Prep School Magazine - Autumn 2019 Issue 96 by John Catt Educational

Autumn 2019 â&#x2013;² Issue 96

PREP SCHOOL Reflecting the best in the prep and junior school world

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CONTENTS

AUTUMN 2019 | ISSUE 96

From the editor

Filling the void, Peter Green

Shall we tamper with the rules? Paul Nicholson

A cultural myth? The summer-born disadvantage, Christopher Barnes

Intrapreneurship in education, Luke Busfield

Edward Thring, Paul Jackson

Top ten reasons to take a trip abroad, Spark Languages

SATIPS Art Exhibition, Bromsgrove School

Inspiring action on sustainability, Mark Stevenson

A ‘Dragon education’ – new flexibility for the modern family, Dr Crispin Hyde-Dunn

A new Chair, Mark Taylor

The case for geography, Paul Baker

Flying the eco flag, Ben Evans

Let’s get growing, Alana Cama

Are your class reps complying with GDPR? Clare Wright

Moving Stories, Richard Cheetham

Finding time for outdoor learning, Peter Allen

The end of an era, Paul Jackson

Christingle is a’coming, Ian Morris

Learning in the mountains, by the rivers and in the stars, Shirley Shayler

How to improve individualised feedback, Fiona Gold

The play’s the thing, Stacie Bates

Thank you for the music! John Durston

‘What’s your school like?’ Sophie Brookes

SATIPS Challenge, Harry Paget

In Search of My Alumni, Phil Crompton

The importance of handwriting, Amanda McLeod

Being an international school teacher, Dr Lucy Bailey

SATIPS Broadsheet

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76 Viewpoint, Dr Peter Kent Editor Paul Jackson Managing Editor Meena Ameen Designer Scott James Advertising Gerry Cookson, gcookson@johncatt.com Steering Committee Bill Ibbetson-Price; Sarah Kirby-Smith; Richard Tovey MBE

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PREP SCHOOL Reflecting the best in the prep & junior school world

From the editor I think I have reached a bit of a milestone because I am preparing for my 41st academic year in the independent sector! The journey thus far has been a wonderful one incorporating Worksop College, Millfield, Northbourne Park, Bilton Grange, Grosvenor and Brooke House and has involved a plethora of roles both at school and national level. I feel very blessed, fortunate and happy, not least because the journey continues and – forgive me – I have become rather philosophical with all this experience behind me. With the latter in mind, one particular area that

always gets me thinking is what binds all of us who work within the family of independent schools together. Now I know it is, at one level, long hours, hard work, non-stop commitment, dedication and professionalism. There’s nothing wrong with any of that, of course, but what comes to the fore for me is our shared passion for all that we do. We have a passion for our subjects, our schools and all within them and a passion for the concept of independent schools. With that in mind, I sense that this issue of Prep School Magazine – and hopefully all the ones that have gone before it – reflect this. Everyone who contributes is prepared to share their passion whether it be as a governor, a teacher of music, a bursar, a master in charge of cricket and so on.

We all love what we do. It brings its ups and downs and challenges, of course it does, but we look forward to the new academic year because the sum of all the parts makes for a wonderful whole. And, whilst we all accept constructive criticism, we bristle at those who take a sideswipe at us for no apparent or strange ideological or political reasons. Therefore, a big thank you on everyone’s behalf to Peter Green, Head of Rugby School, for his mildly irritated response (and justifiably so) to those who seek to undermine our work. Reflecting on my 41 years, a very good friend did point out that the Great Train Robbers were given a much lower sentence but probably walked away with far more money! That puts it all in perspective, doesn’t it?

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Filling the void Peter Green, Headmaster of Rugby School

Earlier this summer, there was a furore in the national press about independent school alumni dominating the lists of top cricketers, rugby players, athletes and those in the arts professions. I wasn’t at all surprised to see where those stars – of stage, screen and the sports field – had been to school, and I don’t suppose anyone reading this would have been either. For years, successive governments have sold off state schools’ playing fields, hacked away at their arts provision and starved the national curriculum. The independent schools are trying to fill the void left by this political meddling by providing thousands of educational, sporting and arts opportunities to the children at their neighbouring state schools. Much of our fee income goes towards a constant improvement in the range of co-curricular activities that we all provide. We call it co-curricular, rather than extra-curricular, because most of us running independent schools believe that a well-rounded education should include sport, music, drama and a wealth of other lifeenhancing activities.

singing or dancing is encouraged to help put on a play and finds himself part of the creative fun and team endeavour that goes with a theatrical production. A shy child, who holds back from joining a club, discovers how much he or she likes chess or photography.

With enough on offer, most children will find something outside the classroom that they are good at and enjoy and that will widen their interests, and possibly even change their lives. The child who thought she wasn’t sporty can be surprised to find she loves cricket, sailing or golf; the child who cringes at the thought of

Many parents are sporty or artistic, or both, with homes full of books and weekends planned round exhibitions, expeditions and exercise, and do their best to introduce their children to all sorts of non-classroom activities and to support them when they are receptive. These children are fortunate.

State schools recognise that in an ideal world they would have the resources to provide the wide range of non-academic opportunities that should be part of a child’s education. But sadly most of them do not, so cannot. They are lucky if they have a swimming pool or a football pitch; many of them find themselves occupying what the Good Schools Guide has described as an ‘artistic desert’. Boris Johnson has pledged more money for schools so let us hope that he is true to his word and that some of the cash makes its way to funding the provision of physical exercise and access to the creative arts.

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saddened that the word elite to describe an education is used pejoratively, and I am shocked that there are some who think that if you went to an independent school you should be ashamed of yourself (and your parents) and keep the fact a secret. Beyond our expert education, one that is admired all over the world, let us also remember the other important contribution that the independent schools make. We save the taxpayer £3.5 billion per annum by educating children who would otherwise go to a state school; we pay tax of £4.1 billion a year; and, we contribute £14 billion a year to GDP. In some cases our schools are the main employer in the area – that is certainly the case in Rugby.

Meanwhile, back in today’s world, most independent schools have been sharing many of their facilities with their state school neighbours for many years. This is not a case of loftily allowing them access to the sports grounds during the holidays or parcelling up our old violins. These arrangements are whole-hearted. In June, Rugby School held its annual Festival on the Close – three days of jazz, dance, musical theatre, film and comedy – performances and workshops. More than 1000 local state school pupils joined in, for free, attending professionally run workshops that their own schools would not be able to offer. Most of us also extend our teaching and learning to our state school neighbours, for example by inviting them to conferences, helping with university admissions, and sharing classes in those subjects that are rarely included in the state school curriculum, like higher maths, classics

or a wide range of modern foreign languages. This summer has seen a thrilling run of athletic prowess displayed by men and women – cricket, netball, football, golf and tennis. Those children at most state schools who want to have a go at trying those sports and emulating those dedicated players are either going to be dependent on their parents to arrange and pay for training sessions outside school hours or lucky enough to be spotted by a coach who will take them under their wing. It’s no fault of the heads of state schools that so few of them can encourage sport to this degree. But it’s short-sighted of the critics to deplore the success of the independent schools in this particular field. Without them the UK would not do half so well in the international tournaments we all enthusiastically support. I deplore the sneering about the success of those who have been independently educated, I am

The suggestion that the private schools should be abolished – and that the children they educate should be absorbed into the alreadystretched state school system – has not been properly thought through, is challengeable in the courts, and is counter to most civilised people’s views about the freedom of choice that was once celebrated in a tolerant Britain. Anthony Crosland, the Education Secretary under Harold Wilson, spoke vehemently about abolishing the private schools, then, after consideration, said that ‘the state sector must be strengthened so that it can match all but the very best feepaying schools’. More than 50 years later, we’re still in that position. The independent schools are pleased, indeed many of us feel obliged, to try to fill the depressing and shameful vacuum in what purports to be an acceptable education for thousands of children. So, let us celebrate the achievements of those independently educated pupils at the top of those lists of artistic and sporting success rather than waving a stick at the schools who helped them get there.

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Shall we ‘tamper’ with the rules? Paul Nicholson, Deputy Head at Bilton Grange School, has been coaching cricket there for 33 years and describes the many changes he has witnessed and the possible need for another It may not be a well-known fact but IAPS was formed in the first instance all those years ago when a few prep school heads got together to discuss the size of the cricket ball to be used in inter-school matches! Nothing to do with things academic, chapel services or pastoral care. Deputy Head Paul Nicholson feels further changes are required in the format of our school matches but, rest assured, the size of the ball is not up for discussion. What a relief. – Paul Jackson As England’s men defeat Ireland in a four-day Test, are put to the sword by Australia in a five-day Test shortly after winning the World Cup using the 50-over format, the women lose the Ashes to Australia in a mixed format of one-day, T20 and Test matches, and we welcome the advent of 100 ball cricket, my thoughts turn to the format that we use at prep school, the very breeding ground of some of tomorrow’s top cricketers,

as well as tomorrow’s village club cricketers. Prep schools use a variety of formats, pairs cricket proving popular in the early years and for those learning the game, but for the older or more able players, many schools seem to favour the limited overs format, usually 20 overs per side, resulting in one side winning and one losing (with the very occasional tie). Whilst this is very simple for players, coaches and parents to understand and to implement, I wonder if some are missing out on opportunities to encourage resilience, guile and creativity from our cricketers by excluding the possibility of earning a draw? Some years ago, I took an under-11 side to play away and was greeted with the news that we would be playing a limited overs match with

each side bowling 30 overs! Despite expressing my reservations, we were obliged to play the format of the hosting school – we took to the field and 30 overs later were facing a mere 223 to win. We had one or two who could score runs but this total was clearly way beyond us, especially as our hosts immediately ringed the boundary. The match was effectively over after five overs of our innings as we reached nine runs for two wickets, leaving a required run-rate of almost nine runs per over, and all I could do was to encourage our players to do their best to stay at the wicket, play properly and pick up runs when they could. They would have learned nothing at the age of 11 by trying to swing the bat at the ball – and a side that makes 222 from 30 overs is going to have some decent bowlers, too – in the vain hope that they would not only connect but also

My thoughts turn to the format that we use at prep school, the very breeding ground of some of tomorrow’s top cricketers, as well as tomorrow’s village club cricketers 10

PREP SCHOOL Reflecting the best in the prep & junior school world

find the gaps in the heavily manned boundary for the next 25 overs. Whilst Masters in Charge of Cricket do their best these days to ensure some degree of parity between sides when arranging fixtures, it is still often the case that one side will dominate the other. If we include, therefore, the option of playing for the draw, it still gives the dominated side something to play for, as well as encouraging the dominant to be creative in their thinking. With this in mind, we have often, though not exclusively, used a ‘total over’ format, though I make no claim to the creation of this idea. We might use a total of 54 overs, though this can be increased or decreased depending upon the time available, with the side batting first being able to bat for up to 28 of those overs and the side batting second receiving the remainder of the 54 overs. A quick-scoring side

may decide to declare before 28 overs have been bowled, after 25 overs for example, giving them more overs (29) to bowl out the opposition to secure the victory. If the side batting second gets into difficulty whilst chasing the runs, they can decide to ‘dig in’ for the draw, encouraging the fielding side to vary their style of bowling and be creative with their field placing. The spinners, in search of wickets, may have the opportunity to float the ball up, encouraging the batsman to hit out, instead of needing to send down flat, run-restricting deliveries and the keeper may decide to step up to the stumps to more of his bowlers, rather than retaining a defensive position. Batsmen have greater opportunity to build an innings, giving greater satisfaction to the child who may struggle to hit the ball hard but who can play straight and accumulate runs steadily. There are lots of choices to

be made and tactical considerations for the captain and coach, and opportunities to be innovative in every aspect of the game. The better side may not always win, just as the lower handicap golfer does not always win, but the hope is that both teams will have felt able to compete and learnt that life and cricket are not just about winning and losing. I am not advocating that we do away with limited overs cricket, simply suggesting that we look at what else may be on the menu and maintain a balanced cricket diet. .

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A cultural myth? The summer-born disadvantage Christopher Barnes, Deputy Head and Head of Prep Forms at Edenhurst Preparatory School I should confess to a personal interest in this topic. With a birthday in July, as well as having a high number of family members with birthdays between 1st May and 31st August (including my now three-yearold daughter), from an early age I remember hearing ‘oh, you’ve got a summer birthday; don’t worry, you’ll catch up’. Yet the longer I work in education, the more I am convinced that the notion of a ‘summer-born disadvantage’ is misguided. A glance down the list of summer-born children from my own school during the last six years reveals: caring friends; quiet leaders; a committed chairman of our Eco Council; innumerable musicians playing at grades 3 or 4 before they have left us; gifted actors and orators; competitive sportsmen; children who have represented at county level for sport, and that’s all before we come to scholarships or other high academic achievements! Similarly, 33 out of 83 colleagues here have birthdays in this timeframe, including our safeguarding lead, director of studies, head of science and our group’s marketing lead. It would seem disingenuous to talk of disadvantages when almost half of those helping to provide an advantage give evidence to the contrary. In any given cohort there will always be an oldest and a youngest. In the UK, our academic calendar runs from September to August. It has become

a common misconception that a child born in the final term would be disadvantaged because of this. One wonders, is this same argument played out in Australasia, where they operate a January-December academic year? John Hattie’s meta-analysis of factors affecting student achievement does include ‘relative age within a class’ with a value of 0.45, meaning that it does have the potential to accelerate achievement. However, as it is number 96 on the list of influences, is this something to which we pay undue attention? There are other, stronger influences at play: notably, teacher estimates of achievement (1.62); collective teacher efficacy (1.57); self-reported grades (1.33); teacher credibility (0.9) and problem-solving teaching (0.68) being rated as higher contributory factors. Likewise Sir Ken Robinson, in his seminal TED talk, highlighted the notion of the ‘Industrial Revolution’ model of schooling – the idea that pupils ‘manufactured’ between particular dates are packaged and then moved up each September. This is still with us, but is there an additional element, perhaps subconscious, where we still see those born towards the end of the time period as lacking in some way? Listening in staff rooms, it is less common to hear concerns expressed about the progress or development of autumn/winter-born children, whereas

those born in the summer seem to attract an undue amount of attention. As professionals, our own views and opinions about the children are important but we also have to be careful that we are not sowing the seeds of lifelong reasons for lack of attainment: ‘I was always told that I couldn’t do this/would do it more slowly/would do it later because I was born in the summer.’ As we know from looking at each cohort of children that we teach, there are different skill sets that are not necessarily linked to the age of the child. Age and progress are not in linear correlation: there are many other factors at work in the background. It is well recognised that there are always differences in achievement levels, but there is still a feeling and acceptance that summer-born children should somehow be excused for lower achievement or poor behaviour because they were born later in the academic year. The reality is that some summerborn children are academically high achieving, some are average and some are just not academic. The same applies to those born earlier in the year. It is worth considering whether parents excuse poor behaviour and a lack of academic success because their child was born in the summer. It is also worth reflecting on the messages that we, as an academic community are consciously and subconsciously giving back to them about this.

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Intrapreneurship in education Luke Busfield, Head of Science at Ludgrove and the SATIPS Science Broadsheet editor, reflects on intrapreneurship within education Our changing education system, with the numerous potential political and economic challenges hovering towards us (like Brighton as you approach the A27), will reward schools who are agile enough to adapt to the many changing conditions as they present themselves. As service providers in a service industry it is axiomatic that the market will constantly evolve, but how to achieve the necessary agility and creativity without placing pressure on already heavily burdened staff? The pages of LinkedIn are filled with endless practical advice about working in, leading, motivating, rewarding, enabling and facilitating teams of people. The endless feeds consistently come to similar conclusions – that creeping bureaucracy is to be carefully monitored and as far as possible eliminated, that we all want to feel trusted rather than micromanaged, and that empowering staff to make decisions about their work allows them to refine their approach. These same findings are espoused in approaches to encourage intrapreneurship in business. ‘Intrapreneurship: Practice of entrepreneurship in an established firm. Intrapreneurship applies the ‘start up’ style of management (characterised by flexibility, innovation, and risk taking) to a secure and stable firm. The objective is to fast track product development (by circumventing the bureaucracy) to take advantage of a new opportunity or to assess

feasibility of a new process or design.’ Source: businessdictionary.com These intrapreneurial behaviours are common but not universal among school staff. The opportunities presented by the ongoing changes to Common Entrance should generate more opportunities for evidence-led creative teaching, the development of novel strategies and programmes, and the sharing of good practice throughout and across departments. An approach that could be described with the slightly dubious portmanteau ‘Edupreneurship’. One example of such an approach has been the recent researching and implementation of the Accelerated Reading Scheme. This programme has been integrated into the school’s inter-house competition and has yielded some revealing data about the reading habits of many of our students. Another case in point has been the recent Year 4 history

research and presentation project, as well as the still embryonic drive towards the Space Education Quality Mark, which is being led by our STEM head of departments. As a lowly head of departments surely speaking beyond my field of competence, I would posit that edupreneurship arises when the ecology for it is appropriate. Staff must feel trusted, empowered with their own decision making, recognised and rewarded for their efforts, confident in their skills and training (particularly with new technology), and unafraid to experiment to improve their practice. It falls to all of us to develop and sustain the conditions that encourage it. ‘Tried and tested’ is a euphemism for stagnation. Stagnation ultimately leads to extinction. The sector must be ready to balance traditions and culture with the educational needs of our rapidly changing society.

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Edward Thring The editor reviews Malcolm Tozer’s new book Edward Thring’s Theory, Practice and Legacy: Physical Education in Britain since 1800 This book reflects the comments in my editorial about the passion we have for our work to a tee. Malcolm Tozer, erstwhile Head of the Northamptonshire Grammar School and Wellow Prep, has been a devotee of all things physical education ever since I first knew him, and his background as a housemaster at Uppingham has inspired him to assess the role of Edward Thring in the development of the subject. As ever with a Tozer volume, it has been wonderfully and dutifully researched, well written and has a cover design that just begs to sit on the shelves of everyone already steeped in the subject such as myself or those who are studying the subject at A or degree level. Malcolm hasn’t missed anything out as far as I can see. For example, he mentions the

important work in the subject of John Coghlan at Worksop college, which was carried on by the recently and very sadly deceased Denis Hackett who – to my eternal gratitude – brought me into that very exciting and innovative department straight from Loughborough. It is, itself, a place of great inspiration to so many including Messrs Tozer and Jackson. Malcolm was an inspiration as Chair of the Independent Schools Physical Education Conference (ISPEC) and as Chair of the Independent Schools’ Curriculum Committee (ISCC) for Physical Education and he certainly inspired me. I took over as Chair of the latter. What he may not know is that when I moved from senior schools to prep, I was asked by the then IAPS Director of Education to initiate a residential Physical Education

Conference for Preparatory Schools. This I duly did and the conference ran successfully for 15 years modelled on Dr Tozer’s senior school template. It was held predominantly at Rugby (Michael Mavor agreed to my request to hold it there in his first year of headship), Millfield and Oakham as well as having an international flavour when over 60 delegates from our schools were royally hosted by Bishops in Cape Town. Upon my retirement, the Preparatory Schools’ Conference came under the umbrella of ISPEC. I have a feeling Malcolm was present when I was granted Fellowship of The Association of Physical Education for services to school sport. Of course, don’t let any of that put you off. This is a superb read, beautifully written and dutifully researched, and I comment it most highly to you.

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Top ten reasons to take a trip abroad Spark Languages share their top ten reasons as to why you should take your school on a trip abroad The challenges of first organising and then taking a prep school on a school trip abroad can at first seem overpowering. The planning is time-consuming and arduous, the difficulty of taking kids through the airport is real and the worry that accommodation or activities might not fit required safety standards is constantly in the back of the mind of any trip leader. However it is not all doom and gloom, and most challenges can be planned for and overcome by working with quality language trip providers, and there are even more positive reasons than challenges that more than justify the workload. 1. A change of scene Young people are at their most energetic stage of life and need new and intriguing stimulation. Taking a group abroad and getting them learning in a completely new place is the perfect way to reward them after a years hard study; and if learning

can incorporate activities like visiting new cities, sampling foreign cuisine or kayaking in the Atlantic Ocean, so much the better! Get students engaged and energised so they can return to their studies next year with a fresh perspective and new dedication. A trip abroad can both act as a motivator to the kids in lead up and a fantastic memory afterwards. 2. Forging new connections In a new environment, outside of the classroom, students have the chance to build stronger friendships with each other than they would normally have cause to do – travelling together, sharing dormitories and participating in exciting activities are all great bonding experiences for young people. Moreover, they will not just create more special bonds with other students, they will also build up their special connection with their own teachers as the shared experience has a unique way of creating mutual empathy.

