School can feel something like a “gigantic test-taking factory”, in the words of one article I read recently. Exams do, and should, make us question what school and education is all about. Is it about the certificate at the end of the journey, or is it about the journey itself? And if the journey itself is important, what ought the journey look like?
In the article I referred to above, the writer proposes four aspects of education that would enable students to discover and develop their full potential , which he discusses in a little detail (have a read through what he has to say here). If you read the article you’ll notice that I have left out one of the points and changed the order of the others to reflect what I see as something of the order of development of these aspects:
- Enable students to discover and understand who they are
- Enable students to discover their strengths, or talents, and learn how to use them to solve problems
- Enable students to discover their passion and act on it
If our students can know who they are, be comfortable and confident in their own skin, with how they have been designed, not needing to try and be someone else, know their strengths and limitations, develop an entrepreneurial attitude toward solving problems, and be enabled to identify and pursue what they are passionate about … if that is something we can aim for, then we will be sending them into adulthood well equipped to bring about a positive influence within their societies, businesses and other arenas. We will also be going a long way toward helping them be resilient in the face of the opposition and challenges they’ll face in life.
While the journey can arguably be identified as the more important part, the exams are important: they do provide evidence of how well students have applied themselves and how well they are doing in various aspects of their learning. So, some reminders and pointers for the exam season:
- Ensure as regular a routine as possible each day and each week: the less energy required to plan your time and resources the better … energy should go into study, revision and learning
- Ensure plenty of sleep. By having a well prepared study plan, the need for late nights can be greatly minimized or even done away with altogether! Young children and teens should be getting roughly 9-10 hours sleep a night … they are growing and actively learning and these both take vast quantities of energy, which needs daily rejuvenation.
- Do not neglect exercise and active lifestyle. The old maxim, healthy body healthy mind, is well documented and supported by research that demonstrates greater alertness, higher energy levels, improved capacity to learn, and better decision-making and problem solving with regular exercise. Half hour brisk walking, cycling, afternoon sport activities are all very reasonable and adequate exercise to keep the body healthy and alert.
- Keep the diet healthy. Exams bring stress, and for many people this leads to the fridge or pantry! A healthy, balanced diet provides the necessary resources the body needs to perform at its peak: too much sugar (chocolate, ice cream, sticky buns unfortunately fall into this category!) and not enough nutritious food have a negative impact on energy and effectiveness levels.
- Factor in time for rest and recovery. Again, a proper study and revision plan can ensure you identify time that can be put aside to rest.
Exam schedule
The internal exams are being written between Monday 10 July and Friday 21 July. Please ensure that your children have the specific dates diarized once received from their teachers. It will be a good idea to then sit down and help them to devise a study and revision plan for the period leading up to and including the exam time.
Fees
If your fees have not yet been settled, please ensure you come in and see me as soon as possible so that we can sort them out. If there are any challenges to paying fees on time, please come and see me to discuss the options before you default on any payments.
Thank you to those of you facing challenges that have come in to see me and ensure suitable arrangements are in place to accommodate payment of fees.
Uniform
There have been some noticeable improvements in the way our students are wearing the uniform, which is a positive indicator of students’ attitudes toward the school and the school community. There are still some areas that require attention and these will be highlighted through our system, including the issue of uniform notes.
Please continue to ensure your children are able to attend school and school activities well presented in the appropriate uniform.
Parent survey coming soon via email
I will be distributing a survey shortly, which will be delivered via email. When it comes, please take a few minutes to fill in the survey and provide feedback that will help to guide some of the ideas and projects we have in mind for the school. The more responses we receive, the greater the degree of confidence there is in the pattern of results.
Clubs offerings
There is a wide range of Clubs being offered during the second term. Please take note of the options and ensure that your children are afforded the opportunities to join activities of their preference. The Clubs are offered as part of providing a well-rounded curriculum for the students’ education and it is important that they are actively involved in at least one per term.
Please come and see us if you need to discuss the Clubs options.
The Clubs offered this term are:
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Mondays from 2pm |
Wednesdays from 2pm |
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Senior Choir |
Young Achievers Club |
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Golf |
Interact |
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Writer’s Club |
Senior Debate |
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I.C.T Clinic/Computer Science |
Archery |
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Archery |
Physics Clinic |
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Junior Debate |
French |
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Quiz |
Quiz |
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Jazz Band |
Jazz Band |
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Maths Clinic (Y11) |
Jnr English Clinic |
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Jnr Cookery Club |
Environmental Conservation |
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Art Club |
Marimba |
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English as a Second Lang |
Junior Choir |
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Chemistry Clinic |
Scripture Union |
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Netball Clinic PE class |
Football Clinic PE class |
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Girls Soccer |
Girls’ Soccer |
| Speech and Drama | |
| Tourism Club | |
| Golf | |
| Toastmasters |
Calendar Items
As mentioned earlier, we have a busy term ahead. Please ensure that you examine the School calendar on the website and diarise significant and relevant events. There are many opportunities to support your children through attending sport and cultural activities during the term, and I encourage you to commit to coming along and supporting your children and the school at a couple of events during the term.
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| Posted By: | |
| Simon Allott Senior Department Headmaster |
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