Preparing for exams

I have spent a fascinating hour this morning listening to Radio 5 Live. The discussion was on revision. How much is enough? Should pupils be put under pressure to do well in exams? 

Barnaby Lenon suggested, in a blog for the ISC, that pupils should aim to revise for seven hours each day in preparation for GCSEs. To say that this has provoked a strong reaction is an understatement. Some agree with Barnaby; more, though, seem to feel that this is way beyond the capabilities of most teenagers. 

Exams can be stressful, they put pupils under pressure, certainly. What we must ask ourselves is, is this necessarily a bad thing? Providing the right sort of support is in place, putting a bit of pressure on pupils can help to get the very best out of them. I am concerned that if they never face pressure whilst at school, how will they begin to cope with life after school. What is school if it is not preparation for life? 

There are those in the prep school world who no longer believe in the benefits of Common Entrance. They don't feel that making pupils learn for these exams is in their best interests. I would suggest that the debate over how to prepare for GCSEs is an excellent argument for the benefits Common Entrance in prep schools. Our very name 'preparatory' tells us exactly what we should be doing. 

This set of exams, at the end of their prep school journey, is fantastic preparation for the public exams they will face at their senior schools. They will learn how to revise, how to cope with the pressure and understand how hard work reaps rewards. One young person on the radio this morning said that this was the first set of important exams she had taken. This does not surprise me but surely this is an argument for a rigorous and intellectually demanding set of exams earlier on, which can help prepare pupils.

Children also need to understand that sometimes we have to make sacrifices if we want to be successful. It may be that the Easter holiday before their exams is not the most fun holiday they will have but I would argue that this is a price worth paying in order to get those good grades that will set them up for their future. 

I am very aware that we need to support pupils' mental health.  Removing challenges from their lives, though, may protect them when they are young but it does not prepare them for adulthood. We need to build resilience and give them strategies to cope with stressful situations. We cannot do this if they are never faced with such situations. 

Top tips for Common Entrance Revision

• set a clear timetable for your revision - try to have a routine that you follow each day
  
• break down each syllabus into small, manageable chunks
• tackle one chunk at a time so that you can see that you have really learnt it
• take regular breaks - work for 45 minutes at a time
• give yourself rewards - once you have learnt a chunk really well, tell yourself that you have earnt 15 minutes on the XBox or a kickabout in the garden
• don't just stare at a page of notes - the process of writing helps you learn
• test yourself regularly or get a friend or family member to test you

For Common Entrance, three hours a day is enough. Try to do two hours in the morning and one in the evening.

Children in Britain spend just 16 minutes a day outside

Geoff Hurst has, today in the Times, written about a study produced by The Office of National Statistics, which states that children in Britain today spend an average of just sixteen minutes a day outside. This includes time spent outside at weekends.

This is a shocking statistic and one that I think we should all be very worried about. One of the causes of this is said to be time spent on screens. If ever there was a compelling argument for boarding school education, then surely this is one. 

At Sunningdale, all the boys spend at least an hour playing sport every day, outside. During their mid-morning break, they are outside either playing in the woods, kicking a football around or playing some other game such as Eton Fives. In the evening there is a huge range of activities on offer such as art clubs, model making, fencing or judo. 

The boys have access to technology when it enhances their learning and they use Chromebooks, tablets and desktop computers for their work. They also use technology for emails and video calls when they need or want to. 

It is vital, though, that children learn to appreciate the outdoors, to understand the benefits of exercise and also to socialise with each other face to face. There is nothing quite like a boarding education for instilling these lifelong habits in today's children. 

Battle of Hastings Anniversary

Today we celebrate 950 years since the Battle of Hastings, the last time our shores were successfully invaded. In the latest issue of Independent School Parent magazine, we published an article about how we at Sunningdale bring this momentous event in British history to life for the boys.

Common Entrance Results

Our Common Entrance candidates have triumphed again. Following very good scholarship performances, with two Winchester scholars, we were left with 22 Common Entrance candidates.

