EDUCATION AUTUMN/WINTER 2013

EDUCATION AUTUMN / WINTER 2013

BRIGHT FUTURE

ED VAIZEY MP

‘I LEARNT TO ARGUE

AT ST PAUL’S’

WHAT NEXT FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS?

TO TUTOR OR NOT TO TUTOR?

TOM HODGKINSON

ON BRILLIANT ECCENTRICS

IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS SHOW

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A B S O L U T E LY E D U C AT I O N

CONTENTS AUTUMN / WINTER 2013

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DIRECTOR’S LETTER

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SCHOOL NEWS

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WHAT NEXT FOR PRIVATE SCHOOLS

by Barnaby Lenon

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EDUCATING 21ST CENTURY GIRLS

by Hilary Fraser

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SCHOOL REPORT: Ed Vaizey

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SINGLE SEX OR CO-ED?

by Lisa Freedman

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THE TUTORING DEBATE :

by Charles Bonas and Dr Joseph Spence

31

SCHOOL REPORT William Sitwell

33

HEAD TO THE HILLS

by Henry Keighley-Elstub

37

WHY NEWS MATTERS

by Richard Addis

41

SCHOOL REPORT: Cass Chapman

43

GOOD CONNECTIONS

by Alistair McConville

47

THE INTERNATIONAL QUESTION

by Janette Wallis

51

TEN REASONS TO BOARD

by Alex Beare

59

BRAVE NEW WORLD

by Mark Steed

63

A UNIQUE APPROACH

by Barry Huggett

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A B S O L U T E LY E D U C AT I O N

Christ’s Hospital is a unique and totally remarkable independent school. You’ve really got to see it to believe it.

Behind the outstanding architecture, the worldclass facilities and the electric atmosphere, you’ll find pupils from all walks of life achieving and exceeding their potential.

BARNABY LENON Barnaby Lenon was Headmaster of Harrow from 1999 to 2011. He is currently a governor of the Chelsea Academy and chairman of governors of the London Academy of Excellence in Newham, the first Free School to be set up for sixth formers. He is Chairman of the Independent Schools Council.

Our Admissions team can provide information about boarding and day opportunities, and reserve you a place at our forthcoming Open Morning.

If you would like to learn more about the unique opportunities that we can offer your son or daughter, please contact our Admissions Team for an invitation to attend one of our termly Open Mornings or to arrange a personal tour.

T E W

01403 246555 fjd@christs-hospital.org.uk christs-hospital.org.uk

JANETTE WALLIS

Christ’s Hospital, Horsham, West Sussex RH13 0LJ Registered Charity No. 1120090

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CONTRIBUTORS

TOM LAWSON Tom Lawson is Deputy Head of Christ’s Hospital. He was previously a Housemaster at Winchester College. His sister is domestic goddess Nigella Lawson. Tom was educated at Eton and studied PPE at Oxford.

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Janette Wallis is a senior editor of The Good Schools Guide and advises parents around the world on UK school choice. She writes regularly about schools and education and is frequently quoted in the national press on education issues.

She has four children of her own.

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DI R E C T OR’ S M E S SAG E

WELCOME inding the right school for my child is the most important decision I will make as a parent, a major emotional investment as well as a financial one. School selection is no longer a question of which old school tie your father wore but rather, which school best suits your child’s disposition, needs and skills.

The independent sector has weathered many storms in recent decades; the Lloyd’s crash, recessions, plus increasing costs and fees; some schools survived – many weren’t so lucky. As international interest in our private system has grown so has the rise of marketing, exam-grade league tables and other measures, all of which were hard to put to more profound use. Nowadays, a private education is more rounded; schools devote as many resources towards pastoral care and extra-curricular activities as they do to excellence in the classroom. Gone are the days of the cold, impersonal school corridor and distant parents. Modern parents seek a personal experience from the start, a chemical reaction of sorts between child and school.

We should not be embarrassed by the fantastic opportunities our sector offers, it is clear that it is admired the world over – we deal daily with overseas families who are keen to give this wonderful gift to their own children.

F

Modern parents seek a personal e x p e r ie n c e from the star t

These days, the element we parents search for when making such a major choice about our childrens' future cannot be quantified on paper or calculated by a league table but represents something intrinsically more personal, which is why we started the Independent School Show.

Bringing together 170 schools from all over the country, this two day event is the largest showcase for the sector. For seven years we have been providing parents with the opportunity to explore the many different options open to their children, and giving exhibiting schools the platform to network and plan for a healthy future.

David Wellesley Wesley Director, Independent Schools Show

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A B S O L U T E LY E D U C AT I O N

EDITOR Amanda Constance EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Catherine Hales ADVERTISING MANAGER Rollo Dennison ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Rudy Heywood ART DIRECTOR Ray Searle

PRODUCTION MANAGER Stewart Hyde MIDWEIGHT DESIGNERS Gemma Isteed PRODUCTION DESIGNER Edward Taylor

LISA FREEDMAN Lisa Freedman is an experienced education advisor and education journalist. She has written for The Financial Times, The Times, The Daily Telegraph and The Mail on Sunday.

She runs the education advisory service At The School Gates.

ARTWORKER Ekrem Yilmaz PRODUCTION CONTROLLER Christine Mann FINANCE DIRECTOR Alexandra Hvid FINANCE MANAGER Marianne Mcfadden MARKETING MANAGER Leah Day

DIRECTOR Greg Hughes MANAGING DIRECTOR Sherif Shaltout

TOM HODGKINSON For editorial enquiries please email: editorial@zest-media.com For advertising enquiries please call 020 7704 0588 or email: advertising@zest-media.com Subscriptions are available simply by emailing subscriptions@zest-media.com.

Tom Hodgkinson is a British writer, editor of The Idler and co-founder of The Idler Academy.

His latest book is The Ukulele Handbook.

He was educated at Westminster School and Jesus College, Cambridge.

You can receive an online subscription for FREE or a postal subscriptions for 12 months, £30 respectively (to cover postage and packaging).

Please email us with your preferred option and details.

Published by ZEST MEDIA LONDON 213 WESTBOURNE STUDIOS ACKLAM ROAD W10 5JJ T: 020 7704 0588 F: 020 7900 3020 Zest Media London Ltd. cannot accept responsibility for unsolicited submissions, manuscripts and photographs. While every care is taken, prices and details are subject to change and Zest Media London Ltd. take no responsibility for omissions or errors. We reserve the right to publish and edit any letters. All rights reserved.

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CONTRIBUTORS

SENIOR DESIGNER Phil Couzens

RICHARD ADDIS Richard Addis is the founder and managing director of The Day, the daily online news service for schools (www.theday.co.uk). A distinguished journalist, he was editor of the Daily Express and the Financial Times Saturday paper. He was educated at Rugby School and Downing College, Cambridge.

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Best of both Worlds...

K

ent College nestles in an idyllic setting on the outskirts of the historic city of Canterbury.

It offers a first class education in

a community centred environment. The time that some London based children spend sitting on a school bus to and from school is spent enjoying one of the numerous extra curricular activities.

This might be helping out on the school farm where riding and taking your pony to school are really viable!

Rowing on the peaceful, willow banked Stour. Competing in one of the many sports teams. The sound of piano practice is what can be heard floating over the sports fields, while in the labs the chemists are perfecting their pyrotechnic skills.

Home work is completed with excellent resources close at hand and each student benefits from their own Macbook pro. Staff offer their time freely after school to help their students to master any difficult concepts or to plan routes for the next Duke of Edinburgh expedition.

There is simply more time to do everything when you don’t need to make a long journey twice a day. Even better, someone else gets to do the wake up call and do the laundry.

Then at the weekend there is a chance for quality family time again without the anxiety of deadlines and school work. How does this happen?

The Kent College boarding fee includes the option of accompanied high speed travel on HS1 on a Sunday evening from St Pancras to Canterbury and on a Friday evening in the opposite direction. If as a working parent you are called away for the weekend then your son/daughter can stay at school and join in with the activities that take place every weekend. Quality education and so much more all week and enjoyable family time at the weekends. The journey to Canterbury takes under an hour! Students can board with us from the age of 7 ! The standard of education speaks for itself. The school’s academic results are outstanding at all levels including International Baccalaureate and our sport and music are nationally renowned. The most recent success being the Barnaodo’s Choir of the Year prize which was won recently at the Barbican.

* If you would like to find out more visit www.kentcollege.com - download the Kent College app or even better pop down to Canterbury and pay us a visit.

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SCHOOL NEWS

SCHOOLS WIN CHARITY COMMISSION BATTLE

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ndependent schools are breathing a collective sigh of relief after winning a long-running legal battle with the Charity Commission on what schools must do to justify their charitable status. The Charity Commission has now had to issue new clearer guidance; in effect giving schools complete freedom to decide for their themselves how best to justify their charitable status – allowing them to hang on to millions of pounds worth of tax breaks, the lifeblood for many independent schools.

The new guidelines make it clear that schools will have complete autonomy to decide for their own school how to carry out public benefit, whether that be by providing bursaries, offering sixth

form workshops, GCSE revision, or sharing their sports facilities.

The move draws a line under more than five years of uncertainty for private schools amid claims that previous guidelines governing charitable status risked driving up fees and forcing some schools out of business altogether. It follows a lengthy battle by the Independent Schools Council which resulted in the old guidance being quashed by the country’s highest tribunal court.

Matthew Burgess, ISC general secretary, has welcomed the clarification. He said: “They don’t try to be prescriptive in the way that the former guidance was", adding: "It doesn’t get itself into areas that are ideologically charged”.

BEDALES GOES TO BENFICA

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NEW HEAD AT CANFORD

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anford School has a new headmaster.

Ben Vessey was senior deputy-head at Christ’s Hospital for the last five years and before that he lead the History, Politics and Law Faculty at Millfield. A keen rugby player, Vessey has coached pupils in various sports at various levels, he also takes a great interest in the arts. On joining the Dorset school, Vessey said: “It is a privilege to lead such a dynamic and committed community as Headmaster of Canford, and I am truly honoured to have the chance to promote and enhance the existing ethos of this fine school.”

Prospective parents are invited to meet the new Headmaster at one of the school’s two Open Days this year, on Saturday 5th October 2013 and Saturday 10th May 2014. Private visits to the school are also welcomed. Please contact the Admissions office, admissions@canford.com, to request an appointment.

For more info please visit www.canford.com

tudents from Bedales School were inspired by a pre-season football tour to Benfica in Lisbon, Portugal, where they enjoyed the opportunity for coaching and playing with the Benfica Academy and match experience against FC Arrentela.

The 32 boys, from different age groups at the school, trained daily

with the academy and enjoyed lectures on football methodology, intelligent play, coaching theories and diet and nutrition.

Commenting on the tour, Alan Wright Head of Boys’ Sport at Bedales, said: “The tour was a great success, and I hope the players will be able to put into action in their forthcoming fi xtures some of the Benfica ethos that they have been fortunate to experience first-hand.”

