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?!

Eton Assessment

Had a really good day at Eton today when I took 8 boys for assessment.
Eton were playing fives against Harrow and lots of our Old Boys were
playing on both sides.

I also bumped into former colleagues from Harrow who are now teaching
at Eton and many Eton beaks.

I managed to introduce the boys to the Headmaster and Registrar as
well so a good day all round.

Army Hut