3. Inspiring a future Students study foreign languages for different reasons, but actually seeing a language like Spanish in action in its native country can be enough to inspire a lifetime of passion for foreign languages. Prep school students aren’t necessarily thinking much about their futures in secondary and tertiary education and beyond, but what if an inspiring trip abroad is the key to unlocking a student’s love of a foreign language and leads to further visits, modern language A-levels, a degree and an entire career? You never know what formative experience at prep school could shape an entire lifetime. 4. Fun for you Never doubt just how much fun it can be to lead an expedition abroad! A bonding experience like travel always forges stronger connections between students and teachers, and aside from that you’ll get plenty out of the trip on your own terms: with exotic food to sample, exciting new cities to explore and, if you come to Spain, constant sunshine. A well organized trip abroad can be rewarding for hard-working teaching staff. 5. Cuisine Spanish food is renowned the world over, with tapas (small sharing plates) being particularly popular. From satisfying tortillas and patatas bravas for hungry stomachs, to the deliciously refreshing gazpacho and salmorejo so popular during the sunny summer months, there’s plenty here for even the pickiest of eaters to enjoy – and

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you never know what they’ll soon be asking their parents to cook up when they get home! Learning about different food is important to opening young student’s minds. 6. Investing in students An advantage for any school is being able to say on a prospectus that it takes its students abroad during the summer to study foreign languages; a special cutting edge for a primary school as not many have the confidence to do so. This is a perfect way to show parents exactly how much you care about students experiencing the real world of the language and becoming committed and invested future citizens of the world. 7. Begin a new tradition Building a firm working relationship with a language school abroad can be the start of a long and happy partnership. A trip abroad can become a staple of the school year, something that young students and their parents look forward to as a major event in the school calendar. A successful trip abroad, and the stories and pictures that come from it, can even act as motivation for younger kids and their parents if they know they will get to the tour themselves when they are, for example, in Year 5-6. 8. Their place in the world Very little can better help a student (or indeed anyone) understand their

own place in the world than travel. To see how the citizens of nations half a continent away bear themselves and live in ways both similar to and different from one’s own country is to see better the diversity and unity of the world, and the opportunities there are to engage with such a world in the future. It is highly beneficial to start students with this ‘openness’ at a young age. 9. Real language exposure Seeing a language in its natural environment is the key to getting students to think of it as an important and useful skill for the modern world, instead of simply a subject to be memorised from textbooks. And all the textbooks in the world can’t show students how a modern language sounds spoken by natives, sung on the radio or graffitied on walls. Bring your students abroad and they’ll see just how potent language really is.

into their studies when they get back and face the year ahead. A school trip abroad – to learn a language in its natural environment, to experience the sights and sounds of another place entirely, and to see the world from a different perspective – can truly be a highlight of a young prep school student’s year. It can be something they look back on for many years afterwards with a smile and fond memories; and in some cases it can be the catalyst for some later life decision like studying a language at university so that they can be like their fun teacher who took them abroad to Spain all those years ago!

10. Holiday time Finally, any good school trip abroad will factor in plenty of time for students to simply enjoy themselves in an educational setting, be that time on the beach, enjoying each other’s company or visiting historical places like the port from which Columbus set sail to the Americas. The more students associate learning with enjoyment and cultural enrichment, the more eager they’ll be to throw themselves back

Douglas Haines and Inge Hol are a British/Dutch couple who run Spark Spanish (spanishschooltours. com), a school trip provider based in Spain, which offers bespoke residential primary school tours for both independent and state schools.

PREP SCHOOL Reflecting the best in the prep & junior school world

SATIPS Art Exhibition This flagship event in the SATIPS’ calendar was another outstanding success, thanks as ever to the Bromsgrove team and Alayne Parsley from Cheltenham Prep During the summer term, SATIPS member schools showcased their talented young artists’ work at the SATIPS National Prep Schools’ Art Exhibition held for the second year running at Bromsgrove School. Open to pupils from Reception to Year 8, the exhibition was an opportunity for each member school to display up to eight pieces of their pupils’ artwork. Bromsgrove was delighted that 51 member schools sent artwork for display. The standard of work was

incredibly high and the artwork ranged from individual masterpieces, to 2D and 3D work and collaborative pieces. The exhibition was launched on Saturday 27th April, with a private view event for headteachers and art teachers, and on Sunday 28th April for artists and their families. The exhibition was then open for school visits from Monday 29th April to Friday 10th May. Many participating schools bought groups to the visit the exhibition and take part in artist workshops

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with visiting artist Mark Lippett. During visits art teachers encouraged their pupils to record artworks that captured their imagination in their sketchbooks and talk about what they found inspirational in front of their classmates. Bromsgrove School have thoroughly enjoyed hosting the SATIPS National Prep Schools’ Art Exhibition in 2018 and 2019. Next year the exhibition will move to The Royal Masonic School for Girls.

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Inspiring action on sustainability Having recently been listed by the London Stock Exchange as one of the ‘1000 Companies to inspire Britain in 2019’, Stevensons is living up to that billing by taking the lead on driving the issue of sustainability in the schoolwear industry. Mark Stevenson, Joint Managing Director of The Stevenson Group writes on the issue of reuse and recycling and says it’s everyone’s problem Even though we concentrate on providing products that are longlasting, we all need to do more; as individuals, as a company and as an industry. That is why we have recently launched a range of new initiatives that we believe will make a real difference in 2019 and beyond. The Schoolwear Association Seminars set the agenda The thought-provoking presentation about ‘Sustainability & School Uniform’, delivered at the 2018 Schoolwear Show, set the tone for a discussion within the whole Schoolwear industry about the scale and impact that clothing manufacturing has on the environment. Inspired by what we learnt at the show we decided to take some concrete action.

organisations and individuals such as ourselves to take some concrete action. One initiative that we at Stevensons are championing is to promote the freecycling and the re-sale of preloved school uniform and sportswear at www.oldschooluniform.co.uk. This is a website created in 2018 by parents, for both parents and schools across the UK to use for free. Andrea Grant, one of its co-founders, is enthusiastic about it’s potential: ‘Not only does making use of unused and

At Stevensons, the topics raised were a clear motivator to both myself and my brother, Joint MD, John Stevenson, to kick-start a number of initiatives to promote sustainability, both within the company itself, but also countrywide. Wear it, don’t bury it With central government dragging its feet to put forward any meaningful initiatives to reduce the flow of over 300,000 tonnes of clothing currently being sent for landfill each year in the UK, it has fallen to businesses,

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secondhand clothing have a fantastic impact on your pocket, it also strengthens the community and plays an essential role in sustaining our precious environment and protecting our natural resources. A win-win situation for everyone!’ As well as providing the website with financial support, we are putting our marketing muscle behind its promotion by including flyers in all our online deliveries, as well as endorsing the Old School Uniform website in our 16 high street retail stores across the UK. Our marketing team are also creating standalone email campaigns to our 500-plus school partners, as well as our thousands of current online customers. We will be launching an additional campaign this autumn to our national schools database to raise awareness of the website and the opportunity it offers to improve reuse and reduce landfill. Rebooting Africa, to reduce death and disease Thousands of children in the United Kingdom discard their football and other sports boots at the end of each playing season. Millions of children across Africa have no shoes for school, life and playing games. Disease, infections and snakebites kill

thousands and injure and incapacitate many others every year. Many others struggle physically and needlessly because of illness caused from infections of the foot. So, a second initiative, now also being supported by us is www.boots2africa. co.uk, a charity created by Iain Finch who says: ‘Our aim and mission is to recycle and ship one million items of pre-loved and written off boots and trainers to our carefully chosen benefactors in Africa.’ To help the charity reach their ambitious collection target, we are visiting schools with collection bins as part of our popup shop event service. The donation bins will also be touring our stores in England and Scotland to encourage further localised donations during the autumn. To make sure the charity has improved standout in a crowded marketplace, we have also created new brand logos for it to use on its website and promotional merchandise. Recycling is 100% in the bag As the UK’s largest independent schoolwear retailer, we have also made the conscious decision to overhaul the hundreds of thousands of carrier and online mailing bags that we use each year. John Stevenson led the internal drive to improve recyclability: ‘Over the next six months we have committed to replace all of our carrier bags and mailbags – which are currently ‘bagfor-life’ quality – with alternatives

made of 100% recycled plastic, which itself is 100% recyclable.’

project is set to grow further in the next couple of years.

Where we are forced to charge customers for carrier bags – in our Scottish stores – we are determined that all money received as a result will go back into the fight to reduce plastic bag use and the environmental damage that the thinner single use bags can cause. The latter are still used by many retailers.

Sponsoring industry sustainability The team here at Stevensons is trying to do our bit in this key area and we hope our efforts will inspire other suppliers and retailers to initiate their own sustainability projects. With this in mind we have stepped in as the initial sponsors of the Schoolwear Association ‘Sustainability’ award in October 2019 in the hope that it encourages others to make their own improvements.

Where possible we partner with an existing environmentally focussed charity. A recent example of this was our sponsorship of a ‘Marine Conservation Society’ Beachwatch Event on Cramond beach, just north of one of our Group’s Aitken & Niven Edinburgh stores. Amazingly the 65 volunteers at the three-hour event – which included Stevensons’ head of retail and the local store manager – cleared 201 kilos of litter from just one section of the beach. That included picking up 1134 wet wipes from just a 100m section of the beach! Creating schoolwear from recycled bottles! Another initiative we are working with is the sale of products made from recycled materials. Currently over 1.2 million plastic bottles have been remade into items of schoolwear sold by the company. With future commitments already in-place to move to the use of recycled materials in sportswear and school ties, this

As previous double SA award winners, we feel this new award best reflects our own commitment that schoolwear has its part to play in global sustainability. The award recognises those specialist schoolwear businesses – whether manufacturer, supplier, retailer, agent or decorator – that have shown in their actions a real, tangible commitment to reducing their impact on the environment. This could take the form of waste reduction, or using eco-friendly materials. Also, switching energy supply away from fossil fuels or reducing transportation costs. This opportunity to use our influence as the UK’s largest independent schoolwear retailer to raise the profile of sustainability in the entire sector was something we couldn’t pass up.

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A ‘Dragon education’ – new flexibility for the modern family Dr Crispin Hyde-Dunn, Headmaster of the Dragon School, Oxford In March 2019, in response to the findings of a recent wide-ranging survey of parents, staff and pupils, we were delighted to announce a number of exciting enhancements to our educational offering. Firstly, we have expanded our boarding provision, for girls and boys aged 8-13 years, by the introduction of Flexible Boarding from September 2019. This is in addition to our current highly popular Full Boarding (7 nights a week) and Day Boarding arrangements (the same fixed weeknights every week) and enables more of our Day children to experience this important part of Dragon life. To complement this expansion in boarding, we are also launching a bespoke Saturday morning enrichment curriculum, called DragonQUEST, from September 2020. This optional enrichment curriculum will enable every child in school on Saturday mornings to choose from a wide variety of exciting, stimulating and novel opportunities to discover new skills, set apart from the academic rigour of weekday lessons. Evolutionary change and innovation at the Dragon, of course, is nothing new. From the days of Charles ‘Skipper’ Lynam, Headmaster from 1886 to 1920, our school has continued to

anticipate and respond to the needs of the parents and children we serve. The introduction of DragonQUEST and our flexible boarding opportunities is in direct response to the evolving and diverse needs of modern families, both nationally and internationally. Consequently, it is no surprise that our recent announcement was very well received by our Dragon community. There has also been great excitement and anticipation amongst the pupils, who are currently contributing their ideas and aspirations for the 2020 DragonQUEST enrichment curriculum. We will be offering wide variety of new experiences to the children ranging from practical bushcraft, bicycle maintenance and first aid, to legal studies, archaeology and electronics. A selection of reflective, creative and wellbeingfocused options will also be available, for example yoga, poetry and crafts. These options will combine to ensure a vibrant and exciting experience for those children in school at weekends, giving them the opportunity to discover new talents, develop new skills and embrace new challenges. We will also be involving a range of inspiring invited speakers and making full use of our school facilities. Furthermore, DragonQUEST will give

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us some outstanding opportunities to explore the culture, technology, museums, outdoor space and architecture on our doorstep, thanks to our enviable position at the heart of the city of Oxford. It is a great privilege to lead a school community which includes more than 800 young Dragons across our Pre-Prep and Prep school, including more than 200 Full Boarders and almost 50 Day Boarders. We are proud that Boarding is at the heart of the Dragon and that our thriving community represents one of the largest co-educational populations of prep school Full Boarders in the UK. Our size enables us to offer great flexibility within our curriculum, as well as bespoke ‘setting’ arrangements to provide genuine academic stretch as well as nurturing support. We are extremely fortunate to be able to attract highly dedicated and excellent teachers to the Dragon, whose skills underpin our inspiring educational provision. Our commitment to academic excellence remains paramount in the design and delivery of our curriculum and naturally we have been very careful to ensure that introduction of DragonQUEST on Saturday mornings will not

compromise academic teaching time. Similarly, our commitment to sporting excellence is demonstrated by the continuation of our full range of weekday and Saturday fixtures, as well as the inclusion of specialist sports skills training opportunities in DragonQUEST. In the months since our announcement was made, we have been delighted to see that our day and boarding models, as well as our new DragonQUEST enrichment curriculum, have attracted many families. Whilst our flagship Full Boarding model continues to appeal strongly to children preparing for Full Boarding at senior school, including overseas and ex-patriate families, we have also experienced keen interest from additional families looking to explore boarding in a more flexible manner. We have noted a particular appetite for flexible arrangements amongst local families with very busy schedules, for example where children are involved in multiple sports fixtures, music or drama rehearsals, or when parents have travel commitments with work. For those children travelling daily from some distance, the reduction in the time spent commuting by undertaking some flexible boarding can also assist with ensuring homework or revision is completed, as well as allowing more leisure time to be spent with friends. Of course, it is well recognised that boarding for any period of time at prep school age, encourages a sense of independence and personal responsibility, as well as developing organisational and social skills. However, conversations with any of our boarders will also highlight friendships, social events and special boarders’ activities, such as our house suppers and end of term ‘sing-song’ as particularly happy memories. I am always delighted to welcome parents and prospective parents to open mornings, which allow us to demonstrate all that is on offer. However, it is apparent on these occasions that it is really our pupils

who are our greatest ambassadors, receiving many compliments on their tremendous enthusiasm and impeccable manners when providing guided tours.

understanding that only children who are happy will achieve to the best of their potential, therefore wellbeing and resilience are at the forefront of our pastoral provision.

It is often said here that ‘Once a Dragon, always a Dragon’ and the achievements of our Old Dragon (OD) community continue to reinforce our international reputation as an environment where imagination and originality can flourish. We encourage every child to develop their intellectual, emotional, philosophical and philanthropic skills, and we live and work by our Dragon values of kindness, courage and respect. We continue to strive for every child to find their talents and to achieve their potential and true to our founding values, we also seek to ensure that every Dragon develops a sense of service to others and a true appreciation that every individual can make an important contribution to the world. At the heart of our educational philosophy is our

We are very excited about our innovations in boarding and in our Saturday enrichment curriculum and we are proud to offer such as wide range of flexibility and choice for parents seeking a first class education for their sons and daughters. Whether our young Dragons are Day children, Full Boarders, Day Boarders, or Flexible Boarders, we are committed to ensuring they receive the inspirational and imaginative education originally envisioned by ‘Skipper’ Lynam. Indeed, despite all the changes that have taken place in the world over the past century, and all the innovative ways in which the Dragon has adapted to these changes, our motto ‘Arduus ad Solem’, meaning ‘Strive for the Sun’, remains just as relevant and inspiring as ever.

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A new Chair Mark Taylor, both Bursar at King’s School, Canterbury, and the incoming Chair of AGBIS, shares his vision for the future I was delighted to be elected the new Chair of the Association of Governing Bodies of Independent Schools (AGBIS) in March of this year. AGBIS has over 760 schools in membership and is one of the seven association members of the Independent Schools Council (ISC) along with, HMC, ISA, GSA, SoH, ISBA and IAPS. There is no doubt that we live in some pretty extraordinary times at the moment and with both the political challenges for independent schools and the fiscal threats (Teachers’ Pension cost increases, VAT on fees, potential loss of business rate relief), there has never been a time when good and strong governance has been so critically needed. We have a great and hugely experienced team in place and I would urge you to make maximum use of them for all your governance training and advice. The vision of AGBIS is to be the voice of authority on governance in independent schools. Governors are responsible for the strategic direction and maintenance of standards within the school and for legal and regulatory compliance including risk management. In much of what they do, relationships within the governing body and with staff, parents and others associated with the school, are crucial to good governance. My day job is as the bursar and clerk to the governors at the King’s School, Canterbury and as a clerk the support that AGBIS has given me has been hugely important. I have been lucky enough to have worked in four schools

developed and launched in 2017 – the average number of registrations each year is now around 450 with 250 learners completing courses.

(one state and three independent) and as a bursar and clerk have found the AGBIS guidance essential. I think the job of clerk to the governors is extremely important; there is ample evidence to show that some of the best performing schools are those in which the clerk can strike just the right balance with both governors and the head. All of the AGBIS home team are extremely experienced. They have the benefit of reviewing all ISI inspection reports, as well as interacting with hundreds of schools every year through their extensive programme of support, training, seminars, reviews and consultancy work. They are therefore able to advise with huge authority on best practice in governance. AGBIS currently offers a range of types of training and support, including: • On-site training to individual governing bodies – this bespoke service has proved popular and in the last few years around 60 member schools per year have benefited from this service. • eLearning – the original ‘eLearning Course for New Governors’ was produced in 2011 and updated in 2016. A second eLearning course (‘Safeguarding for Governors’) was

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• Regional Events – formerly called Regional Meetings, originally schools were invited to run these themselves. Since then they have been relaunched as evening ‘Regional Events’ with AGBIS staff undertaking the organisation and member schools simply hosting the events. There are now three or four each year, attracting between 30 and 50 governors to each event. • Seminars – the number of seminars has grown significantly since 2015, the aim being to keep governors informed of issues relating to all aspects of governance. Last year alone seminars were attended by 1056 governors. • Annual Conference and AGM held in Central London for representatives of member schools. • Reviews of governance for schools, usually over two days. • Bespoke consultancy projects and facilitation of strategy days. • ‘Advice line’ service on all aspects of governing schools via telephone, email and the website. • ‘Guidelines for governors’, a manual of good practice updated and reissued in 2019, available free in a PDF version to member schools from the website. • Termly e-newsletters to keep governors informed on current

topics of interest or concern; e-alerts to keep governors updated on particularly important and/or urgent issues. • A range of helpful model documents, templates and written guidance for governors. Our Chief Executive, Richard Harman, introduces the AGBIS home team below. We are very lucky to have such an excellent and proactive CEO; he leads an exceptional home team and, having been a headmaster for 16 years and a former Chair of HMC and BSA, he brings a hugely experienced perspective to AGBIS. We are also fortunate to have such an experienced board of deeply engaged AGBIS directors. They are all governors from a broad range of independent schools and between them they bring to the table a wide-ranging and very relevant skillset. I am very much looking forward to working with them all in the future and in particular in September, when we review and set the next stage of the AGBIS strategy. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with us – AGBIS remains the go-to organisation for really experienced advice in good governance. Richard Harman introduces below the key personnel that run AGBIS on a day-to-day basis: The Chief Executive, Richard Harman, was educated at The King’s School, Worcester, followed by Trinity College, Cambridge, where he read English. Having spent two years working for an academic publisher, he decided his real vocation was in teaching. After five years at Marlborough College teaching English and drama, during which time he also completed his PGCE at Exeter University, he spent 12 years at Eastbourne College. Progressing from Head of English to Housemaster of a sixth form girls’ house to member of the Senior Management Team, he then became Headmaster of Aldenham in September 2000 and thence to Uppingham in 2006. During his tenure, Richard was Chairman

of both BSA (2011-12) and of HMC (2014-15). After a decade leading Uppingham and 32 years overall in teaching, he embarked on a third career as Chief Executive of AGBIS. AGBIS is delighted to announce that its new Director of Training will be Cheryl Connelly. Cheryl will succeed Andy Robinson in this role as from 1st September 2019. For the past three years, Cheryl has been Business Manager and Clerk to the Governors at a co-educational preparatory school in Surrey, having held a similar position in the maintained sector for six years before that. She has also served for 16 years as a school governor, including as Chair of Governors and Chair of Finance and Resources. In her earlier career with the Audit Commission, she spent ten years assisting public bodies to deliver improved services and better value for money for local residents. As a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, and with a proven track record in planning and delivering training, Cheryl’s passion is to develop people to achieve organisational success. We look forward to welcoming Cheryl to the AGBIS team in September. It is also very good news that Andy Robinson, who has contributed so much to AGBIS’s success over the past four years, will be remaining with us in a new part-time capacity as Regional Officer.