I am delighted to say, first of all, that once again all our candidates passed, but they did a lot better than that. 

51% of all grades were A* or A, a fantastic achievement. In French and History, 70% of grades were A* or A! In Greek, 100% of all grades were A*-B and in five subjects, the average grade was an A. One boy was placed in the top 28 of boys who took Common Entrance and this earns him a starred pass.

Boys took CE to the following schools:

• Eton
• Harrow
• Stowe
• Tonbridge
• Radley
  
• Sherborne
• Uppingham
• Oundle
  
• Rugby
• Monkton Combe 

Manners - a thing of the past?

Is it just me or do manners and courtesy seem to be becoming things of the past?

Yesterday I was on a train back from a washed out T20 Blast game at Lords. There had been a derailment at Paddington and we were crammed in like sardines. People were still queueing to get on the train. One poor girl was crying because she felt so claustrophobic. 

Standing next to me were my son and my father-in-law. It was his first time to Lords and it was a bit of a damp squib. Also standing next to us was an elderly couple who must have been in their late seventies. They were on their way back to Swindon so had a long journey ahead of them. It certainly looked like they were going to have to stand all the way to Reading. 

There were a number of much younger people on the train, sitting very comfortably, looking on. Eventually I said, to no-one in particular, but certainly loud enough for people to hear, "Would someone offer this couple their seat?" The response was amazing

​. Nobody moved, books became more interesting, text messages more important, the scenery more fascinating. Eventually, after some prodding from another standing passenger, a girl stood up and offered her seat but it took some persuading. 

At Sunningdale, we believe that teaching good manners is an essential part of a good education. It costs nothing to be courteous and considerate but it leaves a lasting impression. I wish that all schools would place their importance right at the heart of the education of all children. It would make a real difference. 

Brexit: to leave or not to leave

I am so pleased that at the moment the senior boys in the school are really engaged on this topic. Of course they will not be able to vote on the 23rd of June but this decision will really affect their futures. 

On Tuesday the scholars held a fascinating debate with boys representing both sides. Their speeches were very well researched; they were informative, challenging and thought provoking. The boys who listened to the debate were so engaged and full of questions for the speakers. At the end there was a vote and it was remarkably close, much like the real thing will be, I suspect.

Last night journalist and former parent, Simon Heffer, came to present his views. He started with the history of the European Union, explaining how we have got to this point and he made a clear case for the Brexit campaign. The boys submitted questions before the talk started and they asked such intelligent questions that prompted excellent responses from Mr Heffer. A number of parents also attended the event. 

We are in the process of trying to find a speaker for the Remain campaign to ensure that we give the boys both sides of the debate.

It would be easy for prep school boys to ignore the whole subject but it is so important that they are aware of what is going on and take an active interest. 

Schools must aim higher than teaching to the test

I refer to today's article in the Telegraph by Bernice McCabe, Headmistress of North London Collegiate School (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2016/05/27/schools-must-aim-higher-than-teaching-to-the-test/).

Mrs McCabe is writing as the Headmistress of one of the most successful independent girls schools in the country so I think we can assume that she knows what she is talking about. 

It worries me that our education system is so focused on testing. We have heard so much recently about the pressures the SATs put on children as young as Year 2 and those that teach them. I have seen evidence of schools being forced to limit their timetables to English and maths and the occasional PE lesson. This is not education. This is not broadening children's minds. It is simply jumping through hoops to satisfy targets and produce data that those who make decisions on our education system seem to love so much.

Don't get me wrong, testing is a valuable part of a successful education but it should be a marker post on the way to gauge pupils' understanding. Our boys are about to do their Common Entrance exams. They have been working hard towards them and they are hoping to do well. I am a big fan of Common Entrance, I think it is an excellent way to mark the end of their prep school education and it gives the pupils something to aim for. 