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ON THE MOVE

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he Falcons School for Girls has a new home. From next September, the school will be at a new location in Putney. The independent preparatory school – part of The Alpha Plus Group – which educates girls from the ages of 3 – 11years, will be housed in four Edwardian houses in Woodborough Road, within a leafy Conservation Area. Each of the buildings have

JUMP FOR JOY

large outdoor spaces and outside sports facilities will be available at the Bank of England Playing Fields in Roehampton.

Joan McGillewie, Headteacher at the Falcons School for Girls, said: “After many happy years in Ealing, the decision to move to our new home will allow us to continue to deliver academic excellence in buildings which will also allow us to provide outstanding facilities. www.falconsgirls.co.uk

Pupils from St Mary’s Calne celebrated great GCSE results this summer; nearly 80% of exams taken were awarded an A*-A grade. From L to R: Mia Millman (from Chippenham, Wiltshire), Imogen Dobie (from Ratford, Wiltshire) and Charlotte Baker (from Farleigh Wick, Wiltshire)

ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE AT KING’S King’s College Wimbledon made the headlines yet again at the Edinburgh Festival with its production A Matter of Life and Death garnering critical acclaim. An adaptation of

Powell and Pressburger’s muchloved film, it was classic Ealing comedy meets physical theatre in a playful production that involved a company of 23 sixth formers.

A PM IN WAITING? A Malvern College pupil was highly commended by Cambridge University for his essay entitled ‘Can freedom be established through violence’. Hani El-Bay’s submitted his piece for the RA Butler Prize, which aims to encourage students to think about studying politics at university. Hani said he was thrilled with the award and said, “this has furthered my passion for politics”.

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their future starts here Boarding Boys & Girls aged 9 to 18 Please visit us on Stand 403 at the Independent Schools Show and we would be delighted to give you further information

For more information please contact Felicity Legge: T: 01738 812546 E: admissions@strathallan.co.uk

www.strathallan.co.uk Forgandenny Perthshire PH2 9EG Strathallan is a Scottish Charity dedicated to education. Charity number SC008903

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A B S O L U T E LY E D U C AT I O N

WHAT NOW FOR PRIVATE SCHOOLS?

ŠCanford School

By Barnaby Lenon

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A b s o l u t e ly e d u c at i o n

W

ith the ongoing recession and a climate of falling incomes, the future for independent schools looks uncertain.

How will they continue to attract pupils? Are they under threat from the push to academies and free schools and will Michael Gove's new ‘rigour’ lessen the impact independent schools can have?

The Independent Schools Council (ISC) represents over 1,200 independent schools with more than 500,000 pupils in the UK, amounting to about 7% of all the school children in the country. Our schools include boarding and day, co-educational and single sex schools and a range of specialist schools, from those for children with special needs to those offering music, drama and arts specialisms, like the Royal Ballet School.

In this year's ISC Census, the numbers of children reported at our schools were actually up on last year – and in a recent Populus poll, 60% of parents said they would choose to educate their child independently if they could afford it. This survey of over 2,000 adults, commissioned by the ISC, found that parents strongly believed that independent schools offer higher educational standards than state schools.

And if we take a look at the results we can see this is true. Once again this summer, independent schools dominated the nation's exam results at A-level. They make up 15% of those taking A-levels, but gain a third of the top grades. Academically, our schools are second to none and recognised by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development as being among the best schools in the world.

More than half of pupils at ISC schools achieve A* or A grades at A-level, compared with a national average of 27%. Six out of ten GCSE and IGCSE entries achieve A* or A grades, compared with a national GCSE average of 22%. Moreover, independent schools do especially well in the harder subjects, gaining nearly half of the top grades in A-level modern languages

and over a third of the top grades in the hard sciences. And, in turn, because independent school pupils do so well in subjects sought by the better universities, they also gain a large proportion of the places at those institutions.

Our schools are at the forefront of educational achievement in every way. Not only are they the most academically successful schools, they also offer great facilities and an astonishing breadth of extra-curricular activities, with very strong track records of high achievement at sport, often competing at national level.

They can offer the best coaches and facilities in the country, from astro-turf

60% of parents said they would choose to educate their child at an independent school if they could afford it

pitches to swimming pools, climbing walls and boat clubs. They are also able to excel not only at traditional sports such as football or rugby, but they can also offer more unusual sports including fencing, sailing and rowing.

So it is no surprise to learn that 38% of medal winners in the 2012 Olympics came from our schools, as do over half of the England cricket team that has just retained the Ashes.

There is also a wealth of extracurricular opportunity available.

Whether your child is into drama, music, debating, the Model United Nations or army training in the Combined Cadet Force, our schools offer numerous clubs and activities. It all adds up to an exciting, broad and stimulating all-round education.

Independent schools compete fiercely with each other - they've got to be good to survive For all their diversity, what all these schools have in common is independence. And that means the freedom to offer the very best education they can, in the way that they can. Independent schools have complete control over their admissions and curriculum; they can recruit the best teachers and manage their own finances. Independent schools compete fiercely with each other and have to attract pupils despite charging fees, so they need to be good to survive.

They are also free to innovate and to introduce some of the best ideas in education. Our schools have pioneered the introduction of the IB and the Pre-U, as well as the Extended Project Qualification, much respected by universities, as broader, more challenging alternatives to A-levels. Independent schools have also increasingly turned to IGCSEs where they believe they offer a better curriculum and more rigorous examinations. They are also able to channel their resources into using technology to inspire even more stimulating teaching.

We have also pioneered the drive into international education, not least because the quality and reputation of our schools has long attracted students from across the globe. There are currently 26,000 international students studying in independent schools and among our schools are 29 overseas branches, attracting nearly 20,000 pupils.

Indeed the Government has just acknowledged our contribution to British education and the help it offers the UK economy. In July, the Department for Business Innovation

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©Canford School

Almost

5,000 children paid no fees last year as a result of meanstested bursaries

and Skills launched a new strategy to increase the number of overseas students by 20% over the next five years, recognising that overseas students who study at our schools will often go on to study at UK universities, providing a ready pipeline for higher education.

But we are not complacent. Most of our schools have charitable status and contribute to their wider communities.

Almost all independent schools are now involved in partnerships with local schools, devoting a great deal of time and resources towards improving their partner schools and helping to improve education for all children. I am the Chairman of Governors for the London Academy of Excellence in Newham, east London, which provides top-class A-level tuition in a borough with a shortage of A-level places. Our free school is supported by staff from eight leading independent schools.

Other thriving independent schools sponsor Academies and many more, like Radley, work closely with a partner maintained school to raise standards.

26,000 international students are now studying in our independent schools. There are also now 29 overseas branches of some schools

Further schools make partnerships in other ways. So for example; 388 ISC schools open access to pupils from maintained schools to attend certain lessons or educational events and 78 ISC schools second teaching staff to maintained schools, as well as many more offering coaching, workshops a nd opening up facilities in all manner of ways in sports, drama and music.

Schools are also able to offer help through bursaries. Money once reserved for scholarships is increasingly being freed up to be used to help children from families who would not otherwise have been able to come to our schools. More than a third of pupils at our schools receive help with their fees, with ISC schools providing more than £620 million annually, up £19 million on last year’s figures. Almost 5,000 children paid no fees last year as a result of meanstested bursaries and 16,500 children paid less than half fees.

Independent schools are not resting on their laurels. They are constantly looking for ways to improve, innovate and develop and at their core is a commitment to offering the best education in the world.

Despite the real fall in wages and difficult economic times, parents are still prioritising sending their children to independent schools, as they can see that the costs are far outweighed by the educational benefits.

Barnaby Lenon

Chairman, Independent Schools Council

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A B S O L U T E LY E D U C AT I O N

GO FOR REAL GIRL POWER The President of the Girl’s School Association on how to equip your daughters for the 21st century

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By Hilary French

e all want the best for our children.

But how do you recognise the best when you see it? Society has changed drastically since today’s parents were at school and will no doubt do so again over the next generation. An excellent school will anticipate this, preparing your daughter with the skills for her long term future as well as the immediate challenge of examinations, higher education and initial career steps.

As you consider different schools and admire their buildings, sports fields and art departments I urge you to ask yourself exactly what it is that you are looking for. Knowing your daughter and the type of environment that will suit her is important but so is what you would like her education to achieve.

What will best prepare her for life and work in the coming decades?

This year I have initiated a series of discussions and debates about what an outstanding education for girls in the 21st century should look and feel like.

None of us has a crystal ball, which is why it’s so important Ω for parents as well as educationalists Ω to continue this discussion. My thoughts on what every parent should consider are as follows.

WHAT DOES EDUCATIONAL SUCCESS LOOK LIKE? An education is like the foundations of a building. It underpins everything that follows in later life. The fast Illustration by Phil Couzens

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pace of change means we need to equip our daughters with firm but flexible foundations so that they can take control of their learning and, ultimately, their lives.

I believe that the 21st century is putting a greater emphasis on interdisciplinary, ‘higher order’ skills, such as analysis and synthesis of knowledge, rather than the facts and figures we can access so easily using technology. This is already having an impact on what Ω as well as how Ω we learn.

Academic success is important but it’s only one dimension of our children’s development. Examination results are simply the visible and measurable tip of the iceberg. Real educational success is young women with high aspirations, ambitions and dreams and the self esteem to go out into the world and achieve whatever they want.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SOFT SKILLS Girls also need to develop what are known as ‘soft’ or ‘non-cognitive’ skills.

These are the non-visible, submerged base of the iceberg and include social and emotional skills, creative and imaginative capabilities, problem solving abilities, self-confidence and a strong sense of self. They include resilience, determination and strength of character or what I like to call ‘grit’.

These skills are less easily measurable than examination results and the process by which your daughter acquires them is less structured and ordered, but their importance must never be underestimated. They are the attributes potential employers seek.

Flexibility and the ability to adapt to change are increasingly important, given today’s fast pace of change.

Schools have an important role in helping young people be responsive to change and the painful challenges it sometimes brings.

Real educational success is young women with high aspirations and the self esteem to achieve what they want

CREATIVITY FOR SELF ESTEEM The creative arts are important to expressing and enjoying our humanity.

I firmly believe that they should be central to the curriculum.

When it comes to engaging pupils, there’s no substitute for ‘learning by doing’. Several primary, preparatory and even secondary schools are introducing more creative, practical based curriculums which teach children core subjects through practical activities such as philosophical discussion, gardening, cooking and film-making.

In the crucial teenage years, creative subjects such as art, theatre, dance and music help many girls to build confidence in themselves and their abilities. They provide an important channel of self-expression and a welcome respite from some of the drier academic subjects. Indeed, I find that participation in the creative arts and other extra-curricular subjects like debating and sport help improve academic confidence and performance.

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A B S O L U T E LY E D U C AT I O N

Girls must develop determination, resilience and strength of character or what I like to call ‘grit’.

SCIENCE AND STEM SUBJECTS A strong and inspiring science department is also crucial. There is a huge shortfall of homegrown female graduates in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (known as STEM subjects). Only one in five pupils in England who take A-Level physics are girls.