The other AGBIS staff supporting our members from the office in Welwyn are: Carol Carty (Accounts and Communications Manager); Katie Hopkinson (Events and Marketing Manager) and Ann Bell (PA and Administrative Support). We would love to hear from you, so please do get in touch with us to discuss your requirements; our contact details are as follows: • Chief Executive – Richard Harman - ceo@agbis.org.uk • Director of Training – Cheryl Connelly - training@agbis.org.uk • Regional Officer – Andy Robinson – RO1@agbis.org.uk • Director of Operations – Rachel Cooke - ops@agbis.org.uk • Events and Marketing Manager – Katie Hopkinson events@agbis.org.uk • Accounts & Communications Manager – Carol Carty comms@agbis.org.uk • PA and Office Support – Ann Bell – office@agbis.org.uk • Telephone (Office) 01438 840730

Rachel Cooke, Director of Operations, joined AGBIS in 2018 from United Learning, where for the previous three years she was Senior Project Lead, Strategy and Performance. Before that, she had worked variously in the NHS, for the Association of Colleges, in programme and project management at the Learning and Skills Improvement Service and at the Institute for Learning. A graduate of the University of Hull, where she read Philosophy, Rachel has also taught English in Mexico and is currently a governor at a preparatory school in Hertfordshire.

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The case for geography Paul Baker, who has taught geography in both secondary and prep schools for 38 years, reflects on helping future generations deal with environmental change In 1993 the Report of ‘The National Commission on Education’ stated the following: ‘Good Geography Teaching will foster a students’ spirit of inquiry about the world around them. It will encourage them to think for themselves, to be critical and to be self-critical. It is people who make the world what it is and every young person has the opportunity to change it. Education is about empowerment as well as transmission of knowledge.’ Since 1993, prep school geography has developed a curriculum that is centred about the final goal for many: ‘an entrance exam to their senior school’. This has not, in my opinion, fully achieved the outcomes suggested in 1993. The 21st century however requires a rethink as the empowerment of children’s rights and the beginning of children having a stronger voice about the environment, pollution and climate change has emerged. You only have to look at the demonstrations and marches of the past year to realise the young are concerned about the future of the globe. With ISEB carrying out a review of Common Entrance and senior schools, more and more, taking children through a wide variety of different ways for entry, it is time to look at teachers providing a prep school curriculum that is more creative by using the fabulous resources that are

being produced by publishers and through the Geographical Association and the Royal Geographical Society. A creative rethink might allow future generations to have the opportunity to influence the protection of the world they live in. There needs to be a much more creative approach to the geography curriculum if pupils are to be empowered, with the knowledge they gain, to contribute to protecting the environment. Inspiration is needed for the geography curriculum to become a tool for environmental knowledge that will provide the young a chance to understand how they should live, work and play in a more sustainable way. Teachers should be teaching relevant and responsible geography and this should be taught in a way to foster pupil’s creativity, knowledge, understanding and skills, to allow them to be environmentally responsible citizens in the 21st century. Creativity engages pupils to lay the foundation of a deep and lasting interest in the subject. One way of doing this is to look at the Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 curriculum in terms of key ideas such as ‘place, space, communication and environment’. There needs to be a focus on concepts that are central to geography to allow the teacher to explore links and connections in

different spheres. These could be, for example, historical, musical and artistic. Skills are very important to help the pupils learning and cross curriculum work is vital in providing skills to open the minds of children to the importance of the world we live in. It is vital that pupils look at their future as responsible citizens. To do this the young will need a geography curriculum that links with other subjects to provide them with the knowledge and skills to understand what is required. Learning outdoors will be vital to introduce environments and through fieldwork they can be given a great introduction to the environment with free exploration, guided exploration and imaginative play through Key Stage 1 and lower Key Stage 2. Place mapping activities are one skill in the field at Key Stage 1 that can help children both create and understand environments. There is a saying at the Geographical Association, ‘without geography you are nowhere’. Location (knowing where you are) is a vital skill for young children in placing themselves and their geographical studies. Teachers should always be asking questions such as ‘where in the world’, ‘where do you live’, ‘why is this place special’, ‘how can we protect it for the future’. Mental maps, local maps, country maps and world maps should be creatively used in

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Key Stage 1 classes. The innovative teacher allows the pupils to learn environmental skills and explore locally, nationally and globally to help their sense of place and why they are special. Landscapes can also be taught through other subjects at Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. Paintings, models, maps, journeys and cooking have – and are – being used by teachers in some schools to enhance children’s geographical learning. One of the best lessons I have seen over the past year was a lesson where a cake of many coloured layers was used to explain Sedimentary Rocks to a class of six year olds. From Year 1 to Year 8 ‘critical thinking’ should be thought of as a twin companion to creativity. Creative thinking will generate the new ideas, but we need critical thinking too to judge the creativity. Visionary thinking is important to ensure creativity has a purpose. There are three strands to this in geography that are important. Firstly, it allows pupils to become better at thinking through what is a good question to ask, and then reflecting on the learning. Secondly, it gives pupils the ability to distinguish facts from opinions. This makes the pupil look for solutions to problems, so helping a geographical understanding and helps them produce informed conclusions. Lastly, teachers should encourage pupils to become more open in their thinking so they become learners who can reach their own conclusions based on geographical evidence. The natural starting point for providing pupils with creativity is to teach them to become better at ‘thinking’, to support their current geographical learning. This creativity and critical thinking has been observed by me in lessons, over the last 12 months, about the ‘oceans’, ‘deforestation’, ‘plastic pollution’ and ‘sustainable urban transport’. Critical learning provides very important support to a ‘creative curriculum’ and I recommend teachers look at the Geographical Association’s

‘Global Learning Programme’, which has been developed and supports critical learning. Progression from Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 4 is important but too often one sees the same geographical topic being taught at different key stages in ways that has allowed boredom and lack of knowledge, skills and understanding to come to the fore. All teachers of geography need to reflect on what they mean by ‘geography’ and need to challenge and motivate pupils by not using innovation to build progression through their teaching and not just teaching similar material at different Key Stages. These topics need to take into account the future world that the pupils they teach will live. Curriculum changes at a national level over the years have attempted to develop a more coherent curriculum in both planning and continuity in educating the 5 to 18, but this has not necessarily been seen in prep school geography. In some cases it probably has meant an increasing number of facts being acquired rather than skills and understanding. Progression must be seen in terms of geographical understanding and development of skills. As I have suggested earlier, geography can adopt a number of other subjects, but ‘the heart’ of this learning should be geography. Literacy and numeracy can be developed through geography. Maths, science, history, ICT and art can all be used as a link to geography in terms of: ‘Space, scale and place. Geography can be seen as the “heart” of all subjects. It gives a real context to literacy and stimulates prose and poetry, made all the better through observations of a real landscape. The data gathered about the world in geography can be presented, analysed and presented in different ways so creating the links with numeracy.’ Geography provides science with a real world setting and fieldwork investigations can link these subjects together. Geography helps explain change over time and reasons for change so adding vital

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aspects to historical explanations. Geography and ICT go hand in hand with the development of GIS through the use of Digimap and online resources. Resource websites and communications are also vital teaching links for geography and ICT. Art (including photography) and geography help children look more closely at the world around us, photograph and draw it and appreciate it, which are all vital for an understanding of both landscapes, people and cultures. Teachers therefore should be creative in their curriculum planning and it is my belief that geography can and should be at the heart of this planning. Innovation linked to the cross-curriculum planning will help the collaboration of different subject teachers to provide a more joined up education prior to them entering their senior schools. Some examples of Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 teaching geography creatively has been observed in schools. Geography and maths departments in a number of schools have collaborated over developing numeracy through geography. Numeracy communicates geographical information through numerical and qualitative skills, not only does this create extra time but also sharing workloads when it comes to geography fieldwork. Shared expertise certainly has been an example of innovative thinking in the schools where this happens. It allows teachers to teach pupils mathematical techniques, which allows pupils to specify the problems that they find in planning their work and helps them with the different approaches and skills needed when presenting and analysing their findings. There are a plethora of resources on how to integrate GIS into both teaching and pupils learning, but once again there needs to be creative links between the ICT experts and the geography teachers. Technology should not be the star but a tool for learning. By the time pupils reach GCSE, GIS will have needed to become a real benefit as a resource. This will

help pupilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s learning. The earlier they meet simple Geographic Information System Mapping (GIS) in prep schools the better, but once again this needs to be planned in an original way so skills using Digimap for example can be developed so they can have a platform for senior schools to take this forward towards GCSE and post16 curriculums. Geography asks and answers questions. Teachers of geography need to think creatively to allow a relevant and responsible geography curriculum for the 21st century in prep schools, and so provide pupils to move on to their secondary schools with both enhanced skills and understanding that will allow all to be prepared for life on an every changing planet.

Curiosity fostering pupilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s creativity, knowledge, understanding and skills is important as it will help pupils develop the qualities of fairness, sensitivity and kindness to each other and to the environment that will allow them all to flourish. Accelerating climate change, rapid economic growth, the unsustainable exploitation of resources, the dramatic decline in wildlife, the collapse of biodiversity, the consequences of Brexit, the plastic pollution problem and ever increasing problems within our oceans, all require the children taught in schools in the future, to be empowered to be creative, confident and have values as citizens which will help protect their planet. Controversial issues should therefore not be avoided in teaching but

by being taught in a creative and sympathetically, this will allow a spirit of hope rather than worry. It is people who make the world what it is and every young person should be given the opportunity to protect it. Paul Baker FRGS, Chartered Geographer, taught geography in both secondary and prep schools for 38 years. He has served on the Council of the Royal Geographical Society and was Chair and Administrator of the Independent Schools ISWG/ISSIG for over 20 years. In retirement he is an Initial Assessor for the Chartered Geographer (Teacher) applications and a Consultant Geography PGCE Tutor and MA Supervisor for the University of Buckingham.

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Flying the eco flag Ben Evans, Headmaster at Edge Grove School, Hertfordshire, shares the news of his school becoming an ‘official’ local community recycling centre and discusses the importance of being an eco-friendly school Being an eco-friendly school is something that Edge Grove Prep School has always been very passionate about and has demonstrated a high level of commitment to over the years. But even though the school has always recycled plastic, metal, cardboard and paper locally through the Hertsmere waste services route, it wanted to do more than just ‘its own little bit’ for the environment. Earlier in 2019 the recycling of crisp packets became very topical, with the Walkers initiative

taking the country by storm, as a result the school soon became aware that this was something it could help with too and perhaps make a real difference to the local community in the process. The school’s staff and pupils set to work and started looking into the possibility of recycling ‘harder to recycle’ waste items, such as crisp packets, toothbrushes, dental product packaging, latex gloves and bread bags. It soon became apparent

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that there was a great opportunity to give something back locally and so the school initially signed up for the recycling of single use plastics including crisp packets and latex gloves, which it collected in collaboration with Hollroyd Howe, its onsite school catering provider. Expanding waste streams Gradually the school was able to expand its waste streams, accepting a greater variety of waste products from its pupils and their families, but

the initiative did not stop there. In June 2019 the school was awarded the status of official local recycling centre for Radlett and surrounding areas. All of the hard work had paid off and this was a great achievement for the school. Today, the school can accept hard to recycle waste products not just from its own pupils and their friends and families, but also from general members of the public and those in the wider community. Of course the very nature of recycling continues to evolve and Edge Grove is by no means resting on its laurels, in fact it is also currently working towards obtaining its Green Flag status with the Eco Schools Initiative. The initiative has ten topics to work on including biodiversity, waste, transport, water, energy and healthy living. The eco committee team at the school have come up with a number of exciting plans including fair trade activities, building recycling bins from recycled materials, selling fruit and vegetables at break times, planting wild flowers, as well as wildlife and plant surveys. More recently, the school coordinated the recycling at a local festival. Getting involved in local events like this also raises awareness of the recycling centre at the school, encouraging more people to visit with their waste. A way of life Recycling as a concept is not just something ‘nice to do’, it’s no longer either a fashionable trend or lighthearted talking point for a school assembly; it’s much more impactful than that. The truth is, recycling has actually become a way of life for everyone and highlighting the importance or necessity of it in our daily lives has to start very early on in schools with education of children. Getting involved actively as a school created a more hands-in experience for pupils too. Schools need to start treating global and local responsibility as a core aspect of their guiding principles because it shapes and guides the way we think and act not

just as a school community but also in society and in the future. Looking at your immediate environment and considering the very real impact we all have on the world, not just locally but on the planet too helps to make sense of why getting involved is vital. Recycling is, of course, only one part of a much bigger picture but it is an important part and something that affects us all. As teachers and parents, the key is leading by example and modelling the correct behaviour and actions for our children to follow and learn from. The school has also registered with the Plastic Free Schools initiative organised by Surfers Against Sewage to not only achieve the plastic free school status but also help to educate its pupils about the importance of keeping our seas and beaches clean.

awareness, recycling initiatives like these can help to foster a more cohesive and tight-knit school community. Anything that brings people together with mutual environmental benefit should be embraced. It helps to create a more robust home-school partnership too whilst providing endless benefits for the pupils. Recycling is a great excuse to work collaboratively with your neighbourhood area too and to inject some much-needed community spirit as we work together for the same cause. The children, parents and staff at the school are very supportive of the strides we are making for the environment and this makes a big difference especially when everyone is ‘flying the eco flag’ for the local area. It is also very rewarding and humbling at the same time to be making a real difference to the wider community.

Fostering a tight-knit school community Beyond the obvious educational value of local and global environmental

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Let’s get growing Alana Cama, RHS Schools and Groups Programme Manager at the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), heads up the ‘RHS Campaign for School Gardening’, which calls for all children to be given the chance to get closer to nature and understand the power of plants Schools don’t always view gardening as an activity for academic high-flyers but in our experience – after 12 years of running the RHS Campaign for School Gardening – all young people can benefit from being given the opportunity to garden. With children becoming increasingly disconnected from the natural world, there’s never been a better time to let them get outside, get dirty and experience the wellbeing boost of getting active in green space. Away from the pressures of the classroom, they can witness first-hand where food comes from, learn about environmental and sustainability issues and develop valuable life skills such as teamwork and responsibility.

A school garden also serves as a valuable tool for enriching the curriculum and can help bring almost every subject alive – from learning about pollination in science and mapping out beds in maths to creating art from leaves and flowers found in the garden. Almost 40,000 school and youth groups have already joined the campaign – it’s free to sign-up and schools will receive a welcome pack of goodies to get them going. They can then take part in lots of exciting RHS projects and initiatives such as the Big Soup Share, growing a Monster Pumpkin and the RHS School Gardeners of the Year competition.

Get gardening this autumn Autumn is a busy season in the gardening calendar – if your school is keen to get gardening, it can be the perfect time to kick-start some new projects and tempt children outside. Making pots and planters, bug hotels and other features for the garden gives instant results, while digging, planting and sowing will reward children’s patience over the winter months and beyond. Here are five ideas to try: 1. Plant spring bulbs It may seem like a long way off but bulbs planted now will bring a welcome burst of colour come spring. Why not try planting crocus bulbs on a lawn in the shape of your school emblem or another design? Simply mark out the design on the ground and use a bulb planter or trowel to dig out the turf. Plant the bulb at a depth of around 10cm, replace the soil and then rope the area off so it doesn’t get trampled when the buds start to appear. For those with less space, colourful containers filled with layers of bulbs also work well. 2. Get creative with old plastic bottles Raise awareness of plastic waste by upcycling old plastic bottles into plant pots. Cut a 1L bottle in half, make some drainage holes in the bottom half and remove the lid from the top half. Fill

PREP SCHOOL Reflecting the best in the prep & junior school world

each half with a layer of small stones for drainage and fill with compost ready for planting seeds or seedlings. Pots can also be decorated or hung and used inside and out. 3. Go wild with a bug hotel Encourage wildlife into your school grounds by building a home for beneficial insects such as ladybirds, lacewings and bees to shelter in over winter. Old wooden pallets stacked together provide a multi-storey structure and can be filled with reclaimed odds and ends – think larger objects such as terracotta pots, pipes and roofing tiles filled with pine cones, bamboo canes, straw and bark. 4. Make a mini pond Whether it’s an old basin, washing up bowl or rubber trug, you can use anything that allows water to pool to make a mini pond and give a helping hand to declining pond wildlife. Just add some pebbles, pond plants and rainwater. You can sink your mini

pond into the ground or have it sitting on top, just make sure animals can get in and out with ease. Before long you’ll be sure to spot damselflies, frogs and dragonflies. 5. Try something tasty Fruit and vegetables don’t come in a packet. Teach children where food comes from by growing tasty treats in the garden so they begin to understand seasonal eating and the energy that goes into food production. They might even be more open to trying new things. Autumn in the ideal time to sow broad beans, garlic bulbs and onion sets suitable for over-wintering such as ‘Senshyu’, ‘Radar’ and ‘Troy’. Join the Big Soup Share For schools that already have a garden bursting with fresh produce, why not join the thousands of schools and groups taking part in the Big Soup Share from 7th-13th October. It’s a chance for pupils to celebrate the wonderful work they’ve been doing in

the garden by whipping up their crops into a delicious soup and sharing it with classmates or the local community. For many schools and groups, this is the perfect opportunity to promote healthy eating, raise some valuable funds for the garden or provide a welcome meal to someone in need. During last year’s Big Soup Share, pupils at St Gregory’s Catholic Science College, London, transformed their harvest haul into a hearty soup to serve at a homeless shelter, while Deer Park Primary School, Derbyshire, made use of their giant prize pumpkin and at Nancy Reuben Primary School, London, they made beetroot soup – an Eastern European favourite called borscht. Schools can apply online for a free event pack which includes tips on how to run your event, recipe cards, stickers, an event poster plus some soup-er seeds to sow for next year’s event. A host of digital resources will allow children to make bunting, chefs’ hats and signage to really bring their event to life. Head to schoolgardening.rhs.org.uk/ bigsoupshare to get involved.

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Are your class reps complying with GDPR? Clare Wright, Co-Founder of parent community app Classlist, reflects on the rise in parents using social media for class communication and whether that complies with GDPR When IAPS CEO Christopher King was quoted this summer saying that many prep schools now ask parents to sign social media contracts, he was highlighting a problem that has started and worsened for schools in the last 3 years. Schools are rightly concerned about reputational damage by parents using social media to communicate amongst themselves. Schools have seen parents airing complaints and fuelling rumours about schools and staff on social media — instead of approaching the school directly to discuss. Beyond these valid concerns, there are other reasons that schools should think carefully about tacitly supporting the use of social media by parents. What does GDPR mean for class communication? GDPR meant that some schools inadvertently drove their parents to use social media to communicate. An example would be if the school stopped the previous method of circulating parent contact details but didn’t offer a viable alternative for parent communication. Some parents set up social media groups because parents do need to be able to contact each other.

But have you considered how GDPR applies to parents sharing contact details between themselves? Many schools have discussed with their Parent Association the need to be GDPR-compliant. But have you considered the role of Class Rep as a data controller? The ICO definition of a data controller includes: ‘decided to collect or process the personal data, decided which individuals to collect personal data about, decided what the purpose or outcome of the processing was to be’. As such, a Class Rep acting on behalf of the parents of a class or school may be considered a data controller, with obligations under the GDPR. This can be the case even if no organisation ‘appointed’ them as Class Rep — they may have simply volunteered to do the role, and have no idea they are a data controller. On the other hand if the school or Parent Association appointed them as Class Rep they could be acting on behalf of that organisation if collecting data. Either way, how a Class Rep uses the data they have collected from parents is relevant to you and your parents. Let’s take the example of a Class Rep who decides to set up a social media group and adds people they know to the group. Parents are added using

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their phone number, and in doing so their number is shared with the whole group – without the explicit recorded consent GDPR would expect if parent details are going to be shared with other parents at their school. Aside from the obligations of GDPR, a rep sharing a parent’s details into a social media group can be problematic for some parents at a personal level. One school told me of a mother who did not wish for her ex-husband to have her phone number, but she was added to a group by a friend without being asked, sharing her number with 50 parents. And if parents do get carried away and make unpleasant comments in a social media group, the Class Rep can’t even remove the comments. Only the commenter themselves can do that. Excluding others The automatic sharing of people’s contact details with the group therefore means some parents simply can’t ever join a social media group. Aside from those with family circumstances that require their contact details stay private, there are jobs that require that too, e.g. the military, politicians, or a psychiatrist with local patients. Even teachers don’t necessarily want to share their number with other parents in their child’s class!

If not everyone can join a social media group, then parents using them for class-based communication is excluding to some in a school setting. The parents who need to keep themselves excluded often can’t identify to their rep why they can’t join. They may say to their Class Rep ‘I don’t do social media’, whilst meaning ‘I can’t’. The Reps may believe in good faith that a parent didn’t want to join, when in fact they couldn’t and would have loved to be included. Another way that social media groups can be excluding to other parents is that they may be based around parents who have time to drop off and chat at the school. Working parents who drop off quickly may be left out and not even know about the group, when they would actually love to connect with other parents. New joiners School staff can’t even point new parents as to how to join class social media groups to make them more inclusive. You can’t put in your new joiner info ‘find the social media group run by Sam’s mother’! So right away you have new joiners who will be excluded until they find the right person to ask to join. The impact of this can range from new families finding a new school unfriendly because they spend a few weeks not knowing how to join the group, to hurtful situations where a new child doesn’t hear about a birthday party because the ‘whole’ class was invited via the parent chat group, but their parent wasn’t a member. The proliferation of class social media groups also doesn’t enable Parent Associations to reach all the parents directly themselves to encourage community participation and volunteering at events, and to help build a positive and engaged parent community. As a result, the school’s own communications may be the only way the PA can get messages out to parents — and those messages may come at a time when staff are busy on more pressing matters.