There are those who criticise Common Entrance for being too narrow but surely this is down to those that are teaching the syllabus. Yes, if we were to stick only to what is likely to be in the papers, it would be very narrow, and very boring. Schools have a duty to ensure that the teachers do not do this. The aim is to instil a love of learning; an enthusiasm for the subjects that they study. Unfortunately this is unmeasurable, we cannot create data for the level of engagement. Occasionally we get letters or emails from former pupils who say what they are taking for A-Levels or reading at university and they sometimes say, "It all started with Mr / Mrs so-and-so at Sunningdale." For a teacher this is manna from heaven. 

We can all remember, as pupils, some of the lessons we most enjoyed were when the teacher went off on a complete tangent about something they were passionate about. When I was at school we used to play a game where we tried to see if we could get the teacher to go off on a 'red-herring'. Of course the teachers knew what they were doing and we were learning all the time and we loved it. 

It goes beyond the classroom too. I have always felt that league tables present such a narrow view of what constitutes a good school. Good schools get good results, yes, but they do this, as Mrs McCabe says, by building those important qualities that stay with the pupils for life. Confidence, resilience, self-discipline, courage, joie de vivre; these are the things that count. 

We must strive to get good results, we owe that to our pupils, but we need to remember that a child is so much more than the sum of his or her grades. 

Scholarships

The summer term is a busy time for senior school scholarships. Schools offer various different scholarship opportunities ranging from academic to sport, music, art, drama and DT among others.

This year we had  a bumper crop of scholarship candidates. I have always felt that for a boy even to be in the running for a scholarship is an achievement in itself. They have to show real dedication, make certain sacrifices and display a very high level of ability in their chosen field. 

This year three boys attempted academic scholarships to Winchester and Eton. Six boys sat art scholarships and one was entered for a Design Technology scholarship. 

To win an academic scholarship to a school like Winchester is a remarkably difficult thing to achieve. Boys need to be able to work hard but that on its own is not enough. They need to have an undefinable 'spark', something that sets them apart from the rest. They need to show academic curiosity, an ability to think outside the box and deal with things they may never have seen before. We are incredibly proud that the two boys who we entered for the Winchester Election we both successful. This is great credit not only to them, but also to the dedicated teachers who have led them on this path. 

Two boys were awarded art scholarships. The quality of their work was exceptional and it is wonderful to see examples displayed in the front hall of the school. They had to spend hours in the art room building up their portfolios and produce still life drawings on the day.

As I said, though, we are proud of all of the boys who reached this level. In recognition of all of their efforts, the whole school was awarded a half day to celebrate their achievements. It is now up to those that follow after them to try to emulate their success. 

Return of the blog!

After somewhat of a hiatus, I feel it is time to reinstate the blog.  So much happens both here and in the wider education sector and it seems a shame not to give Sunningdale's reaction to it. 

So keep an eye out for various comments in the future and feel free to engage with us!

Summer Term Update

What a fantastic first half of term! As some schools prepare to break for half term we are ploughing on in preparation for Common Entrance which is now just around the corner.

ACADEMIC LIFE

The CE boys have already had three exams, Maths listening, French listening and French speaking. They have got off to a good start which I hope will calm some nerves.  we have had the results from the UK MATHS CHALLENGE and the boys have done brilliantly. One boy has qualified for the Maths Olympiad and one missed out by one point! 6 boys qualified for Gold awards, two for silver and 9 for bronze. This is a terrific effort.

SPORT

It has been excellent that so little of our CRICKET season has been affected by rain. We have seen some excellent matches with very good performances throughout the school. The U11 age group have been the most successful so far and it is so good that we are putting out three teams at this age group and winning! A large number of boys also played cricket with the girls from Heathfield which was a huge success. 

The TENNIS team have been fairly dominant with three wins and one loss. They play with great continental flair. The Mothers and Sons tennis was also a great success.

The ATHLETICS team have had one match so far in which the u12 and u14 age groups narrowly lost but the U10 age group recorded an excellent win. They do battle again this afternoon.