Physics and maths are core subjects for those wishing to study natural

sciences, medicine or engineering and the low number of women studying STEM subjects, and physics in particular, is a significant factor affecting the size of this talent pool.

There is a huge difference between making something available to girls and actively inspiring them to participate. This is where girls’ schools really stand out. Research by the Institute of Physics has found that girls who attend an independent girls’ school are 4.5 times more likely to take up A-level physics than those in co-ed maintained schools and 1.5 times more likely than their counterparts in co-ed independent schools. It concludes that: “There is something about doing physics as a girl in a mixed setting that is particularly off-putting, in comparison with the other sciences.”

WHAT DO WE WANT FOR OUR DAUGHTERS? Whenever I encourage debate about educating girls for the challenges of 21st century the recurring question is what does that success really look like and what messages should we give our daughters? The central question seems to be not what do you want to be but how do you want to live your life? Parents and daughters are questioning whether success really is being on the board of a top FTSE 100 company.

This isn’t about aspiration per se.

It’s about what aspiration looks like.

Success comes in many and varied forms. I believe we should focus their attention on high aspirations and ambitions for personal fulfilment and happiness, as well as career success.

This means giving girls the strength and confidence to choose and follow their own path, whether that be in the corporate world, as a campaigner, in the home, as a community builder, or whatever.

Success in any one of these areas will require grit Ω resilience, determination and strength of character. To my mind, these are the most important qualities we can develop in our daughters. Look for a school that will help you to do that.

STATS

At the London 2012 Olympics, of the 16 individual GB medals won by women, 2 were won by former Girl’s School Association pupils Girls who attend independent girls’ schools are 1.5 times more likely to study A-level Physics than girls who attend independent co-ed schools

Hilary French

President of the Girls’ Schools Association and Head of Newcastle Central High School GDST.

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COEDUCATIONAL BOARDING & DAY SCHOOL 13-18

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“ “ Holly. Aged 16.

We encourage all our girls to keep an open mind – to question, to reflect and to learn.

And we’d like to invite you to take the same approach in assessing whether the opportunities we offer match the aspirations you have for your daughter.

Future Open Day dates: Monday 25 November 2013 Friday 6 December 2013 Monday 24 February 2014 Saturday 8 March 2014

Deadline for 2014 applications: 1 December 2013 For further information:

www.cheltladiescollege.org 01242 520691 enquiries@cheltladiescollege.org

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SCHOOL R E P O R T

My proudest achievement at St Paul's was being a good debater

ED VAIZEY MP

Where & when did you go to school?

St Paul's School in the early 1980s What sort of school was it?

It’s a successful public school, with a very long history, a London day school, with some boarding.

Did you love it or hate it?

I loved it, it was a friendly and informal school. I was quite academic so it suited me.

Who was your favourite teacher and why?

I guess Keith Perry, our history teacher – he must have been as I went on to read history at university.

He treated his pupils as grown ups and was thoroughly engaging and entertaining.

Ed Vaizey is the Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

He has been the Conservative MP for Wantage and Didcot in Oxfordshire since 2005

What was your proudest achievement there?

Being a good debater.

What is your most vivid memory of your time there?

Not one stands out – probably the general hustle and bustle, life always seemed busy What bearing did your school days have on your life and career now?

I think they gave me a strong intellectual grounding and a degree of confidence Would you send your own children there?

Even on an MP’s salary, I think the fees would be a stretch!

Did you rule the school?

No! Describe yourself when you started that school and the person you were when you left Exactly the same – argumentative, outgoing, sociable.

What was the most trouble you got into and why?

Probably the one week my parents sent me to board. My fellow boarders packed in a lot of 'initiation rites' like apple beds etc.

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ŠGetty Images

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A B S O L U T E LY E D U C AT I O N

BOYS WILL BE BOYS Or do they do better with girls? Single sex or co-ed, the choice is yours...

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By Lisa Freedman

f you’ve glanced at the front pages of the newspapers recently, you may have noticed hoards of jubilant teenage girls brandishing their exam results. This isn’t just a case of the media exploiting a photo opportunity. As far as league tables are concerned, all-girls and, indeed, all-boys, schools, remain well out in front, with co-educational schools coming up very much in third place.

The bald statistics of exam glory can leave many parents approaching a decision-making moment with a big question: should I opt for single sex or co-ed?

Today, in both the state and private sector, co-education has become the predominant arrangement and most families, particularly those with more than one child, prefer it for practical reasons (one school to fetch and carry from, one set of term dates), as well as for psychological ones. Parents of sons tend to believe that girls ‘soften the edges’, while parents of daughters covet the lavish facilities and generous endowments of the former boysonly public schools.

In some ways, the notion of segregation now seems quaintly out of date, but the prestige of the schools which remain divided and the extraordinary level of attainment achieved by their pupils ensure the debate continues. Winchester and Eton, Cheltenham Ladies’ College and St Paul’s Girls, Harrow and North London Collegiate – all schools with a worldwide reputation – remain defiant supporters of the status quo.

Defenders of single-sex girls’ schools (which have seen a radical reduction in their numbers in the past decade or so) argue forcefully they still have a significant role to play. Most important, perhaps, is the freedom they offer to make academic choices unswayed by gender stereotypes. In an all-girls school, every subject is a ‘girl’s’ subject.

A-Level physics is a particularly striking example of what they mean. This summer only 21 per cent of those taking this demanding science were female, but of their number, an unusually high proportion attended single-sex independent schools. Research carried out by The Girls’ Schools Association has shown that pupils at their schools are three times more likely 21

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London’s only diamond structure school and one of the very few in the country, Forest School is located on the edge of Epping Forest in north east London. Established in 1834, our 1290 boys and girls are aged 4-18 and are taught in single-sex classes from the ages of 7-16. Our school buses cover London and Essex and new routes are added every year. Contact us to arrange a visit.

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A B S O L U T E LY E D U C AT I O N

than girls countrywide to favour the subject.

"In co-ed schools, boys tend to grab all the equipment and give the impression of being in charge, while girls find themselves consigned to writing down results," says Caroline Jordan, head of Headington School in Oxford and herself a physicist.

"In a girls’ school, the girls get to tackle everything."

Girls’-school heads argue, too, that, at a time when pay disparity and the glass ceiling remain firmly in place, their schools are the ones best equipped to furnish pupils with the attitude and aspirations necessary to succeed in working life.

"We educate girls to see themselves as potential leaders, movers and shakers, politicians, thinkers and industrialists," says Clarissa Farr, High Mistress of St Paul’s School for Girls.

In many cases, parents’ preference for girls-only schooling is less about stellar exam results or career targets than a concern to protect their adolescent daughters from a precocious involvement with the opposite sex.

A concern, champions of co-education, like Dr Anthony Seldon, Master of Wellington College, feel is misplaced. ‘Boys and girls spend a lot of time thinking about sex and to imagine they will stop thinking about each

Mixed pupils at Forest School, a ‘diamond school’ in Essex

other in a sexual way in different schools is madness. I would say that far healthier relationships can be formed if they grow up alongside each other and learn to accept each other as human beings first and foremost, rather than fantasise about each other as sex objects.’

If the popularity of Wellington is anything to go by, there are certainly plenty of parents who share this point of view, and businesswoman Ione Hooper is someone who certainly made coeducation one of her school-choice priorities: "I moved my daughter from a single-sex school at 11 to one that was co-ed. It seemed far less cliquey and pressured over small things, and much healthier.

Single sex is such a false divide – after all, life is not single sex."

False divide or not, it is generally accepted that, boys mature later than girls and that each sex may benefit from a specific classroom approach.

Single sex is such a false divide, after all, life is not single sex

The disparity is often greatest at the beginning of secondary school, when girls seem to shoot three feet above their male counterparts and need no extra prompting to work diligently in class and outside it.

A few schools are in the fortunate position of being able to satisfy those who want both the social advantages of co-education and a classroom free of the distractions that may accompany it.

These schools work along lines known as ‘the diamond model’, a system in which boys and girls are educated together in the early years, study separately on the same site between 7 (or 11) and 16, and are then re-united at A Level in preparation for university.

Forest School in Essex and Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire are two schools which operate successfully in this manner.

At Forest School, which caters for girls and boys from 4-18, girls and boys are educated together until Year 3, then segregated until after GCSEs. They are then reunited for sixth form, although most extra-curricular activities such as CCF are co-ed all through the school.

"I really enjoyed not having boys in the classroom when I was younger," said a sixth former at Forest School. "We got much more done and it was less embarrassing to put your hand up. But it was good having boys around for trips and activities.

It seemed to reduce some of the more extreme forms of meanness I’ve seen with friends at all-girls schools."

In the end, there can be no perfect solution and the fundamental question for every parent must remain: will my child be happy? If the answer is yes, the balance of the sexes should be well down the agenda.

Lisa Freedman

runs the education advisory service At The School Gates, www.attheschoolgates.co.uk

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AM

JACKIE MURRAY Head of Fairley House School 'Choosing an SpLD education'

BEN THOMAS Headmaster of Thomas’ London Preparatory Schools Where next – and how? A rough guide to Common Entrance, scholarships and senior school entrance examinations at 11 and 13

RALPH LUCAS

SUNDAY HIGHLIGHTS IN THE EDUCATION THEATRE INCLUDE:

AM

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of the Good Schools Guide on 'How to Choose a School'

Starting out What to look for when choosing Nursery education'

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The British diplomat and former Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan on 'Excellence in Independent Schools'

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D E B AT E

The

GLOVES ARE OFF..

‌in the great tutoring debate.

For or against? Two vociferous advocates step into the ring

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By Tom Hodgkinson

20/09/2013 17:30

FOR TUTORING Charles Bonas MANAGING DIRECTOR, BONAS MACFARLANE

M

any teachers blame tutoring companies for pushing unnecessary tutoring on already pressurised children.

Some criticism has become fabulously vitriolic: at a recent debate on tutoring at Thomas’s Preparatory School in Battersea, an Eton housemaster referred to tutoring company owners as 'unethical carpet baggers'. Beaks and dons have always dropped effete scorn from the shelter of their ivory towers onto the tradesmen at the gate. So is this the standard priggish, intellectual superiority, or legitimate concern?

Many children are exposed to over tutoring by overly competitive parents. Tutors do vary massively in quality.

Nevertheless, the young tutoring companies are generally beneficial. We have given inquisitive children access to thousands of inspiring graduates. Most tutoring is

good; it works, particularly for those children who are understreched at school, underperform or attend underperforming schools.

The really ‘bad’ over tutoring is the cramming of children as young as six in school entry test techniques.

This is entirely the fault of the oversubscribed schools, with their narrowly competitive

PARENTS WILL NOT STOP HIRING TUTORS SO SCHOOLS SHOULD WORK WITH US academic selection criteria.

Their faddish psychometric testing is particularly concerning. Just as the tests favour children who can process quickly, they discriminate against the slower thinkers, who are often thinking slowly because their thoughts are deep and creative.

Hiring a tutor to improve these nonverbal and verbal reasoning techniques is deeply depressing.

But the urge of parents to seek competitive advantages for their children is a deep seated evolutionary spirit. Parents

will not stop hiring tutors, so schools should work with us not against us.