Can Class Reps still compile spreadsheets? Class Reps often used to circulate spreadsheets of class contact details they had gathered with permission, but shouldn’t do that post-GDPR. Once sent out to 25 private computers, parents on the list have no way of removing their details. In addition a list can be forwarded without permission. “When there was a class contact spreadsheet I used to receive marketing from small businesses, and I knew they had got my details from a parent giving them the class contact list,” reports Caroline from an independent school in Oxford. The Deputy Head of a leading independent school told me, “I can think of at least 3 instances where spreadsheets of parent contact details were used in a way that would now constitute a data breach.” Take the initiative with social media Only the school knows who is in every class, and that gives you great power! You have an opportunity to make parent-to-parent communication work better for all parents at your school if you offer a GDPR-compliant wholeschool solution. This means…… • Ensure that anyone who is a data controller understands what this means • Find a solution that is inclusive • Offer an app where parents don’t have to share their details with others to join

sure the platform meet the needs of both. A buzzing parent community can do great things for your school and helps new families settle in fast. Class Reps are a wonderful resource for facilitating an engaged parent community. Your school can use Classlist to lead the way! Classlist is a GDPR-compliant app and website for parent-to-parent communication. It is used in prep schools across the country including Bute House, The Dragon, Junior King’s, Cranleigh, and Felsted Prep, St Albans High School for Girls, and Stephen Perse Foundation. Whether the PA is the data controller, or the school itself is, the school can invite all the parents to join Classlist by pasting in a list of parent emails. Parents can opt to join and decide which contact details to share. Classlist’s T&Cs state that it mustn’t be used to complain about the school or people connected with the school. Across thousands of schools, parents treat Classlist differently to social media. Completely free, with the costs covered by ads on Classlist. Or opt for an ad-free version for £999 a year. Launching Classlist to your parents takes only 30 minutes for a member of staff or Parent Association. www.classlist.com

• Easily direct parents as to how to join eg via ‘New Joiners Pack’ • Control who is on the system • Offer groups for every class and year • Have a built-in code of conduct • Ensure that trusted moderators can remove messages if necessary The Classlist app was built to meet all these criteria. We have worked with schools and parents to make

PREP SCHOOL Reflecting the best in the prep & junior school world

How do your parents share contact details post-GDPR? Classlist is an award-winning app offering a secure way for your parents to share details and communicate A controlled alternative to social media Encourages positive parent community Completely free "Classlist is a huge hit with the parents, and really helped with our GDPR concerns. Thank you for a wonderful product!" Jenny Hill, Bursar, Aldwickbury School

Find out more: www.classlist.com/schools

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Moving Stories Richard Cheetham MBE, Senior Fellow in Sports Coaching at the University of Winchester, takes an innovative approach to enhancing physical literacy among Key Stage 1 school children The development of physical literacy among children is an area of continued focus as it is currently regarded as a key element in establishing the foundation for a lifelong participation in sport and physical activity. It has also been highlighted that the inconsistency of effective delivery of these skills in early year’s education combined with a lack of free play and access to the outdoors among children reduces the likelihood these will be developed to their full potential. It was, therefore, essential that innovative ways of enhancing physical literacy are developed in order to reduce the risk of the emergence of new generation of children who are less physically active and less physically educated. The purpose of this study was to introduce an innovative delivery method linking both literacy and physical literacy in two infant schools in Hampshire

where selected children’s stories were taught through the use of movement. Author Rae Pica in her article ‘Learning in Leaps and Bounds’ stated: ‘word comprehension is immediate and long-lasting when children physically demonstrate action words…’. The project was called ‘Moving Stories’ and was developed at the University of Winchester with students on the sports coaching degree. The approach used selected children’s books from which the characters, their characteristics and the narrative of the story were brought to life through movement. For example, pirates would need to demonstrate good balance on deck when there was a storm at sea. This was then played out with a series of exercises such as moving laterally from one side of the room (or ship!) to the other as the ship rocked from the

imagined waves striking its hull. The sea monster in the story (an octopus) required the inclusion of an evasion game where agility was the focus in order to avoid the tentacles. Below is an example from one of the stories used and how it was reconstructed into a movement narrative. The initial pilot study in Guernsey highlighted the need for the chosen text to be not only age appropriate but one that the children could relate to (a story they chose or were already familiar with) and would lend itself to a moving narrative. Conclusion and significance The findings concluded that the teachers regarded the approach as one that not only enhanced movement skills and engagement among the children but also increased the awareness of

Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson Characters

Characteristics and use of the narrative Focus on movement skills

Witch

‘Down cried the witch and they flew to the ground’

As the witch takes off on the broom the ‘whoosh’ marks the acceleration and slowing to land is the deceleration. Encouraging the children to go from low (sat on an imaginary broom) to high (as they take off into the sky). These are some of the early movements required from leaving the blocks in a sprint start for example.

Frog

‘The frog jumped for joy’

Jumping for height and jumping for length as well as ensuring balancing on landing. In the practical we used some circular floor markers to represent Lily pads, which the children jumped from one to another.

Dog

‘…there bounded a dog with a hat in his jaws’

Double or single leg bounding (add something to represent the hat and held in their hands). Again the aim is to focus on athletic skills here, which are essential movement foundations

Witch and the ‘cast of characters’

‘She filled up her cauldron and said with Here we used a bucket as the imaginary cauldron and the children a grin, “Find something everyone, throw threw beanbags into it from a set distance in order to work on something in!”’ throwing and targets. They could shout out whatever ingredient the beanbag represented when making the potion.

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their importance as an educational tool. Moving Stories offered potential new opportunities to link subjects and topics on the curriculum with physical education. There was strong evidence to suggest that Moving Stories facilitated kinaesthetic learning, embedded learning and also achieved the cross-curricular links that it set out to establish. There was also evidence to suggest it would be a particularly suitable approach for children with autism spectrum disorders that warrants further exploration. The teachers’ comments were very encouraging and related to development of confidence: ‘That idea of confidence building and having more confidence in their body awareness, in an unthreatening way that is really enjoyable.’ There is a real sense of creativity as children were encouraged to feel able to contribute their own perception of the characters and how they would act. ‘They wanted to do it and there was an element of it which I really liked, which was about taking their own lines of enquiry and they really enjoyed that part of it of.’ For example the Pirate Captain had a parrot and in our approach we looked at landing and balancing on the lines on the floor to represent branches but the children were insistent on ‘well parrots copy don’t they so we are going to copy you’. What ensued was a series of mirroring exercises in ‘Simon Says’ style.

The session proved to be inclusive and it was evident that there was no fear of the children not joining in and expressing themselves fully in the movements and actions required. One teacher commented: ‘In that session everybody was joining in. Nobody was worried about joining in. They were giving it a really good go. It was definitely accessible to all of them and all (were) engaged.’ Final comment It is essential that any intervention introduced into schools is perceived by the teachers to be purposeful and that it clearly links into and achieves curriculum targets. The teachers also need to relate to the intervention – understand the benefits it could offer and want to actively engage with it if it is to be successfully implemented. It was found that the sample group were very much on board with how the sessions ran and spoke freely of how they might implement it themselves. ‘You could link with you know, I particularly think like processes, with things like science I can really imagine that working brilliantly… maths I can really imagine it.’ ‘I think it’s something that teachers could easily do as well… whether they were early on in their career or been teaching a long time.’

and implement it longer term, it is imperative that they consider it appropriate in terms of meeting PE curriculum targets for Key Stage 1 school children and developing associated FMS. It is also considered vital that teachers understand or identify with the importance of developing FMS in general as a concept and see it as much a priority as other elements of the curriculum if any intervention is going to be truly effective. Previous research has found that teachers may benefit from specialist training to ensure children meet the recommended fundamental movement skills (FMS) benchmarks for their age. From the sample group there were strong examples of identification with the importance and development of FMS in principle: In terms of Moving Stories being an appropriate intervention, in its current format there was some evidence to suggest that it is more appropriate for Year 1 and younger children (aged six and below) and that it would need to be adjusted for Year 2 children who are moving onto more complex PE tasks in line with PE curriculum guidelines. Should you require a more detailed session outline and sample please contact richard.cheetham@winchester.ac.uk

If teachers are going to become ‘champions’ of Moving Stories

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Finding time for outdoor learning Peter Allen – a Field Studies Tutor and Head of Environmental Studies at the Cranedale Centre in the Yorkshire Wolds – reflects on his experiences running field courses with junior children and shares his advice for enabling learning outside of the classroom It has long been recognised that spending time outdoors is beneficial for our physical and mental wellbeing. With regards to a child’s development, I believe that educational experiences outside of the classroom are hugely beneficial. Not only do they enable concepts learnt in the classroom to be understood in a real-world context, but outdoor learning also helps inspire inquisitive minds, foster an engagement and appreciation for

nature, and develop non-academic, soft-skills that are relied upon in later life. I am by no means arguing that education should no longer be classroom based – classroom teaching offers a calm, organised environment in which key academic skills are taught and grasped – but I believe that outdoor learning can have a valuable role in supplementing the curriculum. I appreciate that there are barriers to outdoor learning, such as:

finding space for activities; finding time within a busy school schedule; assessing and overcoming risk; financial restraints; not excluding students with medical issues; and, dealing with unpredictable weather. So I hope to share some simple, cost-effective ideas that may help to overcome these barriers. Life skills From my perspective, a key aspect of outdoor learning is that it offers a space to help develop ‘life skills’ such as communication, managing risk or teamwork. Teamwork is a skill vital for adult life, but it is certainly something that it is not easily taught; children instead have to figure it out by working with other children to complete a given task or take ownership over a project. An activity that is a good example of this is ‘Big Feet’ in which five or six students stand on large wooden skis and have to coordinate their movement in order to move forward. The concept looks remarkably easy, but the reality is often otherwise. Without too much adult input, it is interesting to see how students, after a period of getting quite frustrated, then learn that every single individual needs to work as part of the team in the unison. This requires good communication amongst the group, and often someone to assume a leadership role, in order to achieve.

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Biology Further to the development of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;life skillsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, outdoor learning also allows for education experiences that help to cement learning. For example, concepts such as the adaptations of organisms, life cycles and metamorphosis, can be brought to life by pond dipping or hunting for minibeasts hunts. By digging an old washing up tub into the ground, a simple pond can be made, whilst leaving areas of grass uncut or leaving log piles, which will soon attract insects. By seeing species in their natural habitat, adaptations and life cycles are contextualised so that the ecological need to have a certain adaptation or life cycle is more apparent. In addition to the direct learning, experiences such as pond dipping are memorable. Therefore, the knowledge and understanding will hopefully be better retained. Additionally, by experiencing wildlife and natural habitats, children are engaged with nature. It is often humbling to witness the enthusiasm that children show towards the natural world; they are some of the most vocal advocates for the protection wildlife and habitats. Simple experiences with the natural world help to reinforce this and further instil that duty of care. For example, by creating space for nature, such as putting up bird boxes or creating a wildlife garden, complete with bug hotels and wildflowers, students can be inspired by how wildlife soon colonises and thrives in those spaces. This in turn highlights the importance of protecting habitats, but also helps develop further skills through the ownership and monitoring of those spaces, especially if the creation, maintenance and monitoring of those spaces is a student-led process. Geography and other subjects Geography is, of course, a subject that lends itself well to outdoor learning.

For example, setting up a weather station in the school grounds and asking students to take recordings over a period time can help deepen understandings of meteorology, whilst broader concepts such as river systems can be understood by investigating how variables such as width, depth, velocity, stone size and shape vary downstream. A good weather station can be bought for around ÂŁ100, whilst measuring a river requires very little specialist kit; a ruler and a tape measure for width, depth and stone size, a picture key can be used for stone shape, and velocity can be measured by timing how long a rubber duck takes to travel a set distance. Further to this, it must be recognised that children experience the world in both the lyrical and literal; they move between the real and fantasy when they explore place and space. Therefore, outdoor learning can move beyond a scientific understanding of geography or ecology, but incorporate art, literature and language.

Simple approaches to this could be to explore a space through making art work out of natural foraged objects, or experience a given space by running to the point that they think is the coldest, or the hottest, or perhaps the point that most reminds them of a film or book. Perhaps a good example of incorporating a multi-subject approach into outdoor learning are activities centred around the book Lost Words by Robert MacFarlane and Jackie Morris, a book that aims to reconnect children to nature through poetry and art. When applied to an education setting, students could be given a word relevant to the natural world or geography, and explore that word both literally and lyrically. For example, if students were studying bats, a word grid could enable them to explore bats in the classroom, whilst a day time walk could explore the hidden or unseen places that bats might occupy, or a walk at dusk would enable students to watch bats, silhouetted in the fading light, hunting on the wing.

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The end of era Micky Steele-Bodger, who has died aged 93, was one of the most powerful figures in the world of Rugby for more than 60 years and is the last in a line of larger than life characters who dominated the amateur era. His name said it all. He was made of steel and if he tackled you, you were well and truly bodgered. I had the privilege of serving on The Barbarian Committee with Micky and I am grateful to Micky’s son Guy, Registrar at Rugby School, for this summary of his father’s life with an emphasis on his time at his prep school and Rugby. – Paul Jackson Two clear recollections from his Rugby School days were watching from the roof of Tudor House the massive air raid, which destroyed much of Coventry in November 1940, and an ingenious punishment his Housemaster used. For a minor misdemeanour Micky was told at lunchtime that he must cycle to Grandborough, a village about eight miles away from Horton Crescent. There he must send a postcard to his Housemaster, Rev. Megson, which would in those days be delivered in the second post before tea the same day. © David Rogers/Getty Images

Micky retained very fond memories of The Old Hall in the 1930s with Mr Fee-Smith as Headmaster. He and his brother Alasdair were fortunate to be successive recipients of a bursary award that helped boys to go on to Midland public schools after leaving The Old Hall. The year when Alasdair got his award the place was for entry to Shrewsbury School, which favoured the Association version of football and in due course he would be awarded a Cambridge blue for this game. When Micky received the award the place was instead for entry to Rugby School – and the rest is now history. On such serendipity was the course of his life plotted.

career. By then he was studying in Edinburgh to qualify as a veterinary surgeon to follow his father into the family practice in Tamworth. The winter of 1947 was one of the harshest and coldest in living memory and having been selected to play for England at Twickenham he set off by train from Edinburgh on the Thursday because of the forecast of heavy snow.

Micky played in the XV for two years and was part of a Rosslyn Park sevens winning side in 1943. He was ‘Holder of the Bigside Bags’ – captain of cross-country – and captain of Fives. In 1944 he went up to Cambridge to study natural sciences at Gonville & Caius College, playing in the Varsity match twice in 1945 and 1946.

By Friday he had only reached Carlisle and he sent a telegram to the team party to warn them about his travel problems. Since wartime rationing was in force all he had with him for food was a tin of Ovaltine tablets and an orange. After several stops to shovel snow off the track which he took part in, the journey eventually took 30 hours and he arrived at the team hotel at 4am on the Saturday morning. He awoke to find that his teammates had left him sleeping, he set off after them to the restaurant they usually used in Richmond only to find it closed. So heading to the stadium he had to insist that he, rather than the replacement forward, should take the field. Press reports state that he played a full part in an England win 24-5.

He went on to play nine matches for England in 1947 and 1948, before an injury in 1949 cut short his playing

His rugby club was always the Barbarians. He played for them in 1945-48 including the first match

He duly did this and returned after his cycle ready for tea and a rest only to be told that since he had incorrectly addressed the post card to R. Megson Esq rather than Rev. Megson he should return the next afternoon and complete the punishment properly

PREP SCHOOL Reflecting the best in the prep & junior school world

between the club and a touring international team, Australia, where he scored the winning try in the only match the Australian tourists lost. On retirement from playing he was quickly recruited as a committee man for the Barbarians, going on to serve as President for 31 years, where his passion and deeply held views helped to preserve the club’s spirit of adventurous play and excitement into the professional era. It was great pleasure to raise an invitation XV each November, which played against Cambridge University as a final warm up match before the Varsity match; this much-loved match still continues 72 years later. Micky was also president of Tamworth RUFC for 70 years and succeeded in recruiting an extraordinary pantheon of guest speakers for their annual dinner. As well as serving on the Barbarians committee Micky became an England

selector in the 1950s and ‘60s, managing tours to New Zealand, Canada and Fiji during the 1960s and then the World XV invited him to help the RFU celebrate their centenary year in 1971. He was president of the RFU in 1973, internationally was chairman of the International Board, forerunner of World Rugby, in the 1980s and appointed CBE in 1990 for services to rugby football. Micky was a very proud Rugbeian and the Rugby School crest was always in prime position among very many school crests at the East India Club in St James’s Square, which became his London base in retirement. Having been a member for many years, on retirement from veterinary practice Micky took on the role of Chairman – normally a two or three year appointment, but he was re-elected again and again and in the end did the job for over ten years before being created Life President.

He served as President of the Rugbeian Society in the 1990s, also helping to raise significant sums of money for the School’s Rugby 2000 Appeal with series of parties at private houses around the country which were such fun that perhaps more generous cheques were signed than the donors had originally intended. Micky died peacefully at home on the 8th of May 2019, having managed to attend two home six nations matches this spring. One of the most touching tributes came from Justin Harrison, an Australian Barbarian, who tweeted: ‘He drank Guinness with his eyes closed, told stories like Ernest Hemingway, critiqued rugby like Moses, suffered no fools, looked you in the eyes when he spoke and found your soul when he handed you a Barbarian jersey.’ © Steve Barden/Getty Images

PREP SCHOOL Reflecting the best in the prep & junior school world

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Christingle is a-coming! Ian Morris, Chaplain at Bishop’s Stortford College and our muchloved regular contributor, gets us ready for Christmas! Like many schools, we often celebrate the start of advent by having a Christingle assembly or service. The opportunity to turn the lights low and transform darkness to light by the lighting of candles never fails to create a moment of wonder and the opportunity for reflection as we head into the most frenetic time of the year.

BIG by using a pumpkin for the orange (if you are going to do this, get your pumpkin soon after Halloween – for by the time of Advent there wasn’t a pumpkin to be had for love nor money last year!), a church candle instead of a birthday cake candle, bamboo skewers for cocktail sticks and mega large marshmallows instead of little sweets.

For this assembly, I had a selection of candles of all different colours, shapes and sizes and lit them as I went on with the PowerPoint slides. For a number of the images I searched using the instruction, ‘lit candles GIF’ – I know that most of you will know what GIF means but for those who may not have come across the term before, GIFs are animated images. Having an image of a live candle with its flickering flame does add to the presentation. The text you see on the slides was also animated, so I could make the point first and demonstrate by lighting the candles I’d brought along, before consolidating the point with the text. The slide just before Christingle was a GIF image, showing the candles burning down quickly. I used this image to talk about how a candle gives itself to give light to others, which naturally leads into the Christ light of Christingle.

Last year, I went even BIGGER by getting a friendly seamstress to turn a piece of orange fabric I had into an ‘orange’. I then selected a member of staff (and a parent in the pre-prep) to become the Christingle: a costume top hat became the candle (I glued battery lights on the very top of it to become the flame) and by making holes near the top of the hat, we inserted dowelling to act as the cocktail sticks. The dowelling was sharpened so that real fruit could thrust on each end! There are numerous ways of doing Christingle, and you need to decide whether you have the time for all the children to make their own prior to the assembly/service or whether you just want to demonstrate from the front what Christingle is all about. With regards to demonstrating from the front, it is advisable that the elements of your Christingle are big enough for folks to see from the back of your hall. Generally, I have gone

Andy Williams was right when he sang that Christmas is ‘the most wonderful time of the year’ and although it may seem a way off, planning now will ensure that the weeks of advent do not become hell on earth! And, with that, may I be the first to wish you all a very happy Christmas!

PREP SCHOOL Reflecting the best in the prep & junior school world

Learning in the mountains, by the rivers and under the stars Shirley Shayler, Headmistress of Millfield Prep School Growing up by the beautiful coast of Northern Ireland fostered my love of the great outdoors from an early age. My sister and I would get involved in as many adventures as possible – from swimming and sailing to canoeing and scuba diving. As I grew up, I retained my affinity with the outdoors, becoming an Auxiliary Coastguard during my gold Duke of Edinburgh Award, trekking in the Mourne Mountains and parachute jumping. I came to see that my experience of the outdoors was not merely a hobby but an amazing learning tool, making my decision to study biology at university a natural choice, knowing just how much nature could teach me.

