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.