But the schools response is that tutoring is unwelcome because they provide all the instruction necessary; if we cannot improve a child's attainment level, a tutor cannot. This mantra is obsolete.

Parents now want tailormade education for their children because they understand the value of supplementing school with individualised, accessible learning in the home.

This is actually a positive return to basics, not a revolution in learning. Until the nineteenth century, tutors worked in partnership with schools.

Wealthy families tutored girls at home and sent their sons up to public school with a tutor, because going ‘up to school’ was about socialisng more than learning. Schools should hire their own tutors to work in the schools with class teachers. This would be afforded by replacing some class teaching with one to one or small group seminars.

Highly selective independent schools should stop blaming well meaning tutoring companies for their flawed admissions policies.

Instead they should examine the undue pressure they place on children and respect our contributions to many thousands of children.

V

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D E B AT E

AGAINST TUTORING Dr Joseph Spence MASTER OF DULWICH COLLEGE

V

I

t is too little realised how easily tutoring can undermine the work of good schools if it is not properly focused and undertaken in conjunction with what a school, as well as a parent, sees as in the best interests of the pupil.

A parent-school contract is based on trust and third parties can damage that trust irrevocably. I have witnessed too many cases where pupils have received contradictory guidance from tutor and teacher, to everyone’s disbenefit. Sometimes a pupil is tempted to play tutor, home and school off against each other; sometimes he simply ends up more confused than he was.

Good learning goes on within the social setting a school provides and that this has been the case since Socrates gathered his friends to debate knotty questions.

We in schools are all Socrates’ children. It is at school we

learn to socialise and while we socialise we learn.

A good education goes on in and beyond the classroom. In the best schools one’s teacher is often so much more than one’s subject guide. The best pupil-teacher relationships are formed when pupil meets teacher out of the classroom: when he finds that his so strict French teacher is a fantastic

TOO MANY PUPILS RECEIVE CONTRADICTORY GUIDANCE FROM TUTOR & TEACHER and relaxed soccer coach; when he finds himself sitting next to his history teacher in the chapel choir. The social world of school can never be replicated by the tutor, however able and subjectsavvy that person may be.

Young people need to be encouraged to keep everything in perspective and, however much a pupil might be struggling in the classroom, he must carry on representing the school in games and acting in the school or house play. Good

learning, like a good childhood, needs space, downtime, evenings of rest, free weekends, a time to vegetate, holidays and play.

There is a danger that the over-tutored child quickly loses the freedom and space so important to learning.

The poet W.B. Yeats said “Education is about lighting fires, not filling buckets”.

Schools take that dictum very seriously. Implicit in tutoring is that you can always push for a little bit more, like the athlete on supplements. Good learning is, to quote Yeats again, about “the fascination of what’s difficult”. It is about striving to unravel misunderstandings at your own pace; it is about deep understanding rather than rote learning. The over-tutored child can grow up never to realise that. .

Tutoring can work. A short sharp dose of tutoring to deal with a particular problem is a very good thing. One should see good tutoring as the educational equivalent of a dose of Penicillin: if you overuse Penicillin it becomes less effective.

There’s a holy trinity in a good educational relationship: pupil, parent and teacher.

Three is not too many in a good educational bed, four just might be.

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20/09/2013 18:51

SCHOOL R E P O R T

Where did you go to school?

I went to Eton but before that I went to Maidwell Hall, a small prep school in Northamptonshire.

WILLIAM SITWELL One of our teachers modelled himself on Hitler and called himself ‘Uncle Adolf‘

William Sitwell is editor of Waitrose Kitchen and author of A History of Food in 100 Recipes (Collins £20)

What sort of school was it?

It was a big old house with four spooky looking towers set in large gardens with a lake, a wood – known as The Wilderness – and a muddy area known as Dinky Farm. I can remember the entire place as if it was yesterday; walking through the dark doors into the big hall with it shiny wooden floor – where we had dancing lessons – and into every classroom, with their old desks, the ante-rooms with the odd piano, the dormitory passages and glass cabinets with stuffed animals, old school photos and into the dorms with their rickety metal beds. Back down into the kitchen where old Mr Powell chucked potatoes into a vast peeling machine (school legend had it that he arrived in the grounds at Maidwell Hall inside a German V2 bomb). Further up the passage were boot rooms which led into a back yard, a church and a small wooded area we used as an assault course, jumping from branch to branch for 50 yards or so without touching the ground.

Did you love it or hate it?

I didn’t hate it and I wasn’t unhappy. But I didn’t love school, I much prefer my life now. I just went there and got through it unscathed. It was an old fashioned place; there was gang warfare in break time, boys stripped and thrown into nettles, taken into a camp in The Wilderness – into a large hole covered with corrugated iron and ‘tortured’. I look back happily at the time I spent there, as do my fellow pupils. We often meet up and laugh about our extraordinary time there and the characters we encountered.

Who was your favourite teacher?

Mr Flower sticks in my memory, he modelled himself on Hitler and called himself ‘Uncle Adolf’ , Robert Boas – a figure from the 1950s – great on history, but we all loved Mr Johnson. He was the kindest man but I think he had shell-shock. The way he wrote Latin words up the blackboard was extraordinary: long sweeping letters that took an age to write.

What was your proudest achievement there?

Perhaps it was passing Common Entrance at my second attempt. I think I remember the relief, more than anything else. First time round, in the headmaster’s study I was just told ‘Sitwell, you failed.’ Second time it was, ‘Two of you came unstuck: they are Butler and Bostock…’

What was the most trouble you got into ?

I was constantly in trouble for not working hard enough. It meant going down to the headmaster’s study after tea-time. As I – and other miscreants – lined up, the head boy would walk past us carrying the headmaster’s crimson slippers. Then it was a bollocking and a sharp crack across the bare bum. If it wasn’t slippers, it was a cane.

What is your most vivid memory of your time there?

Being slippered after tea. I was nervous around tea time for about ten years after, and I had to remind myself why.

Did you rule the school?

Absolutely not. I was small newt. A flee.

A little mite, terrified by the older boys when I first arrived who looked more like giants than even adults. I look back at pictures now and see that those guys were about 12 years old.

Would you/did you send your own children there?

I didn’t send my son there, but not because of any of my experiences. I just found one that better suits his character and talents.

Describe yourself when you started that school and the person you were when you left I was very young (still seven) naïve, pretty lazy, a day dreamer, happy, devious, charming, polite person who was crap at sport, loved staring into space and thinking and enjoyed writing. So same as ever!

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A B S O L U T E LY E D U C AT I O N

HEAD

TO THE HILLS

Avoid the senior school bottleneck in London and look beyond the M25

T

By Henry Keighley-Elstub

ransition to an Independent senior school for a London-based boy or girl at eleven or thirteen years old presents some significant challenges.

The greatest of these is that demand greatly outstrips supply. Part of the problem is that the most desirable

senior schools tend to be those with the highest academic requirements on entry. There are exceptions to this trend, of course, and rightly so.

Academically selective senior schools do not have the monopoly on providing inspiring learning for their pupils and academically non selective schools are indeed capable of providing the highest quality of teaching and learning.

However, the London parent focus on ‘academic’ senior schools is not likely to change anytime soon.

Ambitious parenting, in my view, involves keeping others’ opinions to a minimum and taking the time to fully

research all of the options available.

Boarding school conjures up different images depending on the experiences, either learnt first-hand or otherwise, of each parent. There is no questioning the outstanding quality of many of the London senior schools, but there are some fundamental attributes of senior boarding school life, which are worth considering; the most valuable of these are time and space.

Within a boarding school environment, the fact that the timetable makes use of early evenings and the weekends (depending upon the type of boarding school) allows for a

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A B S O L U T E LY E D U C AT I O N

The most valuable boarding school attributes are time and space week to pursue such interests and the sporting afternoons are never rushed.

Boarding schools are usually located in rural or semi-rural locations on often significantly larger sites than day schools. Ample playing fields are a given and the larger acreage allows for first class facilities in an aesthetically relaxed environment. As a result of these two factors, time and space, the young men and women respond to the more tranquil setting, which is conducive to learning. What is more, teenagers are far removed from the distractions of urban life, at least during term time, allowing them to develop as individuals at their own pace.

Boys and girls in a senior boarding school environment have to learn to be tolerant of other character types as they live under one roof with their peers, often sharing dormitories and shared bedrooms. Without the means

Courtesy of Kent College

less hurried daily routine, with ample time to fit in sporting, artistic and musical commitments, for example.

I remember my own boarding school days. Some of my greatest memories are of Sundays after chapel. I tended to have the day to myself, especially as I became more senior, and I had a vast array of activities available to me, with like-minded school friends on site with whom to participate. Each boy’s Sunday was different to the next student’s depending upon one’s own hobbies or interests. Sport and music are strong features of every first class senior school, but it is much easier in a boarding environment, I would argue, to pursue these interests with the freedom of a six or seven day school timetable. Most boarding schools have two or even three full afternoons a

to go home every evening and thereby avoid social difficulties, they learn to be very adept conflict resolvers. Equally, the bonds of friendship are very strong and may account for the life-long contact which many ex-boarding school men and women seem to enjoy.

Today’s senior boarding schools have varying approaches to the concept of boarding to suit the requirements of modern parents.

A London parent can choose from full-boarding schools with exeats every three weeks to weekly boarding schools and even ‘flexi-boarding’, as it is now referred to. Parents of boarding school children are actively encouraged to be involved in their son or daughter’s school life; boarding school need not compromise the personal relationship the parent may enjoy with the school.

By the very nature of a boarding school environment, pastoral care has to be superb to ensure that girls and boys have made a happy transition from day school. Parents are invited to an array of events to watch their children perform or participate: plays, sporting fi xtures, exhibitions, debates, musical recitals. Often such events will tie in with being able to take one’s child home for an exeat. There are many boarding schools within an hour’s drive of London and many others further afield, the latter less accessible for regular parental involvement, but on the other hand possibly offering a deeper sense of rural tranquillity for their pupils.

Some boarding schools are academically selective, of course, just as their London day counterparts are. However, the majority are highly focused on the individual character of the candidates and the school’s relationship with parents.

This is not to say that senior boarding is a better option for London parents than the senior London day schools. No such rules can be made as every parent and every child is different. I would, however, wholeheartedly encourage parents who may have been averse to the idea of exploring the boarding option to visit a handful of boarding school open days and to make up their minds based on their own intelligence gathering.

They may be excited by the freedom of choice open to them by considering a senior boarding school for their son or daughter.

Henry Keighley-Elstub

Headmaster of Pembridge Hall School

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19/09/2013 17:47

A B S O L U T E LY E D U C AT I O N

WH

Y MA TTE

RS

These days, exceptional grades are not enough, students must engage with the world around them to be successful

By Richard Addis

hey all have straight As now," says the admissions tutor from one of our better universities.

‘How are we meant to sort them out?’

I hear this all the time: not the complaint that exams are too easy (because they aren’t easy) but the complaint that we’re getting too good at passing them.