Outdoor experiential learning is a huge focus for our exciting programme of lessons and co-curricular activities here at Millfield Prep School. Our rural location in the southwest is an outdoor lover’s paradise! The school campus is situated in a beautifully green 200 acres, surrounded by rolling Somerset countryside and the fresh West Country air. It really is the ideal environment to grow up in, foster a love of learning and create lifelong childhood memories. Our pupils learn by experiencing the environment and venturing into situations they might not normally encounter. We find that this way of learning encourages

Millfield Prep pupils to develop skills in self-awareness and confidence from a young age. I believe there is a strong link between gaining and applying practical skills in formative years and success in academic endeavours. Taking the classroom outside benefits our children’s education by varying the ways in which they gain vital abilities and fundamental life skills, which they transfer into their studies: teamwork, comprehension and effective communication need to happen in every lesson, whilst preparing for an exam takes application and mental stamina over a prolonged period of time. Like all our teachers here at Millfield Prep, the outdoor education team strive to build those skills with our pupils from day one and carry that forward when they move up to Millfield in Year 9. We have developed a specialist outdoor learning and adventure pathway, from when the youngest pupils join us in Pre-Prep to their last term of Prep in Year 8. Our children experience an extraordinary variety of new opportunities in which to

PREP SCHOOL Reflecting the best in the prep & junior school world

find their passion. Caving, climbing, clay shooting, paddleboarding, surfing, archery, canoeing, kayaking, sailing and many more activities are incorporated into the exciting programme, all of which are linked to the curriculum and classwork. What we find develops from these experiences are a child’s mindset, work ethic and ability to learn from others, plus a sense of purpose, curiosity and enthusiasm. We celebrate outdoor achievements with awards aptly named Valleys, Foothills, Treelines and Summits – depending on the level of commitment or expertise gained – which are presented at the end of each term. Bushcraft survival skills are taught to Year 8 pupils, who learn how to build fires, make shelters, use a knife safely and look after their natural environment. The children love our camp-outs that take place in the school’s woods, where they learn by sleeping outdoors under self-made shelters using just a tarpaulin and a rope, as well as preparing woodpigeon and other outdoor food. These activities challenge them to step outside of their comfort zones and experience new things that benefit them holistically.

department’s wildlife area, with a pond, orchard and hedge, as well as a greenhouse made from recycled plastic bottles, for future pupils to practice their gardening skills. Pupils enjoy observing ducks, frogs, voles and wild birds taking shelter in the garden area.

programme our pupils have shown more innovation within all their work. The activities have fostered critical thinking, independence and collaboration in groups to solve problems.

One of our pupils who has an interest in Bushcraft, the outdoors and entomology has thrived in teaching the other children new skills, which has built his confidence to a new level. Another pupil has discovered a passion for clay pigeon shooting, demonstrating that he has a keen shot, and has taken immense pride in being selected for the school team and achieving second place in a national competition – experiences that have developed his self-belief to no end.

Every week, a team of enthusiastic children volunteer to take part in conservation efforts at the local Shapwick Moor Nature Reserve, part of the scenic Avalon Marshes wetlands. The moor is a haven for wild birds and Millfield Prep pupils volunteer over 100 hours of time between them each year, undertaking a variety of tasks such as constructing bird hides, clearing trees and digging out scrapes to attract more wildlife to the area. The conservation project, working alongside the excellent team at the moor, has taught pupils valuable hands-on skills, as well as problem-solving, communication and an awareness of the environment. As a school, we recognise the duty we have to educate and foster interest in conserving our surroundings and the wildlife within it.

In Forest School, our juniors receive a mixture of guided learning and free play, exploring their own curiosities under the eye of our three qualified leaders. Studies show that spending time outdoors makes you happier, sparks creativity, has a calming effect and can improve attention and focus, which we have witnessed in our children. Since introducing this

Eco Day is one of our important whole-school events, which sees us focus on a different theme each year, from water management to climate change. The school is visited by industry experts, while some classes go on excursions to conservation sites, farms and wetlands. In previous Eco Days over the years, Year 7 pupils have built a bog garden in the science

In order for pupils to experience the great outdoors beyond the local landscape, organised camps for whole year groups take place with PGL and at the Eden Project in Cornwall. Other trips include voyaging on Youth Sail training vessel ‘Prolific’ with the Ocean Youth Trust and adventures in Scotland at the end of the year, involving canoeing across Loch Ness, a hike up Ben Nevis and a two-day canoe descent of the River Spey, with wild camping overnight. When our pupils move up to Millfield in Year 9, they can choose to take part in additional challenges and activities alongside multi-activity programme opportunities, including Ten Tors, the Duke of Edinburgh Award and CCF, as well as co-curricular activities such as Beekeeping and Falconry. During my time teaching biology at Millfield, I led clubs in parachuting, waterskiing and scuba diving – all great additions to the academic programme. Last year, a group of Year 9 pupils went on an expedition to Hardangervidda National Park in Norway, allowing them to use their skills over the weeklong trip, from climbing steep terrain, reaching a 1400m summit and fishing for their supper in the River Otra. Next year will see a group taking on North Africa’s highest mountain, Mount Toubkal. Not only do these practical life experiences create skills that can be directly applied, but also nature and the great outdoors provide powerful learning experiences that we can take into all aspects of life, relating the lessons we learn to everyday situations. Intellect on its own is not a measure of success and that is why we will continue to look at the richness of experience outside the classroom and offer these amazing opportunities to our children.

PREP SCHOOL Reflecting the best in the prep & junior school world

How to improve individualised feedback Fiona Gold from Five Minute Box answers the question ‘how can we give appropriate feedback to maximise progress and develop good self-esteem?’ Educators know the importance of self-esteem in learning. We also know that students requiring additional support can have lower self-esteem due to their degree of self-awareness, previous learning experiences, and many other external factors. Children’s progress varies greatly according to their needs. There is heightened awareness that children with neurodiversity are also at risk of mental health needs. How can we ensure that learners feel a sense of progress and are not afraid to make mistakes? Non-verbal communication Around 93% of communication is non-verbal. Particularly for children with communication difficulties, paying attention to your non-verbal communication and facial expression can make all the difference. Also, be aware of how your own emotional state can affect these vital communication skills. You don’t need to put on a fake smile, or ‘high-five’ everything they do. Less is often more: a nod and genuine smile or simple eye contact can be just as affirming. In the moment There are numerous studies supporting the importance of providing feedback as soon as the learning has happened, ‘in the

moment’. This way, children will be able to identify what they have done well and replicate it next time. It is no use pointing out progress the next day. It won’t give the same ‘Yes!’ kick of dopamine that we get from a feeling of achievement.

and listening, so get to the point in simple language. State what was good, for example rather than ‘I really liked the way that you tried really hard at writing your letters today’, try something like, ‘you wrote a clear ‘s’ and ‘t’ today, well done!’

The power of ‘not yet’ Our belief is that children with additional needs can hear enough ‘no’ both externally and internally, which can impact on their self-esteem. The word ‘no’ gives children no guidance about what they ought to do differently. The educationalist Carol Dweck speaks about the power of ‘not yet’. A feature of a ‘growth mindset’, ‘not yet’ gives children hope that they will reach the goal but ‘no’ takes that hope away.

What, no stickers? Progress is intrinsically rewarding. While stickers are fun, and some children do enjoy receiving them, their confidence as a learner comes from the knowledge of their own progress. So, at the end of a session, simply give them the power of what they now know, and the chance to share this with others, for example ‘well done, now you can read four new words, and you can write a clear s. Go and tell your parent/class teacher/lunch supervisor/the office receptionist’.

Pointing out exactly what went well helps learners focus on what to do more of next time. Tell them what to do, rather than what not to do. They clearly need more practice at getting it right. Phrases like ‘let’s try another way’ can work well. Multisensory approaches to learning allow for alternative ways to teach children so that they have a better chance of retaining information. Keep in brief You don’t have much time; your learners might struggle with attention

PREP SCHOOL Reflecting the best in the prep & junior school world

Model being your own best friend not best critic At the end of a session, encourage the student to identify one thing they can now do. If it is a small group, giving each other a compliment boosts social skills as well as confidence. Let students hear you spreading the good news of their progress with other members of staff.

Practise what you preach Don’t cringe, dig deep and video your session. As a practitioner watching yourself is the very best way to develop your non-verbal and verbal feedback skills. Notice three things that went well, and one thing to do next time. Let the children know that you are seeking to improve too. Encourage a culture that embraces mistakes as crucial to improvement. Ask children to point out your own mistakes and accept them heartily. Tell them that you welcome mistakes because you want to be better, and learning from mistakes is the best way to improve.

Five Minute Box interventions Around 20% of children in every primary school class will struggle to keep up with classroom learning in literacy and mathematics. Failing to recognise these children and to support them early results in more widespread difficulties and the need for greater depth of intervention as they get older. It is crucial to spot these 20% of children before their self-esteem begins to crumble as a result of realising their difficulties. Five Minute Literacy Box and The Number Box are early intervention programmes to help every child move forward at their own pace of learning in literacy or maths. All you need is the

contents of these handy suitcases to practise basic English and mathematics skills in short, regular sessions. Children love managing the resources themselves and taking charge of their learning. Every child has the chance to learn self-help strategies with the multisensory teaching approach. This avoids learned helplessness, and overreliance on adult support. Perfect for any child losing out on learning, especially those with early signs of dyslexia or dyscalculia. Progress in a box for any child feeling left behind in English or maths. Fiveminutebox.co.uk

PREP SCHOOL Reflecting the best in the prep & junior school world

Designed by children for children Jan Miller, a teacher at Moreton Hall School, Shropshire, who has been teaching art for 20 years and is the SATIPS Art Editor, shares a project that her art students brought to life for a local charity A ‘real’ brief from a local charity sees Art students bring their vision to life The story began with an invitation to my class from The Movement Centre, a local children’s physiotherapy charity attached to The Robert Jones & Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital in Oswestry: could we paint an image on the outside of their building to make it more inviting when children arrive for treatment. Working collaboratively within the community and in response to a genuine brief was an exciting challenge: one that I was keen to involve all pupils from Year 3 to Year 9. I visited the Centre to meet the medical team, see the building, watch the work they do and discuss the brief. I was armed with information to impart to my Art classes and ready for the inquisitive questioning. The brief only had two stipulations – the design

should incorporate their kite logo and embrace the ‘flying high’ motto as well as be all-inclusive and welcoming to the families – the design was in our hands. A large whiteboard was used to brainstorm contributions from all classes, and a meeting attended by a volunteer leader from each class decided on a sky scene theme filled with flying children. The excited children began by drawing on rolls of lining paper stretched across the desks. I found the most spontaneity and confidence came from the youngest junior classes when drawing from their imagination. The difficult part was choosing and cutting out our favourites, as each had their own personality and could have easily made the final cut. We moved them around, overlapping and fitting together to tell the story. Carbon paper was used to transfer

PREP SCHOOL Reflecting the best in the prep & junior school world

the final image to a painted board resulting in a 1.3 metre design of a sky scene, featuring drawings from over 50 children. They focused on ‘Movement’: dogs were lifted by balloons, kites carried teddies, prams with dolls floated past shooting stars and mermaids floated on clouds. Bats, bird cages, stilt walkers, hot air balloons, paper aeroplanes and spring loaded inventions to launch wheelchairs into the air, can all be seen. Something new brought a smile every time you looked at it. The design was painted and then displayed in the school foyer for visitors, allowing children to point out their own figures. We then presented it in assembly to the Movement Centre and they were thrilled to use it as a welcoming feature for their own foyer. The building The seniors were tasked with the bigger challenge – designing and painting the

outside of the building. They decided upon a big, bold design, accounting for any visually impaired children using the centre. Inspired by a visit to a local exhibition of Matisse’s paper cut-outs of plants and figures, pupils used marker pens to draw outlines of moving bodies using one continuous line. They drew from observation of each other with some using computer drawing software to create their simple shaped figures. Inspired by photographs of an aging Matisse when he was almost blind and making his cut-outs from his wheelchair, we too mixed vibrant colours and painted papers. He famously described the technique of directly cutting figures with scissors as ‘drawing with scissors’. The tables quickly filled with pupils’ designs. Elongated figures as well as twisted and contorted shapes interacted with sitting and acrobatic poses. All the elements that usually worry pupils about figure drawing were disregarded – proportion, symmetry, capturing a likeness, measuring and the dreaded ‘fingers’. Collaboratively creating composition ideas Also inspired by Matisse’s designs – plants, leaves and birds were simplified and added to the compositions; large figures were over-shadowed by even larger plants. These were not plants or colours you would see at Kew Gardens – acid turquoise, lurid lilac and shocking pink, all shaped by imagination and the handling of the scissors. A final mural design, using the collage shapes, was planned around the position of the windows across the exterior wall. The logo kites were added to each figure – lifting them

up, flying, seated and reclining. We asked teachers what they thought and it was a design that was given the thumbs up and so we presented it to the Movement Centre – our clients. We were a little nervous awaiting the feedback – had we fulfilled the brief? Were they expecting something smaller and cuter? Was it too bold or too simple, after all the figures didn’t have eyes or clothes and we planned to completely cover the building from floor to roof – all 17 metres of it! The design based on the pupils’ collage ideas The feedback was really positive and so the next stop was to the local paint shop to match the masonry paint to our design palette. Standing at the wall was initially daunting and appeared much bigger than the photograph suggested. Bamboo sticks with pastels taped to the end allowed us to scale up the image without losing the quality of the image. The rough texture of the masonry meant the design had to be masked off with tape for ease when the children painted. Groups of five children at a time came for a couple of hours on the school minibus to assist. In typical British weather, we taped in torrential rain and painted in the blazing sun. Taping the design – the beginnings We had continual encouragement from any passers-by: the hospital postman, the people in ‘stores’, nurses, visitors, delivery drivers, patients, pupils’ parents and maintenance staff popped along to see the progress. It developed quickly, each time we stood back to view the advancement we planned the next stage.

The triumph of the final mural was born from the strong lines, simple shapes, vivid colours and size of the figures. We were not sure what the Movement Centre were expecting when they initially asked us, but everyone who sees it stops and smiles and this was our vision. We featured in the local newspaper that will hopefully encourage other school groups to engage in a community project. Do you have any tins of paint in the shed that could be put to creative use in your area? It doesn’t have to be directly painting a huge wall, but could be a small painted board. The benefits are evident from the hospital but, likewise, the pupils have all profited from engaging in the various stages of the process. Hopefully they have gained empathy for the children using the centre, understanding of a local charity as well as a sense of community. One pupil said ‘when standing painting, I realised that we all have different skills that can benefit each other and that’s how a community should work with schools and hospitals as central features – only the teacher could have the vision to pull it off, the children were able to create the unique design, the nurses are able to offer the specialist treatment, the helicopter pilot hovering above has specific skills and the surgeons operating in the theatres next door have the life-saving expertise.’ We are just a little bit proud too, that our little drawings can have such a big audience and have an impact for many years to come. As we had lots of paint left over, and a second similar design was planned as a back-up, we thought it may be nice to ‘twin’ the wall with a small mural back at school.

PREP SCHOOL Reflecting the best in the prep & junior school world

The play’s the thing Stacie Bates, the Drama Editor for SATIPS, advises on how to put on a play

Picking a production can be a formidable task. The ideal model is a topic that engages and inspires pupils and pleases parents, while offering educational value. Most importantly it should be inclusive. Every child should feel that they have their moment. When you have casts of 40 or 50 plus that may seem near impossible and unfortunately you can’t please all the people all of the time. Rotating lead roles throughout the years is certainly one way I try to prevent the same faces appearing repeatedly in those converted lead roles. I increasingly tend to adapt novels, write my own scripts or devise around a text with my pupils, giving me the required creativity and freedom. Utilising dance, physical theatre and group songs can incorporate large numbers throughout your production. There are also a multitude of scripts out there that come in packs with music, choreography guides and staging plans, ready to go, but they often focus on a handful of lead pupils and can be expensive. What do you do if you want something a bit different? I spoke to some experts who can offer an original perspective to your next production choice. Kate Belcher and Jen Shaw are co-founders of Portion of Pie (www. portionofpie.co.uk). They have created a website full of high quality musical productions for 3-16 year olds. ‘We had written and directed our own musical productions for young performers. For over a decade and we decided to use these to create an online resource for other teachers and youth theatre leaders. Our aim was to cover

aspects of the curriculum, traditional stories, myths and legends as well as creating original stories for the stage. One of the main reasons for creating our website was the difficulty we had experienced when trying to find suitable productions with a large enough cast but allowed each child to feel valued and an important part of the production. We know that teachers understand that drama is a collaborative art and, as such, all young performers should be given an equal portion of the pie and their chance to shine. We were getting fed up with only two or three performers being given the spotlight, whilst others languished in the background without even a named part to take ownership of. This seemed counter-productive to the inclusive nature of drama and the development of self-esteem. We felt young performers needed to be engaged with the story line and the character they played or their interest in drama and the production would be minimal. Therefore, we decided to share our high quality productions with story lines that all performers can enjoy, with songs that are catchy yet challenging and that lead to an understanding that the final show has been the result of a team effort, with every performer’s contribution being equally valued. At Portion of Pie, we see this as democratic drama in action.’ Sharing the stable A family of five adorable little mice dwell harmoniously together in a stable. The peace and quiet doesn’t last long, however, once other animals start arriving. Not to mention when things get busy and bustling in Bethlehem. Something very special

PREP SCHOOL Reflecting the best in the prep & junior school world

must be about to happen! It’s a bit of a squeeze, but surely there’s room for just one more? Just mind where you put your feet please! This is the perfect production for very young performers making their first steps onto the stage. An adult storyteller keeps the narrative moving with chances for the more confident members of the cast to speak if they wish. Superstar There is an important competition being held in the heavens to choose which star is going to undertake a very special mission. Every star wants to be chosen and is ready to show off their unique talents – except Little Star. She desperately wants to go on the Christmas mission but she doesn’t think she stands a chance… or does she? Colours of India An exciting retelling of three traditional Indian stories – The Elephants and the Mice, Chandarava the Blue Jackal and The Musicians of Delhi. See how the mice cleverly outwit King Raj in order to save the elephants. Watch the shocked Indian animals as a new blue creature creates an unexpected rumble in the jungle. Rock out with the donkeys, cockerels, dogs and cats as they journey to Delhi to become popstars! Marrying Marian Will spoilt King John’s plan to trap our hero Robin Hood at the village archery competition succeed? Will the Friars ever stop eating? Will the ladies-in-waiting stop swooning over the Merry Men for long enough to get Marian into a fancy frock? Marian’s got her own ideas…

Alice Alice’s mum and dad have forgotten to book a babysitter. Begrudgingly, Alice joins them at a swanky dinner party where life is dull in black and white. After a chance meeting with the White Rabbit, Alice finds herself in a strange and wonderful Wonderland where she learns that life is a lot more fun when you live in full technicolour. This modern adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s well-loved classic will have you tapping your toes, laughing out loud and wanting to follow Alice down the rabbit hole.

prep schools), the United States and Australia. The plays have been written with deliberately large and flexible casts (to give as many pupils as possible ‘something to do’) but are also straightforward to stage and (I hope) fun both to watch and perform. I have provided a selection of these plays below – who knows, one of these plays might just solve your ‘what should I stage as a senior show this year’ dilemma!’

Andrew Beattie is a playwright and teacher. He has directed numerous productions and written a large selection of non-musical plays. Below, he gives his insights and outlines a selection of his plays. www.andrewbeattie.me.uk.

The Ministry of Performance and Entertainment (MOPE) has been revoking dramatic, poetic, and artistic licences all over the place: a handsome prince and his new actor friend come to the rescue in a script that aims to be surreal, clever and funny.

‘Selecting plays (rather than musicals) for the 10-13 age group can be a daunting and nerve-wracking process, and this can be compounded if your production will be necessarily constrained by circumstances (you only have a limited budget, for instance, or your cast needs to be a certain size, or you need to have a certain number of gender-specific roles). Plays that I have directed with this age group include The Fifteen Minute Hamlet by Tom Stoppard – an excellent, concentrated and quirky introduction to Shakespeare – and Ernie’s Incredible Illucinations by Alan Ayckbourn, both of which make for good short plays that might take up part of an evening; stage adaptations of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies and Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach make for excellent longer plays (I directed the version of the latter written by Richard George at the Edinburgh Fringe with a cast of 12 pupils aged 11-14).

