From the Head of Barker

An Education for Life

The pages that follow reflect a school that seeks to educate for life. It’s a bold statement, but the longer I serve in school education, the more I know that any less an objective would be unworthy of a marvellous school like Barker.

In the frequent encounters with Barker alumni, I hear stories of school experiences that are retold with the clarity of something that occurred yesterday. We store up such experiences as sources of nostalgia and inspiration all our lives. A recent 2021 survey by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) suggests that young people in our current world need greater support. (If you want to find out more, go to: www. oecd.org/education/ceri/social-emotional-skills-study). It was the first of its kind conducted by the OECD, which customarily researches the efficacy of PISA scores internationally. The survey from eleven cities and countries including the US, China, Finland and the UK, considered the social and emotional development of 3000 students aged 10 years and 15 years of age in key areas: • Task performance (persistence and self-control), • Emotional regulation (optimism and reaction to stress), and collaboration (empathy and trust), • Open-mindedness (tolerance, curiosity, and creativity), • Engagement with others (assertiveness and sociability). The findings make quite important reading. One finding that bears further reflection is that 10 year old respondents had better social and emotional skills, and greater self-confidence and connectedness than 15 year olds. They were more optimistic, had greater levels of trust in others and in society, higher energy levels and a stronger sense of agency than their older counterparts. They expressed a greater sense of belonging and were generally more positive about the future. These findings were present in every country, in every socioeconomic background, and in every category of social-emotional skills. The differences were even more marked for 10 to 15 year old girls. How children and young people feel about themselves and the world around them is far more important than we ever realised. There are numerous educational studies that draw a link between social and emotional skills development in children and long term adult success. (www.cfchildren.org/what-is-social-emotionallearning/schools) According to the Aspen Institute National Commission on Social and Emotional Skills, self-regulation and executive functioning skills in young people are ten times more predictive of long term adult success than school based test scores. These things matter.

Word Cloud Courage - Demonstrating During Past 12 Months - Year 12 Students Open Ended Views.

Last year we commissioned research by external consultants MMG Education to examine whether our Year 12 leavers felt that there was a valid alignment between the School’s stated values and the lived experience of being at Barker. The findings of this research were encouraging and suggested that for our Year 12s in 2021, Barker Values are learned best from their teachers and their coaches or directors in the co-curricular life they love so much. https://bit.ly/37lnLPn As we open the new academic year, hopefully one free from COVID restrictions and social disruption, it is essential that we ensure that every student feels a sense of connection and optimism in our community. We want every relationship to be built on kindness and the community to be founded on love, respectfulness and care. With coeducational classes in all year cohorts of the School, this is a time to develop a culture that allows children, young people, adults and families to thrive as we delight in the blessings of God in these days.

Phillip Heath AM Head of Barker College