A third of independent school pupils got A* in GCSE this year. The average was seven A and three A*. At A-level more than half got A or A*.

No surprise, then, that admissions tutors feel a bit like they are trying to choose a Lebanese apricot at Harrods.

At £9 a kilo, they are unlikely to pick up a dud.

So then it becomes all about the Difference. With a capital D. The Difference is what makes one straight-A student a better prospect that another straight-A student. The Difference is what comes after one has mastered the Grades.

The Difference is becoming the key not just into the best universities but also into the fast stream of the best universities and afterwards the best training courses and their ultimate destination, the best jobs: the sort of jobs that enable the best of all possible lives which pour forth milk and honey for you and your descendants for generations to come.

Admissions tutors want to find someone with a bit of Difference with a capital D

The more I talk to teachers, the clearer it becomes: once you have got it, the Difference tends to stay with you. It is the educational equivalent of the Force in Star Wars. It is selfreinforcing, a virtuous circle. The Difference transforms you into a life skills Jedi armed with a lightsabre of confidence. The great news is 37

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A B S O L U T E LY E D U C AT I O N

that it can be taught. Independent schools may still lead the way but the academies and grammars and comprehensives have been lightening quick to catch on. Those who believed the Difference might be all about the lottery of WCG (wealth, class and genes) have been proved wrong. The existence of WCG is not in doubt. But its power to determine success or failure has been exaggerated.

"It’s not just about university," says the-admissions-tutor-who-mustremain-nameless. "Employers, awards bodies, training institutions, they’re all looking for the same qualities."

"Don’t play down the grades. They are important and getting the best possible grades should still be the main objective. But nowadays we are all increasingly focused on that extra ability and extra motivation.

"It’s difficult to spot, especially without an interview. The one sure sign is when a young person has the spark that jumps the gap between the classroom and the wider world.

"We look for students who want to read a subject like English because it really matters to them not just because they got good marks. And if literature really matters to them, they should be paying attention to the role of literature in life, to the big books in the news, the big classics on stage and and screen, the constant retellings of the great stories in popular culture.

"Employers tell us they want recruits who have knowledge of the world. That’s because they want people who are going to make an impact, not just occupy a desk, who believe they’re involved in something that matters.

And wouldn’t you?

"So they look for people who are motivated by what they see around them in politics, technology, science, arts, sport. They going to have the spark. That’s what makes them special.’

"In my role, you look at the successes. Apart from a tiny handful who become academics devoting their lives to solving puzzles like the Goldbach conjecture, they are all young people who engaged early and energetically with the wider world around them."

For the past three years I have been working with a small team of journalists publishing ‘The Day’ to help schools meet this growing demand.

We started with one and we are now heading rapidly for our thousandth school – a fifth of all the secondaries in the UK. We hear from hundreds of teachers each month, we talk to hundreds of students, we visit dozens of buildings buzzing with life and energy.

I can report that a quiet revolution is going on in British schools, in which the qualities normally associated with media – urgency, narrative, debate – and the qualities traditionally associated with education – knowledge, learning, analysis – are merging.

Something incredibly exciting and new

Successful young people are those who engaged early and energetically with the world around them is coming out of it which hasn’t been entirely understood yet – ‘edulism’, ‘jeaching’ – don’t worry it won’t be called that, but it needs a name.

A lot of people share the belief that our media has become too superficial and our teaching too governed by the textbook and the league table. And that somewhere in the meeting of these two ancient professions, redemption lies.

I see the evidence all the time.

Those who believe that young people only want to read about the latest naked video from Miley Cyrus or how to get a ghetto gothic mullet are falling for another cliche. Those stories are interesting, yes, but I have met far more teenagers who want to know why the western powers have not yet removed Syrian President Bashar al-

Assad or why the Fukushima nuclear plant is still leaking massive amounts of radiation into the sea 18 months after the Japanese tsunami.

And those who believe that news should have very little to do with the classroom have got a very shallow understanding of news. To many good teachers today the greatest classroom is the world.

The Day’s most-read stories of 2013 include the horsemeat scandal, the fall of Lance Armstrong, the discovery of new earth-like planets in the Milky Way, the latest breakthrough in the study of prime numbers, Britain’s first hand transplant and the TV ratings war between ‘Strictly’ and ‘X Factor’.

All these stories contain debates and issues that are relevant to English, Maths, Science, Geography and History. They have been used to help teach all those subjects and more. They have been used in Form Time. They have been used in assembly.

And quite apart from enlivening the odd tired lesson plan there is another very simple reason why it helps young people to learn about current affairs.

"Some pupils are increasingly confused and anxious in a big frightening world of huge choice and complexity," says Alex Hardy, former deputy head of several London schools now running an acclaimed French language and activity centre for schools, Maison Claire Fontaine, in Burgundy. "They need teachers who can calmly and clearly explain what is going on."

Richard Addis

Founder and Managing Director of The Day wwwtheday.co.uk – a daily news service for schools.

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Sexey’s Established 1891

Set in the beautiful South East Somerset countryside in Bruton, Sexey’s is a leading State Boarding & Day school for Boys and Girls aged 11-18. We have a supporting, caring and family atmosphere where young people develop outstanding personal and academic skills.

• 2013 Results: A level – 62% A*-A with 100% pass rate GCSE – 90% A*-C ; 25% A*-A; • The Daily Telegraph League Table puts Sexey’s in the ‘Top 100 State Schools in the Country’; • High quality boarding accommodation at an affordable price - £2,900 per term; • A Leading Edge School achieving in the top 10% of schools nationally for attainment and progress; • An outstanding 6th Form with a dedicated pastoral team in purpose built facilities, providing excellent preparation and support for Higher Education; • Excellent transports links - Easy access to mainline railway stations and road network to London, South West and Wales.

For more information please contact admissions on: Tel: 01749 813393 • Fax: 01749 812870 Sexey’s School, Cole Road, Bruton, Somerset, BA10 0DF Email: admissions@sexeys.somerset.sch.uk

www.sexeys.org

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SCHOOL R E P O R T

Where and when did you go to school?

Queens Gate School for girls. I left to do my A-levels elsewhere but it’s where I spent my most memorable school years.

What sort of school was it?

Very Chelsea, lots of well-heeled girls who lived in SW3. It was small and lovely but dreadful for sports, which I was crazy about. I recall an article at the time that said it was perfect if you wanted your daughter to work in Max Mara and marry a banker, but I thought that was unfair.

CASS CHAPMAN I was constantly being told off for wearing skirts that were too short

Cass Chapman is a food and luxury travel journalist who recently founded kodomo.com, a site dedicated to luxury family travel. She has written for Vogue, GQ, The Daily Telegraph, CNN Traveller, The Sunday Times House & Garden and High Life magazine, amongst many others. Today, she can be found living by the sea in Dorset.

Did you love it or hate it?

Neither to be honest. I remember it very fondly though because I made some of my very best friends for life there. I no doubt moaned about it at the time but, on reflection, I loved how small and intimate it felt. It was a converted Chelsea townhouse and never lost that homely feel.

Who was your favourite teacher?

Miss Weir. She was just delightful; kind, gentle, patient with all of us during our most precocious years and always smiling. She had enormous eyes.

What was your proudest achievement there?

I remember winning the swimming and diving cups in the same year. It wasn't the sportiest of shools but it was a great day that filled me with enormous pride.

What was the most trouble you got into and why?

I was constantly being told off for wearing skirts that were too short. We didn’t have a uniform but we did have to wear skirts and mine tended to resemble a belt more than anything. And I was spotted on Kensington High Street smoking, which caused a major storm.

What is your most vivid memory of your time there?

Clock watching through the eternal Tuesday afternoon French class. I was awful at languages and dreaded it for every minute of the week. And sneaking

out at lunch to smoke in an alley wedged between Queens Gate and the French Lycee. And crying over the first agony of heartache.

Did you rule the school?

No, but I was close friends with the few girls who did; we were terribly obnoxious at about the age of 15 and I can only imagine how awful we must have seemed to our teachers, but I like to think it was a rite of passage.

What bearing did your school days have on your life and career now?

I think the most poignant thing was that I was there during the years when I discovered what I really wanted to do, which was write. And it was a fantastic school for instilling the idea in you that you could do anything if you worked hard enough. Making the decision to launch kodomo.com and do my own thing, (not to mention putting my own money where my mouth is and funding it) was a tough one to make, but I like to think a lot of it came from being taught to take risks and think outside the box a bit.

Would you send your own children there?

No, but mainly because I don’t live in London anymore.

What personal characteristics did the school imbue you with?

Self-belief and the ability to laugh at myself.

Describe yourself when you started and the person you were when you left I started as a wide-eyed young girl who, when asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, would answer, “I want to save the world.” It knocked that naiveté out of me in seconds but I left focused, determined and armed with some of my best friends in life.

Kodomo.com offers parents detailed information on where to stay, eat and play with young children in tow, whilst still enjoying some serious luxury along the way.

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The best all-round co-education...come and see why.

Find us at the Independent Schools Show on the 9th/10th of November. wellingtoncollege.org.uk admissions@wellingtoncollege.org.uk +44 (0)1344 444013 Wellington College, Crowthorne, Berkshire RG45 7PU

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09/09/2013 15:03

A B S O L U T E LY E D U C AT I O N

GOOD

CONNECTIONS Recent neuroscientific research has found that a positive pupil/teacher relationship is imperative in enabling students to perform well academically

I

By Alistair McConville

t has become something of a truism that people vividly remember their very best teachers, and are positively influenced by their impact well beyond their school years. Recent collaboration between neuroscientists and educationalists has demonstrated just how important positive teacherstudent relationships are in enabling students to perform to the best of their academic potential. The Gradgrindian notion that students are empty vessels,

ready to be filled up with ‘facts, facts, facts’ has well and truly had its day.

In my capacity as Director of Teaching and Learning at Bedales School, I have been fortunate to be closely involved with Harvard’s multi-disciplinary ‘Mind, Brain and Education’ movement, which aims to bring scientific rigour to educational theory, and in particular to apply the latest findings in neuroscience to classroom practice. As a member of the International Research Schools Network (IRSN), we have been

working with Harvard researchers to understand better the link between positive teacher-student relationships and academic success.

It has always been part of the Bedales ethos that positive relationships, both peer-to-peer and teacher to student, are paramount in promoting a harmonious and happy community of flourishing individuals.

We have instinctively tended to assume that individuals who are happy in their skin and with the people surrounding them are likely to perform better in their academic work, and this gut-feeling is now being borne out by the evidence. Neuroscience is showing that emotion and cognition are far more intertwined than was previously thought. The brain is not

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A B S O L U T E LY E D U C AT I O N

the compartmentalised computer of earlier thinking. It is a dynamically interconnected organism.