Ordinary Jack Around 60-70 mins running time with a cast of 30+, published (online) by www.playstageya.com

However it is easy to exhaust these possibilities and because of this I have taken to writing scripts myself for performance by pupils. Some of these scripts have been published and have been staged by schools in the UK (including a number of

Dramatic licence Around 50-60 mins running time with a cast of 30+, published (online) by www.playstageya.com

to play the lead roles, as the two title characters are supposed to look alike. Given Twain’s popularity in the USA, and the enduring fascination Americans have with ‘historic’ England, this play has been performed by a number of schools there. The following were written with allmale casts in mind but can easily be adapted for mixed casts. Arthur, Boy King of Britain Around 75 mins running time and a cast of 30+, published online by www.lazybeescripts.co.uk This play tells the familiar, age-old story of the boy Arthur, the magician Merlin and the sword in the stone, with deliberately straightforward staging and lighting and a large, flexible cast. ‘There are three particularly strong roles for Arthur, his brother Kay and the magician Merlin… the play is touching and includes themes of sibling rivalry, magic and disguise.’ (From a review in Teaching Drama magazine, Autumn Term 2017)

A spoof fairy tale involving aubergines (too difficult to explain), a prince, unrequited love, three witches and a wizard who spends his day sitting on a swing. ‘There is a great sense of fun running throughout this piece… and the pace of the action together with the brisk and witty dialogue recommend it. Particularly it has the capacity to appeal both to the oldest of pupils at prep schools and to those a few years younger. For those looking for something for 11-year-olds to cut their teeth on, you have ideal material here!’ (From a review in the Autumn Term 1996 SATIPS Prep School Drama Broadsheet)

The New Boy Short play of 15-20 mins duration with a cast of 12, published online by www.dramanotebook.com

The Prince and the Pauper Two-act play of around 90-100 mins with a cast of 30-70, published (online and in book form) by www.youthplays.com

Need a little more inspiration? The following websites offer straight acting and musical theatre options. TES is a great resource for scripts and jumping-off points for class devising.

An adaptation of Mark Twain’s famous story set in Tudor England, when a prince and a poor boy from the London slums swap clothes to see how the ‘other half’ lives. Ideal if talented and enthusiastic twin boys are available

Set in a boys’ prep school in the 1960s, this short play takes the form of a ghost story that unfolds in ‘real time’ in the recreation room of the boys’ boarding house; it gives some performers much to do while others have less, and ‘uses up’ a comparatively large number of performers in a short space of time! Costumes, staging and lighting are kept deliberately simple. The play could perhaps form part of a longer evening of musical or dramatic performances and extracts.

www.playstageya.com/comedy-plays/ www.scriptsforschools.com/ www.lazybeescripts.co.uk/ YouthTheatre/default.aspx

PREP SCHOOL Reflecting the best in the prep & junior school world

Thank you for the music! John Durston is Director of Music at Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford, having been Head of Sibford and Leighton Park School ‘Education, education, education!’ was the clarion call from Prime Minister Tony Blair when asked for his three priorities for government. Many of us gave him at least two cheers, in the hope that the third would be deserved if education itself could come to reflect the totality of what young people should be offered in our schools. But what is education all about, really? Alice Thompson in The Times wrote a blistering attack in June 2019 on the developing narrowness of the curriculum (‘maths fixation doesn’t add up to progress’), giving a prescient warning of the perils of neglecting those areas of a pupil’s experience that are not given the priority accorded to those subjects often called ‘core’. Of course, English and maths are undeniably important – but not so important as to have justified the catastrophic decline in the availability of music education in schools, which have felt forced to sacrifice the human element of a young person’s education on the altar of beguilingly measurable exam results. It is music that reaches parts of a child’s mind, heart and soul that other subjects cannot reach. Music – listening, singing, playing, composing, even analysing – is the element that gives young people the chance to explore their emotions and their humanity. Many readers of this piece will remember the first time they were blown away by a musical experience: it might have been Hey Jude or the

Hallelujah chorus, Joan Baez or J. S. Bach, Armstrong or Allegri, the Last Night of Glastonbury or of the Proms – it will have been one of those ‘I’ll always remember where I was’ moments, when, for an instant, we were simply taken out of ourselves, catapulted into a higher realm of ecstatic emotion, overwhelmed by a sound, a feeling, that made our eyes shine with wonder. For me as a teenager, the last movement of Beethoven’s 7th Symphony was that moment. Is that all? But apart from all this (which, you might have thought, was enough on its own), the very acts of singing in a choir, playing in a band, an orchestra, a string quartet, enable the development of so many of the personal and human qualities which our world needs today, perhaps more than ever. The capacity to listen to others and to work alongside them; the need to recognise how important we are within the group and at the same time how important everyone else is too; the chance to develop skills of teamwork and leadership, patience, sensitivity and commitment; the discovery of how our seemingly insignificant individual contributions to the whole are nonetheless of immense and unique value; the thrill of experiencing the outcome of hours, perhaps weeks, months of working towards a performance, a common goal – all of these are qualities that

PREP SCHOOL Reflecting the best in the prep & junior school world

enable young people to shine in their work, their endeavours, their interviews, their future studies and their careers. In response to Alice Thompson’s article, there followed a lively correspondence. Some readers responded to the research by the Sutton Trust (which had, in part, prompted the article) by recognising the vital opportunities that independent schools continue to offer, even after the disappearance of those marvellous drivers of social mobility such as the direct grant and the assisted places schemes. It is those schools, both prep and senior, that overwhelmingly remain determined to promote music education as a fundamental right for pupils, as something that should be at the heart of the curriculum – at its ‘core’, one might almost say – and certainly never as peripheral, an option if there’s room, an add-on. To treat music in that way is to deny young people an infinitely critical part of their education and their whole personal development. How often have we heard of the research that confirms the positive impact that music in school can have – does have – on pupils’ achievements in other areas of the curriculum, not least, of course, in mathematics? Learning the skills required to play a musical instrument – the motor skills, the aural skills, the decoding of musical notation, the understanding of progress, the discovery of repertoire,

and the self-confidence that comes from performance – all of these are, in one way or another, transferable skills, and all of them contribute to the makeup of character and the self-belief that success brings. Innumerable are the tales on the other hand, often from an older generation, of hours of toil, even torture, of practice leading nowhere. But all this proves is the truism that a really inspirational teacher is worth their weight in gold. We must ensure that the supply doesn’t dry up because of narrow-minded, utilitarian approaches to the teaching of music, or indeed to its place in the curriculum. Another way? There is just a chance that the tide might be turning. In Parliament on Thursday the 18th of October 2018, members of the House of Lords debated the state of music education in schools. The debate was introduced by Lord Brentwood (who in fact attended the school of that name). ‘It was there’, he said, ‘that I fell in love with music. With the encouragement of my parents, I learned instruments, I played in o rchestras, and I sang in

the choir and took O and A Level music. I did all the things that every young person should have an opportunity to do. I took that music education for granted as, back then, it was the birthright of every child.’ His opening speech deserves to be read in full, but for the current purpose, let me quote one further extract: ‘Music matters first and foremost because it is the only universal language that connects all human beings, whether they live and work in a bustling city or dwell on the plains of a desert. Even in the world’s poorest slums, the refugee camps and the disaster areas, people make music and it is central to their lives. It is the most basic but important link to all our past and, if we so believe, paints the most powerful picture of the world beyond. Through its incredible blend of selfexpression, energy and creativity, it moves, energises, soothes and uplifts in a way that nothing else can. It is what makes us distinctively human, enriching every life on the planet.’

schools, pupils from the Harris Academies – all located in difficult, deprived parts of London and the south-east – come each term to give a concert at Harris Manchester College, Oxford. The joy in their eyes as they look beyond what they thought was the horizon, and experience the sensational thrill of a live performance in the College Chapel, is unforgettable.

In order to raise young people’s aspirations through music in state

So let us dream, and give to all our young people the gift of music, a gift we do not have the right to withhold.

Music has all but disappeared from so many schools because of the countervailing, destructive pressures they are facing. The situation calls for an energetic, inspiring response from the independent sector. Our children deserve no less, and we as teachers and school leaders owe it to them to rise to that challenge. As Ben Zander memorably put it: ‘It’s one of the characteristics of a leader that he does not doubt for one moment the capacity of the people he’s leading to realise whatever he’s dreaming. Imagine if Martin Luther King had said, “I have a dream. Of course, I’m not sure they’ll be up to it.”’

After graduating from Cambridge, John taught in Germany, where he sang with the Hamburg State Opera Chorus. In the 1970s, he appeared in a vocal group on Top of the Pops, and has been the conductor of several school and other choirs over the past 40 years, leading a number of them on tours to Austria, France, the former East and West Germany, and China shortly before Tiananmen Square. In 2017, he conducted ‘Last Train to Tomorrow’, Carl Davis’ work based on the Kindertransport, accompanied by the composer. John was awarded a Winston Churchill Fellowship for a project relating to choral training in China and is a Liveryman of the Musicians’ Company. He taught at Cheltenham Grammar School and Bancroft’s School, and was Head of Sibford and Leighton Park Schools between 1990 and 2010.

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‘What’s your school like?’ Sophie Brookes, Head of Juniors at Merchiston International School in Shenzhen, China, addresses the question most frequently asked of international school teachers When Paul Jackson approached me and asked if I would write an article I wracked my brains for a topic that might be of interest. A few things sprang to mind such as curriculum, experiencing a start up school, English as an additional language. However, having returned from China to the UK for the annual summer holidays I was – yet again – struck by the fact that teaching abroad is a concept that often intrigues others and it was the headteacher at my nieces’ primary school who planted the seed for the article. We had worked together many years ago as young teachers and when I went to chat with him after the Year

6 performance I mentioned that I was Head of Juniors at a school in China. Immediately he asked ‘what is that like?’ It’s the question I hear over and over again when I return to the UK, both when I lived in Egypt and later in China, so I thought I might try to address it here for anyone else who might be interested in moving abroad. So what is it like? I work for an institution whose founding school caters to boys’ boarding in Edinburgh and which is set in beautiful grounds with a lovely old main building. History and gentility abound. Our school in China is very different, in many good

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ways. Indeed, it reminds me more of the prep school in London at which I worked for a few years and which was housed on a modern purpose-built site. I was lucky enough to be working on the project before the school opened and witnessed the transformation of two buildings into one. My favourite part was watching a new floor being hoisted into place in the open central area, and the ‘floating’ staircases put in above and around it. I got the chance to have some say in the development of the areas. For example, our Key Stage 1 classrooms are fantastic open spaces where the two classes in each year group can work together. Each has a mezzanine, which was originally designed as an area for the children to sleep. Indeed, there were a few things that culturally differed when the building was being developed. I have been in China for six years and was already aware that sleeping is a big part of the kindergarten day here. Even when children begin formal school they will often have two hour lunchbreaks in which a nap is incorporated, indeed its not unusual to find people asleep after lunch at their desks in offices in the workplace. So one of the first things I had to do was explain that the mezzanines were great, but that we wouldn’t be using them to sleep on.

Similarly, we had some difficulty convincing people that the students did not need open balconies attached to their dorm rooms. In a Chinese school it would be essential, in order to allow students to wash and dry their own under garments which is culturally important. Instead, there is a washing machine available for any student who doesn’t want to send any items to the laundry. And of course there are somethings which have to be incorporated in order for the school to be licensed by the education authority, such as a running track which has been worked into our fairly limited outside space (in comparison to the Edinburgh school that is, in comparison to many London schools it is ample!). Overall though, the space is incredible. It’s the kind of thing one often dreams of in the UK, where classrooms can often be squeezed into all sorts of spaces in buildings that don’t always lend themselves to educational innovation. But, essentially, it’s not that different; we have similar types of rooms and classroom spaces, as a British teacher you probably won’t find it that alien. So what about the curriculum? Again, as with the building, there are some adjustments made to accommodate the fact that although it is a ‘British’ international school, we are not actually in the UK. We use the English National Curriculum as the basis for our own, just as all independent schools do (including our Scottish sister school). And just as all good independent schools do, we adapt it to meet the needs of our cohorts. For us this means using the International Primary Curriculum – a program that is very popular among British schools across the world – and we incorporate daily Mandarin lessons until Year 9 (after which the students can decided whether to pursue it to GCSE or A level). We also have to take into account our high numbers of EAL learners. Some people in the UK still hold an antiquated vision of international

schools as bastions of colonial style expat communities, but in these modern times this is not an accurate reflection of the students in many of them. An international school in this day and age is more about the staff and the structure than the nationality of the students. Our students are wonderful young people and the school offers a particular educational experience, which families have opted to choose for their children. However, in terms of logistics – school hours, homework, resources and so on, again a teacher coming from the UK would probably not feel out of place at all. Communication can be more of a challenge. The need to translate means that sometimes the meanings of messages get lost and that simple meetings or letters can end up much longer than they normally would. The salary and benefits packages in the international world can differ from school to school and country to country. Many are excellent and offer a saving potential that is somewhat higher than at home. But the driving reason someone should come abroad is for the chance to widen their skill

sets and develop their careers, not for the lifestyle. International teaching takes resilience and fortitude, both in the classroom and at home, which is different to living in the UK (not necessarily less or more in either case, just different). There are good days and bad days, as with any job, and life abroad can sometimes be frustratingly unfamiliar. Teachers who are thinking of taking leap need to aware that they will face the rigorous demands of the job, set against a backdrop of language and culture to which may take some adjusting to. So what is it like? I find I almost never answer the question in any depth. It’s just too difficult to sum up with any degree of accuracy, at least in the amount of time that constitutes good manners and doesn’t have the other person desperately trying to find a way to exit the conversation and becoming increasingly panicked. But if you found the article interesting, maybe its time to find out for yourself what it is like somewhere else in the world.

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SATIPS Challenge Harry Paget shares his report for the 2019 SATIPS Challenge with Prep School readers… Many congratulations to all those who took part in a close contest! There were some very strong performances, none more so than from the senior winner, Rory Hayes (Aldwickbury) and the junior joint winners Harry Calcraft (Westminster Under School) and Charlie Image (Magdalen College School), who came out on top. This year there were 35 schools entering in the Senior Challenge and 50 schools with entries in the Junior section; over 2400 pupils took part. As usual, many schools had a correct answer to every question, but they were spread out across the entrants. My favourite question this year was “which leader attacked the Romans by taking elephants across the Alps”? Suggestions included Theresa May, Napoleon, Nelson, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin! All is set for the next

June 2018 for an increase in demand of 35% for which item of clothing?

contest in January 2020. Registration for the next competition will open in October, which will hopefully be even bigger and better with some new schools already looking to join in.

For 3871 years, until 1311 when Lincoln Cathedral was built, in which country could you find earth’s tallest man made structure?

A few of our favourite questions from this year’s quiz (don’t worry, these were some of the hardest): What word can mean an argument, a line and a method of propelling a boat?

Which country is thought to have nearly half a billion vegetarians? What is the antonym of the word ‘synonym’? Tourism in Wauconda, Illinois rose 25% due to the popularity of which 2018 film?

In 2018, which sport saw three Australians banned for ball tampering?

Which word can go before work, fighter and place to make three other words?

Which fairy tale character lends her name to the zone around a star where conditions are ‘just right’ to allow liquid water to exist?

The Canary Islands have nothing to do with birds and were actually named after which animal?

England Football manager Gareth Southgate was credited by M&S in

SATIPS CHALLENGE COMPETITION 2019 WINNERS 1. Rory Hayes, Aldwickbury 85

3. Edgar Ferris, Westminster Under 85

2. Dominic O’Malley, King’s House 84

4. Edward Brightwell, Town Close Prep 83

2. Westminster Under School 393

3. Gianluca Cristofoli-Quinn, Westminster Under 82

5= Henry Coverley, Aldwickbury 82

3. King’s House 385

4= Angus McIntyre, Ashfold 81

4. Papplewick 364

Michaela Holmes, Felsted Prep 81

5= Ashfold 363 Pilgrims’ 363

Thomas Ruscoe, Felsted Prep 81

Edward Thomson, Pilgrims’ 81

TOP SENIOR SCHOOLS 1. Felsted Prep School 399

TOP JUNIOR SCHOOLS

8= Hannah Page, Felsted Prep 80

Ollie Withers, Pilgrims’ 80

Felix Edmondson, Twyford School 80

Grace Edmundson, St Paul’s Cathedral School 82 7. Luke Parker, Westminster Under 81 8. Cameron Thacker, Fairfield Prep 80 9= Jamie Turner, Magdalen College School 79

Ben de Laszlo, Twyford School 79

Gavin Austin, Danes Hill 79

3. Haberdashers’ Aske’s 379

1 Harry Calcraft, Westminster Under 88

Ben Perkins, Elstree 79

4. Town Close 372

2 Charlie Image, Magdalen College School 88

Ellie Keegan, Orchard House School 79

Luke Walker, Westminster Under 79

1. Westminster Under School 411 2. Magdalen College School 383

5. King’s House 371

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Are you getting the most out of SchoolSearch? Have a look at your school’s profile on our leading online guide to UK independent schools – www.schoolsearch.co.uk

Now with dedicated search pages for UK regions and counties, many of which feature on the first page of Google search results. Add your school’s dates to our open days calendar and send us your success stories to post in the news section, which also includes leading advice and features provided by our featured schools. Featured schools can add social media links to their profile, including embedding a Twitter feed, and can showcase a promotional YouTube or Vimeo video. Our site has visitors from across the world looking for UK independent schools, and an established UK audience. Families can find and compare their nearest schools with our postcode search. SchoolSearch is in association with John Catt’s Which School? guidebook, now in its 95th edition, John Catt’s Preparatory Schools and Which London School? & the South-East.

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In Search of My Alumni In his debut book, Phil Crompton, a former headteacher and CEO of a multi-academy trust, sets himself the challenge of journeying across England, visiting various towns, to find out a generation’s thoughts on their school education So I tested my interview style out on Sam. She’s the 25-year-old daughter of my former PA Jayne. Sam went to the last school I led and then on to Hull University. And what’s not to like about that? I was there from 1977 to 1980. A life-changing experience, but I digress. Sam was kind enough to spare 30 minutes to reflect upon her school experience. She now works in the marketing business in Nottingham. She understands Twitter and LinkedIn well apparently but we didn’t have time for a lesson. The first thing she said about school was that friendships and relationships were so very important. She recalled vividly when she was getting on well with friends and when things were not so comfortable. Sam remembered the trip to the Belgian battlefields when she was 14. What did she remember? ‘We went bowling.’ Anything about the First World War stick in your mind, Sam? ‘Not really. It was terrible that all those people died, I knew that. But it was about being with my friends in another country. So exciting.’ Sam thought that school was important because you learnt to follow rules and know what is acceptable. She

didn’t really remember much about her GCSE courses except that she hated GCSE PE. There were only four girls and 20 boys. It caused her real distress. She had always liked PE but she dreaded going to lessons in the GCSE years. I could tell that the memories were uncomfortable. However, she liked A Level history very much and recalled the kindness and patience of Ms. Jenkins. ‘What a nice lady. Nothing was too much trouble.’ I told Sam that a course in mental health first aid was currently on offer for staff. ‘That makes sense’, she said. ‘So many people at school and at university had problems. There should be more about managing mental health.’ So, Sam, how many out of 10? If 0 is horrendous/damaging and 10 is wonderful, where would you put your education? After a few seconds thought she said, ‘No offence, but probably 5.’ No offence taken Sam, only gratitude for being my first test case. Nottingham remained the hub of my work as I prepared for the national launch. Later that week I had a meeting in the centre of Nottingham and decided to take the tram. The tram system in Nottingham is something that I am very proud of. I’m not a native of

Nottingham and nor did I have anything to do with the development of the project. It opened in 2004 connecting Hucknall and Basford on the north side of the city to the railway station and shopping area. In 2015 the second phase was opened connecting the western suburbs of Clifton and Trowell to the centre. The trams have given an international dimension to Nottingham. They have taken it closer to Strasbourg, Amsterdam and Berlin. I like that. Trams also remind me of Blackpool illuminations in the ‘70s. A fantasyland to anyone of my age and background. My plan was to park in Clifton and take an early tram into the city. I would chat to someone about their education as we moved. I’m a confident sort of chap. But I lost my nerve. The tram was crowded and that didn’t help. The idea of saying to a 20-something ‘how were you school days?’ was unthinkable. Clearly conversation with a stranger in a suit on the journey to work was not what the crowds were expecting. I was also certain that they had little wish to talk about their education at 8:32am with others inevitably overhearing. As I sat I envisaged a number of responses. Being ignored and treated

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like the drunk that no one wanted to sit next to on the last bus home. Humiliating. Being acknowledged, but not politely, in fact rudely, probably with hostility, most likely with expletives. Far too humiliating. What if someone knew me and thought I was causing a scene? In truth I would have been the cause of the scene. Not good. There was the third option. Someone responded positively and was willing to talk. But would this be the honest reflection I was seeking? Surrounded by other people would a 24-year-old bloke willingly open up about his memories of teachers, subjects and classrooms? By the time I had finished agonising, the tram had pulled into the railway station and I was walking down the steps to my meeting, I had missed my chance. So far all I had was the input of Sam and – charming though she was – that interview would never influence government policy. I needed to select targets carefully to minimise the chances of rejection. Cold calling would come later. My wife told me my hair was starting to look like Hugh Grant’s. She was concerned that I took this as a compliment and felt obliged to add detail to her observation. It was made crystal clear that it wasn’t – in her view – a good look. I realised I needed to act, and that was how I met Lee in Nottingham city centre. Waiting to be served in a hairdresser is one of my least favourite activities. I think it’s the tension of being aware of when it’s your turn. This isn’t the case in the higher quality hairdressers but I don’t frequent them very often. I did on this occasion, however, and fortunately Lee was sitting down waiting for a customer. We spoke as he removed even the remotest visual resemblance to Hugh Grant (let’s be clear – I am nothing like Hugh Grant) by shortening and shaping my rather bedraggled locks. As we chatted it became apparent that Lee had a story that would add a different dimension to my project.

