Highclare School
2018
Actions Speak Louder Than Words
SUMMER ISSUE
Welcome to the Summer edition of the Headmaster’s Termly Newsletter The FIFA World Cup is a celebration of football that provides exciting moments, allowing us to watch and get behind the national team. It’s lovely to see how the nation comes together to support our representatives. Players are the centre of attention of the event. They live a high profile, glamorous lifestyle and are adored by many. These key personnel are stars of a worldwide entertainment industry, leading them to be paid in a manner similar to movie and music stars. Who are the players who rise to the top? As educationalists we would identify them as being highly self-regulatory and highly metacognitive. What do we mean by these two terms? Self regulation refers to a person’s self-discipline to do things necessary to achieve a particular objective. The footballers model the good habits necessary to play at a highly skilled level, eg. dedication and perseverance in their training, fitness and skills, maintaining and improving this throughout their careers. Their fit, healthy lifestyles are based on a good diet and sufficient sleep. They are resilient in overcoming the disappointment of losing a goal, in overcoming an injury, playing with a minor injury, waiting for their chance to be picked for a place on the team or when playing in a hostile atmosphere. The term metacognition refers to a person’s awareness and understanding of their own thought processes. Footballers display a metacognitive ability by
Junior Prize Giving 2018 Our annual Junior School Prize Giving was held on the 27th June at Sutton Coldfield Town Hall and was well attended by pupils, parents, governors and staff. It was a great celebration of the achievements of all our Junior School pupils this year and showcased some of their amazing dramatic and musical talents. Hosted by our Head Boys and Head Girls, ably assisted by their deputies, a representative from each class performed a piece from their LAMDA practice and then each year group performed a musical piece. The evening also saw the presentation of prizes and certificates to pupils in each year group. Our speakers for the evening were Dr R Luker, Headmaster, Mrs P Bennet, Head of Junior School and Mr Kevin Borg from SERAPH, a company specialising in Leadership Development. The evening finished with the whole school performing their version of This Is Me from the film The Greatest Showman, to rapturous applause from some very proud parents.
having the mental capacity to play at a highly skilled level in whatever circumstances are brought about in a dynamic ‘game’ environment. They are deciding the most effective way to play. What needs to be done differently this time? How do they do things differently to deal with Ronaldo rather than Harry Kane? In short, the ones who reach the top are the players who TAKE CHARGE of their own careers. This is a term that has come to mean a lot throughout Highclare School. TAKE CHARGE is our own educational initiative – it is an acronym designed to encourage the boys and girls to develop the skills and attitude to be effective learners – something that we know will help them repeatedly throughout their lives. It is based on the skills and habits of selfregulation and metacognition. The Education Endowment Foundation’s toolkit is a well-known, on-going piece of international educational research. It has evidence that strongly suggests that helping boys and girls become more self-regulatory and metacognitive can help them advance their own learning by up to six months in any one year. We at Highclare are helping the boys and girls to develop their attitude and skills to become more effective learners. Align this with feedback to the boys and girls on what they have to do to take their assessed work to the next level – something we do all the time at Highclare School – and we can advance the boys and girls by a massive eight months in any one year. These are not our estimates but, instead, research confirmed by a highly regarded educational research institution. It’s the difference between giving a poor and starving fisherman a fish to eat or, instead, a net to go out and catch fish and then some feedback on how to catch more fish by, for instance, improving the technique used or finding a better place to fish. We are working hard to ingrain TAKE CHARGE into the culture of the School, to make it second nature to the boys and girls. Our own evaluations suggest that we are getting there but it requires us all to be constantly reminding them of the importance of having these right habits. Parental support at home with this initiative would be much appreciated. Best wishes Dr R Luker - Headmaster