The research we have done with the IRSN shows that there is a reliable correlation between the perceived quality of a student’s relationship with their teacher, and their motivation to work in that subject. There is, of course, a strong link between motivation levels and academic achievement. In short, when students feel comfortable and valued by their teacher and their peers, they are significantly more likely to perform to the best of their ability than if they suspect that their teacher has low expectations of them, or just doesn’t like them very much. In these cases, students waste cognitive energy (or ‘working-memory’) fretting, stewing or trying to counteract perceived ‘threats’ to their performance. It this effect – known as ‘threat response’ – that leads to the well-documented phenomenon of girls’ under-performance in maths exercises when they are told that boys tend to do better in them. Mental resources are diverted into managing anxiety and straining to overcome stereotypes, which is to the detriment of the task in hand.

Students in discussion at Bedales and previous page: Robin Williams inspires his students in a scene from Dead Poets Society

Emotion and cognition are far more intertwined than was previously thought What does this mean in practice?

It confirms our instinctive belief that relationships matter very much, not only as intrinsic ‘goods’, but also as the bedrock of an environment in which students can flourish emotionally and intellectually. We work hard to create a culture in which students can get to know their teachers in contexts beyond the classroom. Teachers wander around students’ dormitories for a chat, play table tennis with them, go

on country walks and contribute to a rich extra-curricular programme of activities. My tutor group comes round to my house for tea from time to time, and Philosophy Society has taken place in my garden, around a campfire.

This is all good fun, and significantly enriches the teacher’s experience too, but it has been heartening to discover that this is not just frothy, fruitless, self-indulgent play-time; rather the gradual development of meaningful relationships between students and teachers is a fundamental part of what builds a student’s confidence and sense of purpose about their academic studies too. It also develops the kind articulate, rounded individuals sought after by universities and employers, who are increasingly savvy about the ‘exam-factory’ approach.

Neuroscience is showing that education is most effective when it is a reciprocal activity, a meeting of minds.

Teachers are not mere functionaries disseminating knowledge. Rather they are one half of a very human exchange, which takes place most effectively in contexts of mutual respect and affection.

Alistair McConville

Director of Teaching & Learning Bedales School.www.bedales.org.uk

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Catholic Day and Boarding School for girls aged 11 to 18

• Experience teaching the IB Diploma for over 30 years

• Scholarships and bursaries available • Multilingualism: up to 9 languages taught

• Exclusive pre-IB Middle Years Programme • Nurture and support: girls gain excellent results

• Internationalism: over 40 nationalities, yet one shared mission

• Places achieved at top Universities worldwide

• All faiths welcome

Please contact: admissions@marymountlondon.com www.marymountlondon.com Tel: 020 8949 0571 George Road, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey KT2 7PE. MARYMOUNT INTERNATIONAL.indd 1

12/09/2013 11:42

Boarding at Monkton is full-on…

• A leading co-educational boarding & day school for pupils aged 2 to 19.

• 91% of our Senior School boarders residing as full time boarders.

• Over 50 extracurricular activities run 7 days a week.

• Every pupil is encouraged to achieve, thrive and make the most of their talents.

• Located on the outskirts of the world heritage city of Bath in a beautiful country setting.

…there’s never a dull moment!

Monkton Combe School Bath BA2 7HG 01225 721 133 admissions@monkton.org.uk monktoncombeschool.com

MONKTON SCHOOL.indd 1

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19/09/2013 17:04

20/09/2013 18:52

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A B S O L U T E LY E D U C AT I O N

The

WORLD’S Their

Overseas students have changed British boarding schools into global melting pots. Are they all the better for it?

N

By Janette Wallis

oodle pots next to the common room toaster, the happy chatter of girls betting on mahjongg, children delivered to school flanked by armed bodyguards, boys who would rather play violin than rugby, girls who would rather do calculus than watch TOWIE. What would British boarding schools be without international pupils?

Twenty-seven years ago, when The Good Schools Guide was in its rosy youth, overseas pupils were a relative rarity. Back then, the rule of thumb was that to keep the British ethos of a school intact, no more than seven per cent of pupils should be from abroad.

British families grew suspicious if they overheard too many foreign languages being spoken on the school visit.

But times have changed.

The percentage of overseas pupils in some mainstream boarding schools has crept above 25 per cent and the international market has become the saviour of many a school. “Families from abroad have kept boarding viable in many schools,” says Iain Kilpatrick, head of Sidcot School near Bristol. Only a very few British boarding schools can count on filling their beds with British boys and girls alone.

Stage International families are not only important to schools, they are increasingly significant to the national economy. In 2012-13 there were nearly 26,000 international students forking out fees at over 1,200 UK independent schools. Fee income for international pupils was estimated to be £685m in 2012-13, up from £430m in 2007-08. Not to mention spending on living expenses, guardians, uniforms and rice steamers.

Back in the 90s we remember visiting a Scots school that had eight children in the same year from the same small district near Shanghai.

An East Anglia girls’ school had, for a time, only two non-Chinese boarders.

Not any more. “Schools now work very hard to integrate overseas pupils, with better induction programmes and tutor support,” says Samantha Price, head of Godolphin School in Salisbury.

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Photos courtesy of Bromsgrove school

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“We used to see some Hong Kong Chinese girls spend all their time on work, and perhaps music practice.

Now they are involved in all the extracurricular activities and we are discovering some wonderfully outgoing and quirky personalities.”

Exeats at many schools are no longer set – they can be taken when desired. “If you’ve got kids from Beijing, it’s hard to close up for the weekend – schools have had to become more flexible”, explains Iain Kilpatrick.

Pastoral care has stepped up all round.

Schools have pummelled away to reduce language-based cliques.

“The ideal is to have a few children from each country,” says Samantha Price. To achieve this chocolate box assortment, she and other Godolphin staff have attended school fairs this year in Dubai, Brazil, Spain and Russia. “It’s important that schools get out there and engage with the international market if they want to have an international profile. You can’t expect the market just to come to you,” says Iain Kilpatrick.

Pupils from abroad now bring a welcome diversity to many schools.

The Independent Schools Council points out that its schools have a higher proportion of minority ethic pupils than Britain’s state schools (26.1% compared with 24.5%). They bring a wealth of perspectives, life experience ... and exotic languages.

“Having bilingual, and often trilingual, pupils creates an environment where learning languages is seen as important. It’s a wake-up call for many local pupils,” says Katy Ricks, head of Sevenoaks School – a school that was a pioneer of international education, opening its “International House” for overseas 6th form boarders in 1961.

“Having children from around the world enriches intellectual diversity,” says Ricks. “You particularly notice it in history when discussing things like the Russian Revolution or the First World War.” The exponential growth in the number of schools offering the IB has, in part, been a response to the demands of overseas parents, particularly those from Europe.

Only a very few British boarding schools can count on filling their beds with British boys and girls alone Today’s lusher boarding accommodation is also a response to the influx of students from abroad – think ensuite single rooms with hair dryers and irons. “International students bring high expectations,” says Ian Kilpatrick. “Most come from affluent families – they’re not interested in cold showers or huge dormitories.” Food, too, has improved, from Little Chef to Michelin chef – to everyone’s advantage.

As in work, shopping or politics, the line between international and local has grown fuzzy. Many children now have overlapping nationalities.

Their parents may have been born in one country but raised in another, or the children may have lived abroad themselves. “We no longer speak of international students,” says Ricks.

“We are a British school providing an international education.” But has

this glorious internationalisation put boarding out of reach all but the very wealthiest British families? With a global market to cater to, have school fees been allowed to soar to a level where schools’ traditional clientele have been well and truly priced out of the market?

Perhaps that was so. But not any more. “The international market has become much more cost sensitive,” says Iain Kilpatrick. “They still want to send their children 3000 miles away to attend a British boarding school – but not at any price.” “Ten years ago the overseas market was seen as easy pickings, but no longer”, says Samantha Price. The days of charging international pupils a higher fee are, by and large, over.

Overseas parents now come to our Advice Service waving league tables and asking technical questions about whether A levels, the IB or Cambridge Pre-U exams will better ease their child’s entrance to Harvard. Many request that their children not be put in schools with too many of their countrymen. A European parent recently asked us to compose single word “metaphors” to describe each school on their shortlist. Another asked us to recommend the British school that would best teach their daughter handwriting. Overseas parents have even sussed the core of the British private school system – that “public”, “private” and “independent” all mean same thing: fee-paying.

Jeanette Wallis

Senior editor of The Good Schools Guide www.goodschoolsguide.co.uk. She also works with The Good Schools Guide Advice Service consultancy to help parents find the right school for their child.

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RAVENSCOURT PARK

preparatory school

An Independent School for Boys and Girls aged 4-11 Our pupils now enjoy a new theatre, library, specialist facilities for art, music and science and a new suite of teaching areas.

“The school fulfils its mission to offer children the opportunity to succeed, to be recognised and to be valued. It achieves its aim to develop the intellectual, emotional and ethical requirements to tackle the challenges that life will present... they nurture, guide, motivate and inspire, and it is a school of smiles and laughter where there is much fun to be had.”

Independent Schools Inspectorate 2010

Open Mornings 9.30am Tuesday, 17th September 2013

9.30am Tuesday, 19th November 2013

9.30am Thursday, 17th October 2013

9.30am Wednesday, 22nd January 2014

Please phone to register your attendance at one of our Open Mornings on 0208 846 9153 or mail Secretary@rpps.co.uk

Ravenscourt Park Prep School 16 Ravenscourt Avenue, London W6 0SL

www.rpps.co.uk RAVENSCOURT PARK.indd 2

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R N preparatory school

An Independent School for Boys and Girls aged 4-11 “My children run to school as if it were their first day.

I owe it to you and your colleagues. ew

reen

reparatory e udes a comfortable, confident, nurturing and safe aura, where I feel my children delight in being the bright, chirpy and playful individuals that they are.”

Parent of Children in Years 3 & 6

Open Mornings 9:30am Wednesday, 18th September 2013

9:30am Wednesday, 6th November 2013

9:30am Wednesday, 9th October 2013

9:30am Wednesday, 20th November 2013

Please phone to register your attendance at one of our Open Mornings on 020 8948 5999 or mail secretary@kgps.co.uk

Kew Green Preparatory School Layton ouse, erry Lane, ew

reen, Richmond TW9 3A

www.kgps.co.uk KEW GREEN.indd 2

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acilities, unlike day schools, which are usually in big cities or towns, in which there is limited amount of space for facilities.

Boarding schools are primarily in the countryside where there is far more space for facilities. The huge array of facilities means that pupils can really get the best out of school and succeed in whatever they like, whether it be on the football pitch, on the squash court or the fives court.

F

ndependence – when you board, the amount of choices you have to make really changes you as a person and definitely helps you and makes life at school, and hopefully in the future, far easier.

I

hen you board, you have the freedom to do anything you want, within reason. Whether it be what sport you do, what extra activities you do or what you want to do with your free time, having that choice makes school far easier.

W

mall classes means that the teaching you get is a lot more personal and teachers can help you. In state schools where classes are usually larger, it is harder to focus on individual problems.

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he balance between work and free time.

When I was at a day school before I came to Radley, I was there from 8.30 until 4pm and had only one major sports session a week and the rest was work. At Radley, the balance between work and free time is perfect and makes school so much more enjoyable.