MUSIC

As always, the music department has been very active. We had a wonderful organ recital from Mark James from St. Peter's, Ealing. The Informal Concert was a great success and tonight we are looking forward to the Solo Singing Competition and the House Singing Competition. One of the highlights of the term must be the joint choral ensemble with Heathfield. This was a very special evening and I hope it will be the first of many.

AOB

On top of all of this, two forms have been to La Vacquerie, the Monitors had dinner with us and were great company over cheeses fondue(!), next year's leavers had a Camp Out in the grounds, we had a brilliant Science Talk by the head of science at Bradfield, Va have been to the National Gallery, the Possibles went to Legoland and Thorpe Park, we have had chess matches, table tennis matches and golf matches and let's not forget the wonderful Charity Day.

Life in a boarding prep school is never dull!

A tale of two twins (2)

The photograph.

A tale of two twins

Flicking through the Old Etonian Association Review, I came across the following article which made me chuckle! I have quoted from the article.

Timothy Lee writes, "I was lucky enough to play in the OEAFC centenary mach at Highbury (courtesy of the then chairman Denis Hill-Wood) in May 1970, the night after Young England beat the England side before they went to the World Cup in Mexico. I attach a photo of our line up that day in front of the North Stand goal. I am the smallest in the line-up, considerably thinner than I am now, but one of my few claims to fame is that I scored our only goal at the Clock End in our 4-1 defeat. The team included two former headmasters of prep schools, Gerald Barber of Ludgrove and Nick Dawson of Sunningdale. Nick pulled up with a hamstring injury after about 20 minutes and hobbled off to be treated by the Arsenal masseur (later manager) Bertie Mee. It was in the days before substitutes, so we were very pleased that about 15 minutes later he came back on and ran up and down the wing with no problems whatsoever. It was only after the game had finished that we all realised that it wasn't Nick but his identical brother Tim who had come back on!"

Common Entrance. The gold standard at 13 plus

Exams and the way they are set and marked are a constant source of debate amongst teachers, heads and successive governments. The public exam system changes so regularly that it becomes nigh on impossible to compare the performance of different generations or to say whether standards of education are rising or falling.

The Common Entrance exam was introduced in 1903 to provide an examination for entrance into senior independent schools. The papers and the material covered now are, naturally, vastly different to then but the fact that Common Entrance represents the gold standard of independent prep school education has not.

Some have criticised Common Entrance for being too heavily based on factual learning and not allowing candidates to demonstrate a wider range of skills. In fact, the syllabi do allow for a far broader range of skills to be taught and tested. The style and content of CE papers is under constant review and pupils have ample opportunity to demonstrate creativity and analytical skills. They do also test the more able candidates who are just below scholarship level. There is a range of papers in different subjects and at different levels and the way in which the pupils are tested is also frequently discussed. The ISEB is currently looking at the possibility of online testing in Mandarin which is an exciting innovation.

It is essential that there should be a rigorous exam at the end of year 8. The pupils enjoy having something to work towards and they feel a huge sense of achievement when they receive their results.

The last two years at a good prep school, however, are about far more than just the Common Entrance exam at the end of it. It is down to the schools and the teachers to make sure that pupils receive a rounded education. Good teachers will use the Common Entrance syllabus as a foundation for their teaching and planning but will not be limited by it. They will give their pupils the opportunity to learn in different ways and in different environments. Schools will provide plenty of scope for music, drama and sport and they will encourage pupils to take on leadership roles and learn about themselves in the process.

What we must not do, is lower our expectations of our pupils. We need to give them some credit and allow them to be challenged so that they can show us, and themselves, what they are capable of.

Qualified Teachers

Much has been written on whether only qualified teachers should be allowed to teach in free schools. In the state sector, only teachers with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) are permitted to teach in schools. In the independent sector this is not the case. So which is the right approach?

I have always believed that good teaching is all about the personality of the teacher. Yes, it is essential that teachers have the appropriate subject knowledge but if they are unable to transmit that to their pupils, they are going to struggle. 