He was 28 and had attended a comprehensive school that I knew of. An academy trust had recently taken it over and had changed the name but we both knew the school he meant. The name change might fool Ofsted, but not normal folk. It was in one of the tougher parts of town but Lee was keen to point out that it wasn’t the worst. He had hated school. 3/10. That was all he could give it. ‘Well, given that I was gay and ginger it won’t surprise you that I was bullied a bit’, he told me. ‘To be honest I wasn’t much bothered about what they said and it’s not damaged me for life. But I used to go to school most days thinking “I wonder what’ll happen today”.’ Lee had not been a shrinking violet. ‘I used to give as good as I got. Sometimes I would give them some abuse back and the teacher would burst out laughing. I just wasn’t having it.’ I pushed Lee about what he liked about his school days. Trips? ‘None, really. I went to Alton Towers a couple of times and that was a laugh but I missed out on any fancy trips. My sister went to the same school and she went skiing. I don’t know how that passed me by.’ The lessons? ‘Maths was alright. I’m still good at maths now. It was easy. I wanted to do French for GCSE but I was told I couldn’t because there were only two of us who were interested. The teacher said we needed 17 and told us to try to get some others to do it. That’s not easy when you’re 14. I liked French but I was done with it at 14.’ Lee did however speak positively about his careers advice. ‘If it hadn’t had been for her I would never have been allowed to go to college for a day a week to do hairdressing’, he said. ‘She told them I was obviously a pain in lessons and they should let me do something I was interested in. It gave me something to look forward to.’ After school Lee went to college full time to take up the career he had always hoped, and expected to follow. He trained with two different companies and took on his own ‘chair’ – I was learning new

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terminology already – in the centre of Nottingham five years earlier. One day he thought he might like to have his own company but not yet. He was happy and was more concerned about helping his partner switch from a job in sales to primary school teaching. We agreed that having a job you found satisfying was important. Lee was very proud of his work. So proud that he made me late for a meeting. He also charged me twice the price I usually paid but, as he managed to regain control of my locks, I was more than pleased. Hugh Grant? That’s an insult? I really don’t see it. One afternoon I bumped into Bijal one of the architects I had worked with to create the new sixth form centre at one of our schools. She was delighted to tell me a bit about her educational experience. It had been fine. Not remarkable but certainly worth 7/10. She had very clear memories of sneezing whilst carrying out a test on burning hydrocarbons and almost burning her classmate’s shirt. Perhaps not the best way for a lesson to make an impact but it worked for Bijal. The rest of the lessons? Well, not so clear it would seem, but the school had helped guide her towards a career in architecture. She could vividly recall an incident that helped her see how you occasionally had to take one for the team in order to ensure a project was successful. Sports day was approaching and her house was determined to win. It meant so much to so many people. Every point would matter. Her friends were signing up for events. Success seemed possible but they had to have an entry in each event and there was a gap. The feared 1500 metres. 3 and ¾ laps of the track. ‘Bijal, you can do that’, said the captain. ‘Well err… I’ve never run that far before and–’, she replied but to no avail. ‘Great, so that’s all the events covered’, continued the captain. ‘Come on team, let’s win.’ Bijal left the room feeling a little queasy.

The next day was sports day. The entire school was watching on a beautiful summer’s afternoon. High jumpers were elegantly flying over the bar, shot putters slinging metal balls through the air, sprinters accelerating across the track. Everyone looked so capable and confident, and then there was Bijal ready to run one and a half kilometres, way further than she had every run before. The gun was fired and off they went. After one lap she was just about attached to the rest of the field but feeling dreadful. After two laps she was running – just – alongside another girl and could make out the other three runners in the far distance ahead. The rest of the event is now a blur. She somehow managed to reach the finish line. She was the last to finish. Whether the crowd laughed or cheered she knows not but she does recall that her house won the overall competition. The sacrifice had been worth it and a life lesson was absorbed. Sometimes you’ve got to take one for the team. If Bijal had one regret about her school life it is that she didn’t take part in more extra curricular activity not necessarily for the skills that she might have acquired but for the experience of taking herself out of her comfort zone. The academic side had felt straightforward, other bits less so, but school had worked for her. A degree and a master’s in architecture had led to a job with a well-respected company – and the sixth form centre looks great. Oddly enough I was grateful for a slow puncture in a car tyre. That’s a sentence I never thought I’d write. There were two 20-somethings working at the tyre emporium. The elder one greeted me and chatted as his colleague repaired the puncture. Jack travelled from Lichfield and was 26. He had left school at 16 and had really enjoyed it. 10/10. He didn’t seem to be the type who passed through a school unnoticed and this was confirmed when he said the careers advisor had suggested he become a stand-up comedian. His greatest pleasure had been ‘having

banter’ with teachers. All harmless he insisted but he then added that he seemed to spend a lot of time with the headteacher. I can’t think why. Jack didn’t like RE but did like geography – mainly because the teacher had made him sit next to a very attractive girl, presumably as a means of managing his behaviour. Wednesday morning engineering lessons were the best bit. Jack really enjoyed fixing things, taking them apart and working out what was wrong with them. He’d got a double A in the subject and it had been useful at work. When he left school he had set up a garden landscaping business and it had done well. He told me he sold it last year because he now has three children and running his own business had placed a strain upon his family life. I was left exhausted by the pace of his life. In the years since he left school Jack had done a lot. Babies, businesses, loft conversions, double garages, self-employment, tax returns. Was he really only 26? Michael finished repairing the puncture and joined in the conversation. He had been educated in Nottingham. ‘Kids ruled the teachers at my school’, he said. ‘I was bullied but my mum would have killed me if I had stopped going. I got two GCSEs.’ Out of 10? ‘3. Just a 3.’ I asked Michael about his career plan at 16. Did the school help? ‘Nah. I told a careers advice woman that I wanted to be a hitman and she kicked me out.’ Jack and I looked at each other uncomfortably. I left with my tyre repaired and ready to take my Nottingham practice on the road. This could work. One key point from Nottingham Bullying must have a dramatic impact upon a school experience and upon a life. Lee’s description of the daily torment he endured struck a chord. Do schools care enough about how pupils are feeling?

pastoral care is. It is a mistake to assume that young people are always in a place to fully engage with the lessons they are surrounded by. Of course many aren’t. Families break up, friendships (temporarily or permanently) end, parents lose jobs – find themselves imprisoned, or addicted to drugs, or chronically ill – and close relatives die. Life happens and lessons in geography, French and chemistry just might not be the most important thing that’s going on in a young person’s life. As a headteacher I always placed a great emphasis upon having a strong pastoral system. If children felt cared for they were more likely to engage – it seemed to be a straightforward rule of thumb. I employed pastoral administrators, social workers, attendance officers and careers advisors to support heads of year. No apologies. These posts became more and more difficult to keep in place with the austerity measures imposed since 2010. Teachers were needed in classrooms and they were the priority. It was a brave headteacher who would increase class size to 35 in order to maintain an extra pastoral post, but there’s a price. The fewer people employed to support the wellbeing of youngsters, the greater the chance of emotional turmoil getting a grip. It seems so obvious and yet the posts keep going and the status of year leaders is diminished whilst the heads of maths and English stand surrounded by bright lights. Mental health issues have increased year on year. There are many causes and schools cannot be expected to eliminate them all but if bullying is left unchallenged and students feel that no one knows or cares then education will not deliver what is required – a confident, self aware and informed population.

I was a head of year in a Leicester school for five years and developed a deep understanding of how important

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The importance of handwriting Chief Judge Amanda McLeod celebrates this ever popular national SATIPS competition, which is open to all schools, providing valuable advice to those teaching handwriting in her report There is a recognised impact of illegibility on grades (Briggs, 1986; Simner 1996a, 1996b; Graham et al 2011) and this was clearly evident with my hardworking, ‘A’-grade stepson. Throughout his secondary education, his essays were typewritten and he was extremely secretive regarding any handwritten work. One term before his examinations, we realised that his writing was illegible. He proceeded to gain disappointingly low grades and we will never know whether his hardto-read handwriting influenced this. However, after leaving school, he did complain that it needed three people to process his doctor’s surgery application and that, even with three people, his email address was still recorded on the system incorrectly. He refused to recognise that three people were needed to decipher his scrawl. In my GCSE years, I realised that I couldn’t maintain legibility and get everything down in time whilst the teacher lectured. I had to find ways of promoting neatness with speed: a broader nib, blue ink, large spaced lines, writing on every other line. When I write in black ink, my script looks like a drunken millipede has fallen into an ink well and dragged itself out to flop over the page. As an adult, I had to change my signature to one that was easier to form, as I experienced ‘hand freeze’ whenever I came to sign my signature. When I write in front of a parent (and, vice versa, parents in front of me), stress creates havoc with neatness – not the best advertisement for a handwriting specialist…

The Detailed Assessment of Speed of Handwriting (DASH) is the standardised test used by SENDCos and other professionals to assess handwriting speeds in order to provide evidence for Access Arrangements in Key Stage 2 National Curriculum Tests and for General Qualifications. During the test, the assessor is asked to provide observations on body position, pencil grip, letter formation and other handwriting rules (shape, size, slant, sitting on the line, spacing and joining) but these observations are not included in the standardised scores. Now, there is a new legibility test to complement the DASH test, produced by Barnett, Prunty and Rosenblum in 2018. Whilst, scores have not yet been normed, I highly recommend any teacher assessing with the DASH to do this test too (please see references below for link). It is for children eight years old and above and looks at five criteria that are based on experience and literature review: • Global legibility – best predictor of handwriting difficulties (Rosenblum et al, 2008; 2011). • Effort required to read the script – reader is subliminally, negatively influenced if script takes effort to read (Greifeneder et al, 2010). • Layout on the page – relates to poor handwriting (Parush et al, 2010). • Letter formation – correct letter formation leads to illegibility (see my 2018 article on last year’s results). • Alterations to the text –

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significantly predicts poor handwriting (Rosenblum et al, 2004; 2011). In an interview in the TES, Dr Mellissa Prunty (the new Chair of the National Handwriting Association and co-author of the Handwriting Legibility Scale above) describes correct letter formation as playing a large part in legibility at speed; and that practice, practice and more practice is vital. Dr Prunty shared a memory of a study she learned about involving Year 5 classes, in five different schools, over the course of a week. ‘The researcher counted all of the words and looked at the quality of the vocabulary’, she said. ‘She found that one school had written an average of 250 words per pupil in the week, while another had produced 1600 words per pupil in the week. The school producing more words was producing better quality writing, using low-frequency words as vocabulary and were better on spelling.’ Thank you for sending in so many excellent pieces of work and thank you to the team of initial judges who have a huge task, which they dive into with undaunted enthusiasm. I am asked to make the final decisions on 20 for each class from the hundreds of entries we receive. Last year, I used letter formation and other handwriting rules (shape, size, slant, sitting on the line, spacing and joining) as my criteria for judging. I recommended that this year, teachers additionally focused on correctly drawn entry strokes if

writing a fully cursive script, pressure and correctly formed italic style, if used. I was pleased to see that there had been improvements all around. Entry strokes, for instance, started on the line, purely ascending to the beginning of the letter – they didn’t start in the air and descend to the writing line, before then rising up. The letter f was correctly formed much more often (not including the printed f that has no descender or ‘French’ style looped f). The vertical line between the ascender and descender was not ‘s’ shaped (please see below for the next step). Italic writing was less spikey this year and therefore legibility improved. Next year, don’t forget to go back to basics before starting the competition, remind your students of the handwriting rules and pay particular attention to: • Class A, 4 years: letter formation. There were quite a few incorrectly formed letters this year.

• Class A, 5 and 6 years: pressure on paper. Check your students pencil grips. Do they need to do more fine motor strengthening exercises and patterning work? • Class B, 7 and 8 years: size of ascenders and descenders – entry strokes must not start in the air and descend. • Class C, 9 and 10 years: formation of ‘s’ and ‘f’ (f should not look like a tall j with no arch/loop at the top) – entry strokes must not start in the air and descend. • Class D, 11, 12 and 13 years: formation of ‘f’ (‘f’ should not look like a tall ‘j’ with no arch/loop at the top) – slants must be parallel and trunk heights must be consistent. • Class E, staff: formation of ‘r’ before exit – slants must be parallel. As last year, it was a pleasure to be given this task of choosing the final winners and I look forward to 2020!

Amanda will be publishing two further works with Scholastic Publishers next March 2020 as part of their new Early Years ‘First Learning’ series. The two titles are: First Writing and Handwriting The aim is to provide practical activities for parents to do with their pre-school/early years child at home. There will be some notes on each page to explain the content but, essentially, the books will have less teaching information on each page than in the previous publications. This new series is aimed at parents, and may be useful for teachers to recommend. The pages will be bright and colourful to appeal to the younger audience and one or two activities per page. Amanda’s previous books, Scholastic’s English Skills: Handwriting, Teachers’ Books and Workbooks will act as the basis of these next books.

NATIONAL SCHOOLS’ HANDWRITING COMPETITION 2019 WINNERS AGE 4 1st A nonymous – Birchfield School, Wolverhampton 2nd Taya De Silva – St Cedd’s, Chelmsford 3rd Ayva Winter – Elliot Park School, Minster

AGE 8 1st Evie Marsden – The Gleddings, Halifax 2nd Isla P – Copley Junior School, Doncaster 3rd O yesola Ogundipe – St Bernard’s, Slough

AGE 12 1st Roxana Yousef – St Faith’s, Cambridge 2nd Eva Daniells – Beechwood Park School, St Albans 3rd St Michael’s – Burghclere

AGE 5 1st Lyra Platts – St Cedd’s, Chelmsford 2nd Dhanni Aggarwal – St Bernard’s, Slough 3rd Pippa Hoyle – St Faith’s, Cambridge

AGE 9 1st Shaan Talwar – St Bernard’s, Slough 2nd Stanley S – Copley Junior School, Doncaster 3rd A rmaan Kalia – St Bernard’s, Slough

AGE 13 1st A nnie Reed – St Faith’s, Cambridge 2nd Lucy Short – St Faith’s, Cambridge 3rd Jack Joseph Keppel – Eaton House, The Manor Prep School, London

AGE 6 1st A nonymous – Milbourne Lodge, Esher 2nd Daisy Ingle – Hall School, Wimbledon 3rd Scarlett Wang – Hall School, Wimbledon

AGE 10 1st Tashika Arora – Oxford High Prep School 2nd Koyenum Adoh – St Bernard’s, Slough 3rd Ryan Stubbs – St Faith’s, Cambridge

STAFF 1st Miss L Passant – Copley Junior School, Doncaster 2nd Sophie Major – Eaton House, The Manor Prep School, London 3rd Olivia Campbell – Eaton House, The Manor Prep School, London

AGE 7 1st Shreya Bhan-Mistry – The Gleddings, Halifax 2nd Anonymous – Kensington Prep School 3rd Margaux Ivanovic – Oxford High Prep School

AGE 11 1st Connie M – Copley Junior School, Doncaster 2nd A my Montgomerie – Eaton House, The Manor Prep School, London 3rd Nimra Hanif – The Gleddings, Halifax

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Being an international school teacher Dr Lucy Bailey discusses being an international school teacher in her debut book Third Culture Teacher… People coming to teach in international schools often anticipate that they will experience a degree of culture shock in adjusting to a new country, but do not realise that they will have professional culture shock at their new workplace as well. However, the processes and procedures followed by an international school, even if it claims to be a ‘British’ or ‘American’ school overseas can sometimes be very different to those followed in the UK or the US. Some researchers report teachers breaking contract and returning home early more because of this work culture shock than because of the difficulty of being in the wider culture. Let’s begin by talking about what happens in the classroom. My research1 shows that teachers working in an international school for the first time may feel ‘deskilled’ because they find that their well-tested teaching approaches do not work in the new environment. They may be working in a classroom where the majority of students do not speak English as a first language. Their jokes and cultural references may not be understood. Whereas before they had to focus on quietening a classroom down, in parts of Asia the main challenge may be to get students talking and asking questions. 1 Bailey, L. (2015). ‘Reskilled and “running ahead”: Teachers in an international school talk about their work’, Journal of Research in International Education, 14(1), pp. 3-15.

The teachers I have interviewed over the years have identified many things that are different about teaching in an international school environment. Some teachers have said that they feel uncertain about what it is acceptable to say or to wear in the new environment. For example, in some countries you might not be

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able to touch on political or religious issues, or you may have to be careful about the resources you use in the classroom; this might make you feel that you are not teaching your students in the way that you would like. Teachers I met in Dubai reported feeling guilty that they couldn’t expose their students to The Diary of

Anne Frank because any reference to the Holocaust or to the State of Israel is not acceptable there. Increasing numbers of international school students do not speak English as their first language. The proportion varies, but in some schools where the children are host country nationals (they are attending an international school within their own country), you can expect your students to all share a language but to have varying levels of English. Some teachers may find it very challenging at first to teach in such a situation. You should certainly consider undergoing research and/or training in best practices for delivery of subject content in a child’s second or third language. In such situations, you will need to see yourself as a language teacher as well as a physics, chemistry or geography teacher. In international schools populated mainly by expatriates, the children may have high levels of English, but other challenges may surface for teachers. One particular issue can be if the children have experienced many changes of school. Here, an important part of your role will be supporting the children through these transitions – not just the children who move, but the children left behind who have had to say goodbye to successive groups of friends. International schools vary in how well they support children during both arrival and departure; again, this may be something you find yourself needing to research in more depth if you decide to take up a post in such a school. Aside from these challenges, the benefits of teaching in international schools are plentiful. First, working in these often means having to spend less time on behaviour management. Of course, this is not always the case, and you need to research carefully the behaviour management norms in your new country. However, one British international school principal I interviewed in Malaysia saw this as the main difference between teaching in an international school and teaching back home:

‘I think those who come straight out from England, the thing they find the hardest is in England and specifically secondary teachers, they have a 55-minute lesson and they may spend 15 minutes on behaviour management in England. Here, they need to plan an hour and 20 minutes because the children will get it done in the 55 minutes. That is the thing we say to them. This is what will be different; you will be here to teach, and you can be adventurous, and you can try different things because the children will be so well behaved. And that’s the biggest difference.’ Second, many international schools have classrooms that are bursting with high achievers; the same principal explained that 90% of her students achieved SAT results that would have placed them in the top 5% of students in the UK: ‘So these students who in England would be high flyers, we were actually categorizing them as our bottom students. And that I feel is my challenge now in a successful school. We are letting down a number of students and making them feel they are inadequate.’ A teacher in another international school I spoke to similarly explained the high pressure that students placed on themselves to succeed: ‘The thing that is a little scary sometimes is the amount of pressure that students place on themselves. You know, this one girl, she gets her mid-term assessments, she gets a B and she starts crying hysterically. And I said, a B is really great, a B is great. And she said, miss, we’re not Bsians; we’re Asians.’ Most of the teachers I have met in international schools have found that after an initial period of uncertainty, the opportunity to learn new skills is exciting. In parts of Asia, a maths teacher may find themselves teaching mathematical concepts that are too complex to be covered at school level in the UK. Besides, as one of the teachers I researched told me: ‘After

a while you realise teenagers are just teenagers everywhere.’ She had been nervous at first, but gradually realised that her old skills continued to be useful. Once you have got your grip on what is happening in your classroom, you may have to adjust your expectations of the school management when you work in an international school. One teacher I interviewed had arrived at a school just before the start of the year and been horrified to realise that there was no curriculum in her subject for Years 7 to 9. She needed to write it from scratch in her first two weeks. Other teachers struggled with recurrent problems with teaching technologies, and never knowing when the electricity or internet wouldn’t work. On the other hand, some teachers had felt that their schools were much better resourced than schools back home. They talked about amazing sports facilities, performance spaces, dance studios, and equipment that they could only have dreamed about before. The challenges you will face in your job will partly depend on the cultural composition of the school where you work. If you are British and you take a job in a British international school in Europe with mainly British students, teachers and leadership, you will experience fewer cultural challenges than if you take a job in a school that has mainly Thai students, a range of nationalities among the staff, and Singaporean owners. However, it is best to assume that there will be differences and challenges everywhere; in fact, some teachers report finding these harder in a school that they had expected to be the same as they had experienced before than when they had a job where they knew things would be done totally differently. Although it will undoubtedly be frustrating when you encounter these differences, they are part of the experience. Third Culture Teacher is now available on johncattbookshop.com

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The SATIPS Broadsheets are a superb practical resource for schools. The editor of the Physical Education Broadsheet is Liz Durden-Myers. The editor of the ICT Broadsheet is Mark Templeman.