T

riendships. At boarding school you essentially spend your whole life with your friends, apart from the holidays, of course, and this

F

means that the friendships you have are so much closer and there are so many more opportunities to make good friends. In day schools, you have 8 or 9 hours a day to see each other and most of that time is taken up by lessons.

oarding is such fun!

From having banter between lessons to playing football in the evenings.

The friends and fun you have makes for such a great place!

B

etting used to living away from home, it’s never easy leaving home, but when the time comes, it will be far easier for boarders who have spent the last 2-9 years boarding.

G

Alex is in K Social in Year 10 at Radley

20/09/2013 15:09

Rugby School

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A DV E RT O R I A L

Breath

OF FRESH AIR Forecast Academy is a new performing arts school in Clapham that marries professional training with a family atmosphere that allows students to shine

F

orecast Academy, a new performing arts school, teaches 13-20 year olds to act, dance and sing.

Despite having been open less than a year it is already proving a huge success with parents and students alike.

Julie Atherton, a leading West End actress and recent workshop contributor, explains why: “Forecast is a fantastic setup. The students are given an experience worthy of a top drama school. The majority of the tutors are West End professionals who get a real kick out of developing the next generation of talent. To get that level of exposure so young is pretty rare. I don’t think there’s anything else like this around. It’s a simply brilliant place.”

The idea for the school came when 'Oliver Boito and Jody Tranter, Forecast’s founders,

were reminiscing about their experience of training. They met at a similar performance school in the Midlands that brought together two powerful ideas; top-notch training and a family atmosphere. When they set up Forecast they were determined to recreate that inspiration, and indeed improve on that magic with personal access to the leading professionals. As one of the parents put it: “My daughter has attended some form of drama school for the past 7 years, but I have never seen her so committed and happy. As she says, Forecast is her second family.

Please keep up the amazing work; you’re helping shape some beautiful young people in so many ways.”

Most importantly, the students love what Forecast offers: an opportunity to shine in a safe, friendly environment, whilst gaining boundless inspiration

from leading performers and professionals. Stacey, a current student, says: “It’s just a great place where you get to learn things that you’re interested in with people who have loads of different talents.

It’s amazing to realise what you can do personally and even more amazing to see what you can do as part of the team.”

Students are invited to audition throughout the year. Public showcases are held at the end of each term. Those interested in applying should check out the website forecastacademy.com or look them up on Facebook.

“We are looking for students who want to be inspired, who are dynamic and are passionate about developing their all-round performance abilities” says Ollie.

Could that be someone you know?

FORECAST “ STUDENTS ARE REGULARLY

TAUGHT BY LEADING PROFESSIONALS FROM THE WORLDS OF TV, STAGE AND THE MUSIC INDUSTRY”

FORECAST ACADEMY

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A b s o l u t e ly e d u c at i o n

QUEER As Folk Far from being bastions of conventionality, our public schools are breeding grounds for brilliant British eccentrics

I

By Tom Hodgkinson

t is commonplace to whinge about the obvious fact that the powerful positions in British politics and finance tend to be occupied, still today, by public schoolboys and girls. The majority of our own cabinet was privately educated.

But less talked about is another obvious fact: that the British public school system, far from being a tightly controlled environment that produces drones for middle management, actually has a degree of freedom built into its structures that allows eccentricity to flourish. So while public schools provide the central leadership, they also produce the notable outsiders.

My own school, Westminster, was a haven for eccentrics. The motto seemed to be 'be thyself', and what you were didn’t really matter. I don’t remember

any bullying at all, however freaky or weird you looked, or however outré your own interests. The boys were avid NME readers and delighted in wearing drainpipes, winklepickers and brothel creepers to school. We sported CND badges and old overcoats. As soon as school ended, the earrings went in and we would sit in a café hunched around a single cappuccino, smoking roll-ups talking about Jack Kerouac and Karl Marx. While we may have been told off for breaking the rules occasionally, there was no sense whatsoever that your actual attitude was disapproved of. A sort of intellectual bohemianism was encouraged. We felt far superior to the over-confident but more hearty and less intelligent boys at Eton.

There was a handful of theatrical gay boys and they were allowed to be themselves without any teasing from the others. When I went to visit a few years a go, this relaxed attitude flourished: some boys wore long hair and cravats.

The place was colourful. In my first year, 1981, I recall the spectacle of Helena Bonham-Carter, a sixth former, wandering around in Victorian lace-up boots and various layers. My housemaster did tell her off once, it’s true. I was waiting in line in his study one morning. Helena was in front of me. “You don’t dress up as if you’re

At Westminster, oddness and individuality was positively encouraged about to go and milk the cows!” he was bellowing at her. But with a few small modifications, Bonham-Carter continued to wear her milkmaid’s weeds. From my generation also came the quirky documentary maker Louis Theroux and his brother, novelist Marcel Theroux, as well as TV stars Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish, and Gavin Pretor-Pinney of the Cloud Appreciation Society. What they have in common is that they have created their own path through life, and their schooling gave them a head start, since oddness and individuality was encouraged.

There were vegetarians, vegans, Marxists, anarchists, punks, hippies and geeks, and the lot of them got on very well indeed.

Eton has historically produced its fair share of eccentrics and free spirits.

It is often forgotten that two of our best 20th century radical writers, George

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Helena Bonham Carter continued to wear her milkmaid’s weeds

Orwell and Aldous Huxley, both went to Eton. In fact, Huxley taught Orwell.

In our own time we have the great example of old Etonian John Michell, the hippie pioneer whose 1967 book The View Over Atlantis put forward the ley line theory and was a huge influence on generations of New Agers. Of the same generation comes grammatical eccentric Nevile Gwynne, whose book Gwynne’s Grammar has spent the last few months in the top ten. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is another successful and eccentric Eton graduate. Others include Henry Fielding, Shelley, Harold Acton, Cyril Connolly, and contemporary poet Hugo Williams.

We could go on. The Monty Python team and Pink Floyd were largely public school. Perhaps the masters at public schools give a good example of doing their own thing without caring what

others think about them. Unlike the state bureaucracy with its Trotskyite diktats for what constitutes correct behaviour, or the corporation with its stultifying boredom, the common room can be a haven for weirdos.

Not long ago I gave a talk at Sherborne, alma mater of John Le Mesurier and novelist John Cooper Powys. I had a coffee during break with the teachers, and the atmosphere was pure Hogwarts. There was a plentiful sprinkling of bow ties and velvet jackets, much intellectual discussion, and my overriding sense was: 'My God, these teachers are allowed to be free.'

As long as they get the job done, then they can walk around with a parrot on their shoulder, as is reported of one teacher at Marlborough right now.

It was the same at Eton: I once spent an evening with the classics department, and a more jovial and

civilised bunch of brilliant oddballs you couldn’t hope to meet.

At Westminster we had an English teacher who taught us about a huge amount of stuff that came nowhere near the curriculum: fine wines, modern art, the post-structuralist critics, avant-garde music. All this plus good grammar. He also used to cry in lessons while reading Othello and then tell us about his nights out at Heaven, the gay nightclub. He never had the slightest discipline problem which is a sign, I think, of the genuine respect that existed between pupil and teacher.

You wonder whether this level of freedom would be permitted under the state system, which is fairly rigidly controlled from the centre.

Paradoxically, public schools are more anarchic than state schools. I have defended the English public school system in various books, and this has got me into hot water with middleclass liberals of the Fiona Millar stripe who think that they all should all be banned. My libertarian core sees a ban as fundamentally wrong because it smacks of the kind of totalitarianism that old Etonians Orwell and Huxley both condemned, in 1984 and Brave New World.

Sadly, though, in my case, avoiding a conventional path has also led to an avoidance of riches, and I cannot afford to send my own children to private schools. But I will do my best to sprinkle some of that mischievous and eccentric public school spirit over their education.

Tom Hodgkinson

Is editor of The Idler and co-founder of the Idler Academy. His latest book is The Ukulele Handbook, published by Bloomsbury.

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A B S O L U T E LY E D U C AT I O N

MY FIRST DAY Christ Hospital’s deputy head on what it’s like to be the new boy at school

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By Tom Lawson

o start at a new school is a thing of excitement and bewilderment.

For me, a new bug on the teaching side, the stomach-churning moments came at different times. The first time I drove to Christ’s Hospital, my first view of the water tower hammered home the scale and magnificence of the school. As you drive in from the west, the roads became narrower and narrower, the tower flickers into view again as you wind your car around the lanes, creating a giddy sense of weaving towards a quest. I loved the scale and architectural ambition of Christ’s Hospital from the very start.

It is unmistakably a Public School, capital ‘P’, capital ‘S’. And yet… the very next sight on arrival is the sight of the crèche by the reception. Right from that first visit, I was struck by the welcoming family atmosphere and kindness of everyone I met.

Christ’s Hospital is The Bluecoat School and the Tudor uniform is the thing that most outsiders think of when conjuring the school in their mind’s eye.

I tired, eventually, of my pat answer to the repeated question from friends as to whether I had to wear the uniform: ‘unfortunately not’, I’d say, ‘more is the pity, as I think I would look rather grand’. It strikes me as something that is often missed when merely noting that the ‘housey’ uniform here is distinctive: it is more than that, it

is beautiful. I am still sufficiently new to find it inspiring to see the bright young people dressed in a grandeur that befits their potential as the next generation of leaders. So I don’t get a uniform, just a security name badge.

Mine was made up when I came to sit in on an INSET day last term.

Childishly, I suppose, I felt emboldened and a sense of belonging as soon as I had that badge. It just goes to show how important a feeling of being part of something is to all of us – even middle-aged teachers. Christ’s Hospital powerfully feeds that group identity in a positive way. It is a distinct but inclusive community. For the months afterwards, I proudly wore the badge

To start at a new school is a thing of excitement and bewilderment that had me down as ‘Deupty Head’ [sic], only picking up the misspelling after a couple of weeks on site!

I do feel immensely privileged to be here – and at the moment it is all excitement and adrenaline. Soon enough, people will tire of my new-boy blunders and will expect me to deliver some useful contribution to the project.

Christ’s Hospital is unique, offering an independent education of the highest calibre to children with academic potential, from all walks of life in a caring, family environment.

I have been lucky to have taught and been taught at elite academic

institutions throughout my life. I hope to bring some of the rigour that entails to my work here. More importantly, though, I have been immersed in communities that share a love of good learning – a joy from ideas. The Christ’s Hospital pupils deserve to be imbued with that spirit for its careerenhancing power but mostly for the enhancement of happiness it creates.

The political tide has swung, I think, towards an acceptance that grawnd schools with great traditions should be extending access and focused on providing opportunity for more than a narrow segment of society. Egalitarian elitism, if you like, is something that Christ’s Hospital has been doing successfully for centuries. I dare say that policy wonks and politicians would do well to study the lessons of this trailblazing, happy and successful institution.

The gentle humour and charm of the pupils I have met fills me with optimism that there is a willingness here to make the most of school. They have been keen to make me feel at home - as have the staff who, after all, are kind to new boarders for a living!

It has been a wonderful place to be a new boy.