What is required is passion and enthusiasm for the subject and a desire to engender that enthusiasm in the pupils that you teach. A good teacher encourages their pupils to be involved in the learning process and to get excited about learning new things. Teacher training does not guarantee this. Teacher training can help hone skills but it cannot turn a boring teacher into an inspiring one.

At Sunningdale we look for the right people, whether or not they have. Most of the staff do have QTS when they join but in the last few years we have put a number of members of staff through teacher training while they have been with us and it has been hugely successful. 

I would encourage the government to leave the decision down to individual heads. No headmaster or headmistress wants a poor teacher on their staff so they are not going to employ just anyone. They should, though, have the freedom to find the best people for the job.

Private tutoring

There has been a lot of debate in the press about private tutoring. I thought it might be an idea to make Sunningdale's position clear.

There is no doubt that over the last few years there has been a significant rise in the amount of  pupils receiving private tutoring. There has also been a significant increase in the cost of such tutoring.

Tutoring can be a very successful way of supporting a child who is struggling to grasp a particular topic or a particular subject. It certainly has its place and one to one tuition can make a difference.

The problem occurs when tutors are asked to hothouse pupils to get them in to certain schools. I don't see how this can be a good idea. What matters is that pupils attend the right schools for them, not the schools that certain parents feel have the right name. 

If a child can only get into a school with the help of a tutor then they will need the support of a tutor to remain at that school. If this is the case, they will miss out on so much of what the school has to offer. Children go to independent schools for more than just the academic side of life and if they are spending hours with tutors then there is little point in them being there in the first place.

So my thoughts are simple. Use tutoring wisely but overuse it at your child's peril.

Dangers of advertising

Today's telegraph has a very interesting article on advertising to under eleven year-olds.

Ban advertising aimed at primary school children

I think that this is so valid. Today's children are too obsessed with possessions and there is so much competition to have the latest gadget, wear clothes with the 'right' brand names and go on holiday to the smartest places. 

It is so sad that children need to be thinking like that so young. We should be providing memorable experiences for them, not disposable gadgets that will be long forgotten when they look back on their formative years.

This is one of the reasons that we do not allow all these things at Sunningdale. We want them to have the chance to have proper childhoods, we do not want them to be subject to peer pressure and we want them to develop lasting friendships and have enduring memories.

Letter Writing - a lost art?

One of the things that we still do at Sunningdale is to ask the boys to write letters home on a Sunday morning. I think that this is such a valuable thing to be doing because people are writing far fewer leters than they used to. 

Communication is now so easy with mobile phones, email, Skype etc. This means that there is far less reason to write a letter which is a huge shame. We have letters from some of the greatest figures in history and they provide such a rich insight into life in previous eras. Some of the greatest romances can be remembered through published letters. I remember writing childish letters to girls I liked with SWALK on the back! Now communication is by email or, even worse, text message. 

I think that parents love to receive letters from their sons. My mother has kept the ones I sent home from school. I also know that the boys here love receiving letters. I also remember very clearly being handed a list by my father to write down presents I received at birthdays or Christmas and my parents checked that I had written the letters. If we spend Christmas with my parents now we still get a list and a pencil!!

The art of writing a letter, and addressing an envelope properly is high on the agenda here at Sunningdale and that is how I believe it should be.

Football

Really proud of the 1st XI today. They played really well. 2-2 wasn't
a true reflection on the game. They dominated throughout, particularly
during the 2nd half.

The U9 teams continued their excellent run with an 8-0 and a 1-0 win.

Sent from my iPhone

Long Leave

The first half of term has flown by and I cannot believe that Long Leave begins on Friday. It seem like only yesterday that term started. We have all been so incredibly busy.

Last Thursday, the Sunningdale / Summer Fields meeting took place and it was a huge success. The speakers, Stephen Robinson and Rawle Beckles, were excellent and certainly thought-provoking and we have received some excellent letters from those who attended. It is such a good thing for us to be doing at Sunningdale and I so enjoyed hosting it in the new Army Hut Theatre which looked amazing.

Just another normal night in the dorms?!