Physical education Welcome to the autumn edition of the SATIPS PE Broadsheet. We hope that you have had a great start to the academic year. We are always on the lookout for new contributors and articles, so if you have something you want to share please get in contact, and we can get your article in our next edition. Liz Durden-Myers, Editor (liz@scholary.com or @LizzyMyers) 20% off new physical literacy book for a limited time only Dr. Margaret Whitehead has released her second physical literacy book entitled physical literacy across the world. Anyone interested in physical literacy can purchase the book with 20% discount using the link (www. routledge.com/Physical-Literacyacross-the-World-1st-Edition/ Whitehead/p/book/9781138571556) and code (S507). Year 6 pupils from Enfield crowned ‘Ultimate PE Lesson’ winners Three Year 6 pupils from Eversley Primary School in Enfield have been crowned the winners of the Premier League Primary Stars ‘Ultimate PE

Lesson’ competition run with EA SPORTS. Capitalising on the popularity of the motion capture PE resources created by EA SPORTS last season, the competition challenged pupils aged 8-11 (Key Stage 2) to create the ‘Ultimate PE lesson.’ The lesson had to be fun, demonstrate best practice for different movements, and identify key learning points for pupils and teachers.

Year 6 teacher, Juliette Douglas-Saul from Eversley Primary School said: ‘Sport is really important in our school and it was such a brilliant opportunity for the girls to have this experience.’ Liverpool footballer Joe Gomez said: ‘PE was my favourite lesson at school and if I wasn’t a footballer I would have liked to be a PE teacher, so to be involved in the programme is great. PE teaches so many important skills, not just physical, but also life lessons like teamwork. Demonstrating those skills using in-game FIFA characters is a great way of engaging young kids.’ Nick Perchard, Head of Community at the Premier League, said:

Evie, Daisy and Sumpeng, from Eversley Primary School designed a netball-inspired lesson covering throwing, catching, marking and intercepting. The winning trio headed to Liverpool to film their lesson alongside Liverpool and England star Joe Gomez, using the same motion capture technology used to create the movements of players in games such as FIFA 19.

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“The free online Premier League Primary Stars programme resources are created to inspire young people to have fun while they learn. Having EA SPORTS support some of the PE resource development using their innovative technology has meant we can enhance their learning in an exciting and engaging way.” The new ‘Ultimate PE lesson’ resource is now available for teachers to access for free online via the Premier League Primary Stars website. Premier League Primary Stars provides fun, free, and

easy-to-use curriculum-linked teaching resources for primary schools across England and Wales with the goal of inspiring children to learn, be active and develop important life skills. New Ofsted Education Inspection Framework Whilst there are a number of minor changes to the new Ofsted Inspection Framework the most significant change is how Ofsted determine the overall effectiveness schools. The overall effectiveness will now be determined by the following four areas. • Quality of education (teaching, learning, assessment and outcomes) • Behaviour and attitudes (learning environment, behaviour and welfare) • Personal development (holistic and responsive curriculum) • Leadership and management (policies, processes, organisation and vision) Each of these areas are considered to be the aspects that contribute towards an effective school. But the criteria above is not evenly weighted. What does this mean for PE? When this inspection framework comes into effect, PE will of course be scrutinised in relation to the quality of education. This will include the quality of teaching, learning, assessment and outcomes achieved within the subject area. This is no different than before, but under the new framework PE may also receive more attention and therefore value in relation to providing the foundations for developing positive behaviours and attitudes and in fostering personal development. This is encouraging in that it might actually provide the vehicle for the

elevation of value and status of the wider benefits of core physical education. Rather than just an emphasis on examination PE and outcomes. PE has a real opportunity under this new inspection framework to showcase what it is able to achieve in not only providing high quality education within its own subject area but also how an effective physical education offering can actually underpin and support behaviour, attitudes and personal development. Watch this space! Next edition If you would like to contribute to the broadsheet, please submit your article by sending it to liz@scholary. com. If you require more information, support or for guidance please feel free to contact the editor via email. Have a great autumn term and we look forward to sending out our Spring edition in January. Liz Durden-Myers, Editor

ICT Schools need to make cyber security a priority Cyber attacks are no less frequent or less severe in schools. In fact, they seem to be increasing in prevalence each year as instances of breaches in schools are starting to be widely reported. In recent months we’ve seen news of ransom attacks causing financial damage – like schools that have lost teachers’ documents and in senior schools course work has been lost to cybercriminals and malware attacks. One technology specialist in education has said 20% of schools reported they had been a victim of

cyber attacks. He said: ‘I would say it’s actually under-reported... a lot of schools don’t realise they have to report each cyber attack, and some don’t report them to try and reduce reputational damage.’ The more worrying breaches are where student safety is compromised. Schools are entrusted to safeguard their students but a weak cybersecurity infrastructure can put them at risk. This was made all too clear when the CCTV in several schools in the country was allegedly breached, and the footage reportedly live-streamed on the internet. It’s an unfortunate fact that, while cybersecurity in schools is necessary to protect against financial loss and prevent disruption, it’s also crucial to protect students from harm. Which is why prep schools needs to do everything it can to ensure their systems are protected. Why schools are a target for cybercrime There are three key reasons why schools are a target for cybercriminals. With schools venues varying in size, purpose, and stature, the motives for attack can vary too. For example, what might be a common threat for major businesses might not be an issue for smaller prep schools. So, each prep school needs to evaluate the risk and understand what data is vulnerable to unauthorised access. DDoS attacks Distributed Denial of Service, or ‘DDoS attacks’ are a common type of attack on all types of schools. This is where the attacker’s motive is to cause widespread disruption to the institute’s network, having a negative effect on productivity. This can be

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a relatively easy attack for amateur cybercriminals to carry out, especially if the target network is poorly protected. There have been instances of students or teachers successfully carrying out a DDoS attack, with motives ranging from simply wanting a day off, to protesting the way a complaint was handled. Data theft This is another attack affecting all kinds of schools because they all hold student and staff data, including sensitive details like names and addresses. This type of information can be valuable to cybercriminals for several reasons, whether they plan to sell the information to a third party or use it as a bargaining tool and extort money. The concerning aspect of this type of attack is that hackers can go unnoticed for long periods of time. Financial gain Another motive for hackers carrying out an attack on a school is for financial gain. This might not be as high a risk for some schools, but with prep schools handling a large amount of student fees, they are a prime target for cybercriminals. Today, it’s usual for students or parents to pay fees via an online portal, often transferring large sums of money to cover a whole term or year of tuition. Without proper protection or preparation on the part of the schools, this presents a weak spot for cybercriminals to intercept. With these three motives in mind, the way in which hackers carry out an attack on school networks can further help us understand how to protect them.

The top three most common ways school networks are breached

Top tips for securing your IT network

Phishing Phishing scams often take the form of an email or instant message and are designed to trick the user into trusting the source in a fraudulent attempt to access their credentials – whether that’s sensitive student data or confidential research. This type of attack is highlighted as the top threat facing higher education venues, suggesting hackers regularly target the sector using the method.

With the challenges of poor funding and a lack of resources, schools should focus their efforts on minimising the risk of a cyber attack, rather than a reactive attitude after one has happened.

Ransomware/malware Also in the top three cyber threats highlighted by the report, ransomware and malware attacks prevent users from accessing the network or files and cause disruption. More advanced forms of this threat can see attackers hold files to ransom. Ransomware or malware typically infects devices using a Trojan, a file or attachment disguised to look legitimate. However, some ransomware have been shown to travel between devices without user interaction. Lack of awareness The third threat listed by schools is a lack of awareness or accidents. This could be on the part of staff or students who aren’t sufficiently trained to practice good ‘cyber hygiene’ or accidentally compromise the network. Despite taking on different appearances, human error plays a key part in each of these three cybersecurity threats. However, with better overall cybersecurity training, and awareness on the motives and method of attackers, Prep Schools could better protect themselves against cyber attacks.

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Training Providing basic training for all users of your network is one way to mitigate the effects of a lack of funding and resource. This can be something as simple as sharing a handbook with staff and students including information about what to look out for, and tips for practising good ‘cybersecurity hygiene’. Giving people the necessary information to protect the network at all access points, could reduce the number of incidents caused by human error. Authentication Another cost-effective way to protect the safety of your school and its students is to implement a userfriendly multi-factor authentication (MFA) tool. Including that extra security step for users who are logging onto the network will help prevent unauthorised access. An easy-to-use platform should be high on your list of things to look for in an MFA provider. If users can use a platform selfsufficiently, there’s less likely to be a need for administrative support, so education facilities can save on overheads without compromising network security. These are just some of the costeffective ways to protect your School from different forms of unauthorised access. With the increasing frequency and potential severity that cyberattacks pose to schools, it’s crucial that Senior Leadership Teams can work to find a solution to these challenge.

expectations or what “works”. Writin staff to reflect on their classroom

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to the needs of teaching staff in prep schools. to the needs of teaching staff in Prep Schools. • SATIPS is absolutely concerned with catering for staff ranging •from SATIPS concernedortoSenior cater Leadership for staff ranging NQTistoabsolutely Head of Department Team. from NQT to Head of Department or Senior Leadership Team. We also aim to cover all age ranges from Nursery to Key Stage 3. We also aim to cover all age ranges from Nursery to Key Stage 3. SATIPS offers a four part core of activities and support: SATIPS offers a four-part core of activities and support:

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Broadsheet articles are usually written by practising prep school teachers with occasional contributions fromare leaders in their field.by This ensures Prep that whatever the article is Broadsheet articles usually written practising School teachers with about the reader can be certain he orin shetheir will field. not only share subject andwhatever age-group occasional contributions fromthat leaders This ensures that, relevance but also cultural assumptions: e.g. parental expectations or what ‘works’. the article is about, the reader can be certain that he or she will not only share Writing and articles for the Broadsheets encourages staff to reflect on their subject age-group relevance but also cultural assumptions: eg classroom parental practice and curriculum expectations or what “works”. Writing articlesdevelopment. for the Broadsheets encourages staff to reflect on their classroom practice and curriculum development. Broadsheets are edited by prep school teachers who, with proven track records their field, on teachers the role ofwho, subject ambassador. Broadsheetsin are edited byhave Preptaken School with proven track records in their field, have taken on the role of subject ambassador. Further information about the Broadsheets can be found on the website. For further information about the Broadsheets, go to http://satips.org/ and, for sight of recent editions, Courses follow theand links to “Specimen Broadsheets”. INSET SATIPS offers a wide range of training courses, conference and other in-service opportunities. Courses and INSET We can advise on and facilitate INSET trainings days for schools in most areas of the country. SATIPS offers a wide range of training Courses are designed to cover a widecourses, range of Conferences interests. and other In-Service opportunities. Attention is given to course feedback which helps to shape our programme. Courses can be accessed on training the web-site at http://satips.org/courses/ School requests for is particularly encouraged.

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Broadsheets are edited by Prep School in their field, have taken on th Why should my school be in membership? Competitions, Exhibitions Competitions, exhibitions and and events eventsfor forpupils pupils For further information about the Broa SATIPS offers a variety of pupil-focussed events. Over many years Schools SATIPS offers a variety of pupil-focused events. Over many years schools have have • SATIPS offers a breadth of training, networking and supportive enjoyedenjoyed entering their pupils intoevents that hold a anation-wide attraction with entering their pupils in events that how nationwide attraction opportunities schools in membership. standards. Currently, these events are: sight ofinrecent follow the with high standards. These events include: • It is the high ONLY organisation Britain which iseditions, dedicated Support and training in Prep Schools Support and training in Prep Schools

to the needs of teaching staff in Prep Schools. • SATIPS Challenge Knowledge • SATIPS ChallengeAnnual (annual General general knowledge quiz)quiz • National Handwriting Competition, held in conjunction • Nationalconcerned Handwriting • SATIPS is absolutely toCompetition cater for staff ranging with Cambridge University • Poetry Competition from NQT to Head of Department or Senior Press Leadership Team. • Poetry Competition • SATIPSKI We also aim to cover all age ranges from Nursery to Key Stage 3. • SATIPSKI the annual Ski competition • Annual Art Exhibition held at Hemel Hempstead indoor skiand centre SATIPS offers a four-part core of activities support: • Challenge Harry Paget (pagethar@papplewick.org.uk) • Annual Art Exhibition • National Handwriting Competition Paul Jackson (eajackson22@hotmail.com) Broadsheets • Poetry Competition Stephen Davies (shd@bryanston.co.uk) Full details of all these events areaatwide http://satips.org/competitions/ These are published• SATIPSKI each term, covering range of curriculum interests, as Gillian Gilyead (gilliangilyead@aol.com) well as specific concerns: eg Senior Management, Special Needs and Pre-Prep. • Annual Art Exhibition Alayne Parsley (A.Parsley@cheltenhamcollege.org) “Prep School” Magazine Full details of all these events are at www.satips.org/competitions “Prep School” is published three timesbya practising year. It offers readers Prep Schools Broadsheet articles are usually written Prep Schoolinteachers with a broad range of authoritative articles in ontheir educational matters with anwhatever emphasis occasional contributions from leaders field. This ensures that, Prep School Magazine on issues that concern all Prep Schools. the article is about, the reader can be certain that he or she will not only share ‘Prep School’ is published three times a year. It offers readers in prep schools a subject and age-group relevance but also cultural assumptions: eg parental broad range of authoritative articles onfurther educational issues. Whator next? seeking information? expectations whatJoining “works”.Satips Writingor articles for the Broadsheets encourages We are proud of what SATIPS offers. With all Council members and Officers staff to reflect on their classroom practice and curriculum development. stillWhat working in Prep Schools we believe we understand theinformation? demands on staff next? Joining SATIPS or seeking further working schools andteachers are to support them. We areare proud of what SATIPS offers. Withhere allwho, Council members and Officers Broadsheets edited byinPrep School with proven track records stillinworking in prep schools believe we understand the demands on staff their field, have takenweon the role of subject ambassador. Please working do contact us Broadsheets, if you would more information in school and are herelike to support them. For further information about the go to http://satips.org/ and, for or if we can be of any assistance. sight of recent editions, follow the links to “Specimen Broadsheets”. Chairman Chairman David Kendall Courses and INSET Lisa Newbould chair@satips.org SATIPS offers a wide range of training courses, Conferences chair@satips.org and other In-Service opportunities. Director of Education Courses can be accessed on the web-site at http://satips.org/courses/ Director Education Paulof Jackson Paulrange Jackson Courses are designed to cover a wide of interests. Attention is given to eajackson22@hotmail.com education@satips.org course feed-back which helps to shape our programme. School requests for training isDirector particularly encouraged. of Training Director of Training Sarah Kirby-Smith Sarahvetted. Kirby-Smith Course presenters are very carefully Our aim is always to make use of training@satips.org training@satips.org known experts in their field who are also first-class presenters. Members schools receiveGeneral a substantial discount on course fees. Secretary General Secretary Bill Ibbetson-Price Alec Synge gensec@satips.org GenSec@satips.org

Courses a SATIPS offers a wide range of and other In-Serv Courses can be accessed on the we

Courses are designed to cover a wide course feed-back which helps to shap training is particu

Course presenters are very carefully v known experts in their field wh Members schools receive a sub

articles for the Broadsheets encourages SATIPS and directory ractice and courses curriculum development. Officers

teachers who, with proven track records he role of subject ambassador. adsheets, go to http://satips.org/ and, for Members of Council e links to “Specimen Broadsheets”. Chairman David Kendall chair@satips.org

Finance Director Stephen Coverdale finance@satips.org

Vice Presidents

General Secretary Bill Ibbetson-Price gensec@satips.org

Director of Training Sarah Kirby-Smith sarahlks@gmail.com Director of Education Paul Jackson eajackson22@hotmail.com

Lisa Newbould (lanewbould@gmail.com)

Paul Baker (bakerpabs@gmail.com)

Emma Goodbourn (nedgoodbourn@yahoo.co.uk)

Ben Moir (benmoir@hotmail.com)

Brenda Marshall (brendamarshall@supanet.com)

Paul Mason (paulmason@crossfields.com)

Trevor Mulryne & Richard Tovey MBE

Mark Middleton (markmiddleton@orwellpark.org)

and INSET SATIPS Broadsheet editors f training courses, Conferences vice opportunities. eb-site at http://satips.org/courses/ Alayne Parsley (a.parsley@cheltenhamcollege.org)

Art Jan Miller, Moreton Hall (millerj@moretonhall.com) Emiliana Damiani, Pinewood School (emilianadamiani@pinewoodschool.co.uk) Classics Nicholas Richards, Christ Church College (richards.n@cccs.org.uk) Design Technology Vacant Drama Stacie Bates, Walhampton School (s.bates@walhampton.com) English Charlotte Weatherley, Knighton House (charlotte.e.weatherley@gmail.com) Geography Ben Mono, Eagle House (ben.mono@eaglehouseschool.com) History Matthew Howorth, Twickenham Prep (mhoworth@twickenhamprep.co.uk) ICT Mark Templeman, Brockhurst and Marlston House Schools (m.templeman@brockmarl.org) Mathematics Matthew Reames (mreames@gmail.com) Modern Foreign Languages Richard Smith (tricks6543@gmail.com) Music Claire Tomsett, Wetherby Prep (claire.tomsett-rowe@wetherbyprep.co.uk) Mark Penrose, Bilton Grange (msp@biltongrange.co.uk) Pastoral Development & PSHCE Jenny Burrett, Wishford Schools (jenburrett@gmail.com) Physical Education & Games Liz Durden-Myers (liz.myers@scholary.com) Pre-prep Emma Smith, Stamford Junior School (headjs@ses.lincs.sch.uk) RE Vacant Science Luke Busfield, Ludgrove (emmaandluke154@btinternet.com) Senior management Christopher Parsons, Norwich Lower School (c-parsons@norwich-school.org.uk) Special Needs/Learning Development Claire Thurlby, St Faith’s, Cambridge (cthurlby@stfaith’s.co.uk) Classroom Management Mark Philpott, The Elms, Trent College (markypotts1@yahoo.co.uk)

range of interests. Attention is given to pe our programme. School requests for ularly encouraged.

vetted. Our aim is always to make use of events ho areCourses alsoand first-class presenters. bstantial discount on course fees. A selection of forthcoming courses from October 2019 onwards:

30/09/19 07/10/19 14/10/19 16/10/19 18/10/19 08/11/19 18/11/19

Outstanding Teaching in Maths Critical Thinking & Problem Solving Strategies for using iPads/Tablets in Class Teaching Preparing for Art Scholarship Improving Pupil Progress by Metacognition & Self-regulation Gender Differences in the Classroom Introducing the Flipped Classroom

London London London London London London London

For more information on this terms SATIPS courses please see the SATIPS website or contact the SATIPS Course Director These courses will run as training days in London, Bristol, Birmingham or York. The cost of the day courses includes follow-up project based work and one to one feedback. They are also available as inset days. Bespoke training packages for schools are available with discount for more than one course booked. For more information please email the team on training@satips.org or telephone 07584 862263.

PREP SCHOOL Reflecting the best in the prep & junior school world

Viewpoint Join Dr Peter Kent as he reflects on communication in his school newsletter The Weekly Word This week’s article serves as a follow-up to what I wrote last week. You may recall that as part of my discussion of the beginnings of The Weekly Word I made the comment that ‘communication really matters’. Whilst not rowing back from that statement, I think it is worth unpacking it further. In particular, I wanted to explain the important distinction between the effective communication I wrote about last week and instant communication. Much of our culture offers 24/7 responsiveness, communication of the type that did not exist when we established The Weekly Word over 20 years ago. Believe it or not, we recently had a complaint that an email sent at 11pm had not received a reply by 9am the next day. I make no apologies for saying that schools are not about instant communication. Very often enquiries require investigation or further information. There is also the need for thoughtful reflection before embarking on a course of action, and instant communication usually mitigates against this. Whilst not in favour of instant communication, I do agree that it needs to be timely. We will often tell those contacting the school that we cannot provide an instant response, but that we will reply when we have looked into the issues raised with us. I think that this is a sensible way forward, as long as that follow-up does take place within a reasonable space of time. I sometimes read emails that use words such as ‘urgent’, ‘early’ and ‘exceptional’ to convey the sender’s view that a more or less instant reply is required. In practice, we have to prioritise and take a sensible judgment on what can be done and over what period of time. Most of those working in school have a core role that involves teaching and spending time with the pupils who have to be their first responsibility. Hence it is not surprising that other tasks have to be secondary to this central purpose. Several things follow from the comments I have made above. I continue to be very cautious about the way in which the school uses social media. I feel that email and our website play an important role in communication, but so does the use of the telephone, the writing of letters and above all the need to actually speak to people. Perhaps my views are old fashioned but I would argue that instead they are recognition that effective communication should be measured, thoughtful and worthwhile. Dr Peter Kent has worked at Lawrence Sheriff School Rugby since 1997, becoming First Deputy and then Headteacher. During his 17 years as a headteacher, Peter has also worked part time for the National College for School Leadership (NCSL). Peter became President of ASCL (Association of School and College Leaders), the 18,000-strong professional association for secondary school leaders, in September 2014, returning to full time headship in September 2015.

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