerremembers-micky-adams/featured Talking to our coaches this week, each have fascinating stories of their careers in football and a passion to share their experience to help others develop at Brook House College.

Supporting boys and girls in the Academy whether learning new skills, preparing for demanding fixtures or recovering from injuries involves the development of resilience to meet challenge and opportunity. Playing against semi-pro teams, with peers older than themselves, requires a strength of character to accompany skill and talent. Micky describes how we build capacity to be professional in different situations – preparing the students for a life in football and beyond.

FA Manager Istvan Kislorincz In this video, Micky reflects on life as a manager – players, recruitment, development and resilience.

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Football Academy continues to go from strength to strength since early september our u19 elite team have shown a fantastic attitude and willingness to work for each other. this approach has been reflected in their improving performances and results.

To date, the team have played 14 games and won almost all with two draws while scored 78 goals and conceded only 22. The team have played in two major competitions. In the ESFA U18 Super League the team successfully won the group and managed to progress into the best 16 playoff and the ISFA U18 Boodles Cup. In the October half term, the team went to Scotland for a football trip where we played two games in two days against Dunfermline FC and Hibernian FC. Both games have served well for the development of our players, notable they managed to come back from being 4-0 down to Hibs at half-time and managing a draw at the end. Besides these games the team have played some good and beneficial matches against semi-pro and pro teams such as Southend FC, Tranmere Rovers etc. where we have also achieved excellent results. There is so much to celebrate this Term:

• u14s are still competing in esFa small schools Cup • u15s are still competing in esFa schools Cup

• u16s still in all three esFa Cup Competitions & isFa Cup • u17s in eCFa Cup and & esFa b team Cup

• all players have had some taste of competitive football with the u17s and u19s in the eCFa leagues and the u13s-u16s in either esFa Cup or team leicestershire • Played many games against professional clubs including burton, lincoln, leicester, Derby Coventry, Wolves, nottingham Forest • seventeen players have been invited to trials at professional clubs this term across england and europe • notably, Deniche, Jackson & Wiktoria represented their national teams

Season’s Greetings from the Directors, Principal and Staff at Brooke House College

Market Harborough, Leicestershire, LE16 7AU, England

Telephone: +44(0)1858 462452 Email: enquiries@brookehouse.com

www.brookehousecollege.co.uk www.brookehousecollege.co.uk/football-academy-motorsports