Tom Lawson

Deputy Head, Christ's Hospital

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A B S O L U T E LY E D U C AT I O N

How technology is changing education in our independent schools

G

By Mark S Steed

reat claims have been made over the past 20 years about the impact that information and communications technology (ICT) would have on teaching and learning, most of which only succeeded in disappointing. At long last, however, the combination of reliable ICT networks, affordable equipment, innovative educational software and an increasingly ICT-literate body of teachers means that

we are beginning to see ICT making a real difference to the day-to-day education in independent schools. The impact of new technologies is being seen in every area of school life: academic, pastoral, co-curricular and in school administration.

ACADEMIC Martini Learning Widespread access to new technologies has been one of the most important catalysts of the shift in emphasis from classrooms being about teaching, to them being about learning. Pupils

now have access to web-based learning resources at school, at home and on the move.

Learning is no longer confined to the classroom or to the prep room, it happens anytime, anyplace, anywhere: we are in the age of 'Martini learning'.

Most independent senior schools now have the necessary WIFI infrastructure in place to support mobile learning; this is likely to be greatest area of growth over the coming years.

Online Apps and Collaboration Some of the most innovative work that is going on in schools at the moment

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surrounds the use of online apps (such as the Google Apps suite and MS Office 365). These technologies allow pupils and teachers to collaborate online by working on the same document.

Teachers are taking tasks that traditionally were set as homework (say, read and note chapter 7 of The Lord of the Flies under the following headings . . . ) and developing them into class collaborative piece of work.

The result is that pupils gain a range of insights from their peers whilst practising the important life skill of working with others. Anecdotal evidence is that pupils make a greater effort when working collaboratively because of the public aspect of publishing ideas to their friends.

Online collaborative working is so popular that many schools are finding that pupils find it their preferred form of independent learning, setting up shared documents to work on homework without any teacher input or encouragement at all.

PASTORAL e-Safety Independent schools pride themselves in having outstanding levels of pastoral care and devote time and money to providing it. Whilst many of the issues are fundamentally the same ones with which schools have been dealing for years (cyberbullying is bullying, internet porn is pornography, cyber-safety is personal safety), there are a number of new challenges. Arguably, the greatest dangers that young people face come, not from what they can download from the internet, but from what they are able to publish to it. Ultimately, it is impossible to control pupils’ access to the internet and the only way forward is to educate the young people in our care to use the internet responsibly.

COMMUNICATION One of the greatest pastoral challenges that new technologies have brought for independent schools is that pupils have immediate access to their parents; and that parents, in turn, have immediate access to teachers, houseparents, and senior leaders. Minor issues and incidents, which only ten years ago

well placed to harness the creativity in young people in a range of cocurricular clubs and societies of which we (of a previous generation) could only dream.

SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION

Online collaborative working is so popular, many pupils now prefer it to traditional homework would have been dealt with in-school and forgotten before the end of the day, are blown out of all proportion, causing unnecessary anguish, management time and paper-trails.

CO-CURRICULAR One of exciting benefits of cheap and ready access to new technologies is that it is relatively easy for pupils to do things today that in the past would have taken hours and an enormous budget. Every pupil now has the opportunity to make a video, their smartphone the camera and their laptop the editing studio; to publish articles and to engage a world-wide audience. There is no doubt that new technologies have given a new status to creativity. In a world where YouTube videos and blogposts can go viral – the opportunity for 15 minutes of fame is there for all. Independent schools are

As with all organisations, independent schools have implemented a range of new ICT initiatives to improve school administration. It is generally accepted that ICT will not save schools money (Bursars stopped asking, “when will we see a return on this investment?” years ago) but it has raised the bar.

Independent schools undoubtedly hold and analyse more data on pupils than ever before.

Communication with parents has changed beyond belief. On the positive side, almost all independent senior schools have ditched hand-written reports and moved to a database system. But one of the greatest challenges that schools face today is the unprecedented level of email traffic that flows between home and school.

Most schools (and, indeed, parents) can’t cope.

CONCLUSION Some people talk about ICT in Schools as if it were a project that one day will be complete. That is about as wrong as asking, “When will the London skyline be finished?” Independent schools have an excellent record at harnessing new technologies for education – and we can be confident that that will be the way of the future.

Mark S. Steed

Principal of the Berkhamsted Schools Group and Chairman of the ISC ICT Strategy Group

Illustration by Phil Couzens

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A B S O L U T E LY E D U C AT I O N

A UNIQUE APPROACH Increasingly, the independent sector is being recognised for its SEN expertise

A

By Barry Huggett

ll children have special needs. They are not clones and there is no ‘one size fits all’.

Still, teaching and learning operates in a fairly broad zone which suits most children – but it does not always suit all children all

the time. These children may have Special Educational Needs (SEN) or Learning Difficulties and Differences (LDD). The choice of words matters very little. What does matter is that if a child is unable to access the curriculum, then his/her needs must be carefully assessed and understood.

Provision to meet those needs should be made available and the whole process must be carefully planned and communicated, its effectiveness monitored and, if necessary, adjusted.

Each child has only one chance of an education and time must not be allowed to slip away in the hope that things will improve as the child gets older. If

needs are not met early on, then there is every chance that remediation later will be less effective.

Those of us of more mature years may, recalling our own education, have few memories of children who we would now say had SEN. There were certainly some who found life in school very hard and who may have been treated, by today’s standards, very inhumanely, their inability to succeed met with sarcasm and ridicule. Some research has been done to look for trends year-on-year in SEN recorded in schools, but not much historical data is available. Now it is assumed that around 20 percent of the total school

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population can be described as having some form of SEN. Perhaps here we should define our terms. The independent sector is composed of schools not under direct local authority or central government control, but it must still meet standards for regulation and registration. There is a large number of, usually smaller, schools who cater for a specific special educational need who belong to the National Association of Special Schools (NASS). Then there are the Non Maintained Special Schools (NMS) and specialist colleges, but it is those schools who are members of the associations which make up the Independent Schools Council (ISC) that this short article is about.

No school can support every child, and it is important that each has a clearly defined admissions criteria So what happens in ISC schools?

The most recent census shows that there appear to be fewer children with SEN in ISC schools than in the whole school population, at 12.7%.

However, it is not possible to make a straightforward comparison, as the methods used to recognise SEN may not only be different in the different educational sectors, but may also vary from school to school. It may also be that at ISC schools with their smaller classes, children may be able to cope with the in-class support and may not be diagnosed as having SEN. Some ISC schools are selective. This does not mean that children with SEN will not be offered places, but it does mean that certain types of SEN will make it harder for students to pass the entrance exams.

So how are these needs recognised and met in ISC schools? There has

been a significant change in the last ten years. Previously, some head teachers may have been a little nervous about owning up to the support available in their schools for SEN pupils. They were worried that incoming, feepaying parents might be put off by knowing how many children who needed extra support were on the roll of that school. That there might be a lowering of standards which could be reflected in their exam results and league table position. But today, things are very different. There is a central committee for SEN on which sit two representatives from each of the ISC associations. It meets so that there is a forum for discussion of SEN issues, especially those relating to any proposed changes in legislation about which it will actively lobby and disseminate information to all ISC schools. It also runs an annual conference which is always attended by several hundred SENCOs and others engaged with SEN in ISC schools.

The first learning difficulty to be supported in ISC schools was dyslexia. Indeed, for some time special needs and dyslexia were acceptably interchangeable terms. But this was when provision was delivered by the headmaster’s wife as 'extra English' in a cupboard down the corridor.

How different it is now. There is considerable SEN expertise in most ISC schools. Some offer training to sister schools or to the maintained sector. Children are carefully assessed

on entry and support is usually given in well -resourced departments and not just for dyslexics, which does remain the most usual problem supported, but those with other specific learning difficulties too. Some schools employ speech and language therapists to help those with mild language processing problems or Asperger’s Syndrome.

No school can support every child, and it is important that each has a clearly defined admissions criteria so that parents know in advance what a school can do and what it cannot.

Equally important is the internal training which a school undertakes so that all its teachers, not just those dealing specifically with SEN, have the knowledge and empathy to give whatever help is needed in the classroom.

The independent sector is now not only carving its own niche in supporting children who have SEN, but it is increasingly being recognised for the work it does.

Barry Huggett

Headmaster of More House School

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A B S O L U T E LY E D U C AT I O N

INTERVIEW WITH

Titus Mills HEADMASTER 0F WALHAMPTON SCHOOL

ABSOLUTELY: You have worked in very diverse schools. Was that always the plan?

TITUS MILLS: I think one of the reasons I decided to go into teaching was so that I could have, what I considered, interesting and diverse 'adventures'. It has been a real privilege to teach in state, private and international schools in Rome, Bath, Tooting, Uganda, Lambeth and even the Himalayas. This is now my third headship and it is a role I love, but I do still miss the on-going daily contact with the children in the classroom.

ABS: Where is Walhampton School?

TM: Walhampton enjoys a stunning location. It sits on the South Coast, close to Lymington,

opposite the Isle of Wight, while also nestling in the beauty of the New Forest. The combination of ancient woodland together with the smell of the sea is intoxicating and rather unique. We enjoy 100 acres of grounds, which include two vast lakes, landscaped gardens, ponds, stables and woods. It is a magical spot.

ABS: What drew you to Walhampton School?

TM: The setting reeled me in on my first visit, together with the strong ethos of the school. Academic standards are extremely impressive here, but alongside the rigour there sits a very distinctive outdoorsy, Swallows and Amazons spirit. I love watching the children ride, climb trees, make honey, sail

Titus Mills and his family, from left to right: Raffi, Titus, Cassius, Malachi, and Jemima

I love watching the children ride, climb trees, make honey, sail

‌ it all sounds absurdly idyllic, which it is. In fact there are over 60 extra curricular activities. The combination of this ethos, together with this site and setting enables our pupils to remain children for a little longer. That feels precious today. Walhampton children have time and space to be just that ‌ children.

ABS: What are you most proud of achieving in your first year as Head at Walhampton?

TM: I think we have done a significant amount of spring cleaning in lots of different areas of school life. Walhampton feels more upbeat, cohesive and buzzy.

There is a renewed enthusiasm in the staff room, which is both noticeable and infectious.

Academic standards are strong but we don't want to stand still.

A new appraisal system and

improved methods of tracking progress are impacting positively on teaching and learning. We have changed the school name, logo, uniform, website and prospectus which all provide a new confidence in terms of who we are and where we are going.

Walhampton is blessed with a very strong staff team and I think we all share a real desire to see our school moving forwards into an exciting new season.

ABS: In each of your roles as a Head, you have facilitated considerable change. How do you manage change?

TM: Getting the balance right between continuity and change, affirmation and chivvying, talking and listening is very much a continuous learning process.

In every school the balance needs to be slightly different.

What is clear is that you cannot facilitate change or lead a school community if the team is anxious about coming along with you or unclear of the vision. Time spent encouraging and affirming staff, while also clarifying the direction of travel is vital.

TM: What do you most love about working in a school?

TM: Working with enthusiastic and spirited children, morning chapel, the unending variety, friendship and never-ending school puddings.

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