Education Corner Podcast

 A panel discussion with Warden Mark Mortimer, Glenalmond College, Principal Claire Chisolm, Lomond School, Headmaster Olly Langton, Belhaven Hill School, and Headmistress Ali Kinge, Ardvreck School, talking about their unique schools and the benefits of a Scottish education. 

 "We've really taken what makes us special as a school: our culture and our traditions and our heritage and we've embedded that into our curriculum. We're really proud of that."

Mr. Matthew Close talks about the bursary provisions available at The Royal School, as well as their Future Ready programme and his vision for The Royal School’s future as its new Headmaster.

"We want our pupils and staff to be ambitious for themselves, we want them to set themselves high standards, we want them to dream big, because if you don't dream big, you're not going to aim high and if you're not aiming high, you're never going to push yourself to something that you think is almost impossible."

Sarah Travis (Senior Associate Director of Student Recruitment and Admissions) and Matt Keily (Director of Boarding) speak with us about TASIS England's main entry points, their recent ISA Boarding School of the Year award and how the school supports student wellbeing through its pastoral care and their innovative creation of THRIVE. 

"I got to stand up in assembly with the award in front of the boarders and say: “You go to the best boarding school in the country!” and that they are a large part of that, alongside my team of staff who all work incredibly hard all of the time." Matt Keily

Mrs. Louisa McCafferty speaks to us about Broomwood’s recent rebrand, the school’s key entry points and the benefits of single-sex education. 

"We want school to feel like a home from home, because actually the children then feel safe, they feel secure, they feel comfortable in their surroundings, and because of this multi-site approach, we're able to tailor those sites to the children who are there."

Mrs. Nadia Ward speaks with us about Heathside School’s main entry points, its unique reading scheme, meditation and how the school supports student wellbeing through exploring creative play and partnership with Place2Be. 

"I think it’s wrong to see creativity as an opposite to academic excellence. I think at Heathside we really marry the two together - in our school, creativity and academic excellence are equal twins, and are all the better for it."

A panel discussion about the differences between single-sex and co-educational boarding, the benefits of boarding and the future of boarding schools. 

Mr. James Priory: “It is about developing independence but it's also about doing that in the context where there is a lot of support.” The opportunities and experiences provided by boarding also remain important, Mr. Dominic Oliver emphasised: “What we have to offer is so filled with a richness of opportunity.” Further to this, Mrs. Emma McKendrick added the importance of the interpersonal skills boarding teaches: “They learn to live with all sorts of people from all sorts of different countries, different backgrounds, different approaches. When they're out in the working world, they never worry about who they're going to work alongside, because they've learned to live alongside a whole variety of different people.” 

 Mr. Andy Johnson speaks to us about the bespoke boarding experience at Truro School, the school’s unique Cornish setting, mental health support and compassionate values.  

"We try to use the language of belonging as much as the language of inclusion. I think ‘belonging’ speaks to people about how they can feel empowered - not just how they can feel involved - and I think that distinction is really, really important in any discussion around EDI and belonging. "

 Mr. Edward Venables speaks to us about the benefits of boarding at Eagle House, their Golden Eagle Programme and how their curriculum is preparing pupils for a future within a fast-changing world. 

 "Understanding what the world of work looks like now, how a modern senior school is preparing children for that world is really, really critical. Aligned with that, having an understanding of the mental health challenges and other pastoral pressures that teenagers face allows me to work incredibly hard to equip the young people who come through Eagle House with the skills to be as prepared as possible for that next stage of their life."

Mr. Stuart Murphy speaks about how Surbiton High School supports both parents and children during exam periods, as well as the school’s specialist pastoral care, their focus on positive psychology and developing human intelligences.

"But I think that when it comes to exams, you just have to make sure that your child is confident. As long as they have worked hard and have tried their best, they will be in the right place for them. "

Julia Martin, CEO of the Independent Schools Examinations Board (ISEB), and Dr. Kathy Weston, the Founder of Tooled Up Education, speak to us about the new partnership between ISEB and Tooled Up: the Parent Power Toolkit, which consists of resources designed to help parents and guardians prioritise their child’s mental health and wellbeing during the academic admissions process.

"It’s about educating parents in the small things they can do in their busy lives that can really optimise thriving, reduce the opportunity for mental distress to take hold and make sure that we’re doing everything in our power to give our children the best chance of doing well academically."

Dr. Lara Choksey joined University College London as a lecturer in the Department of English in 2021.  She has been affiliated with the UCL Sarah Parker Remond Centre as a Visiting Research Fellow since October 2020, where she is now Faculty Associate. Lara talks about the new course on Colonial and Postcolonial Literature at UCL and why it is such an important topic to study.

"What the term ‘postcolonial’ did in the 1980s was to allow a set of critical approaches to take up space within the academy, so it had a practical function in this sense; but at the same time, some of its key theorists distanced themselves from it as a term almost immediately, so we got the emergence of comparative literature: world literature."

Mr. Adam Pettitt speaks to us about the values of Highgate School, as well as their partnership with London Academy of Excellence Tottenham, the importance of pupil voice and Highgate’s core teaching philosophy.

" One of the key things I spend my time doing is telling parents to stop opening the oven door early to check whether the cake is rising - you know, that sense of wanting to know how well your child is doing, how good their GCSE results are, how well they’re doing with Oxbridge, et cetera."

Mr. Tom Dawson speaks to us about the ethos, main entry points and highlights of Sunningdale School, and discusses the benefits of single-sex education.

"...we encourage them to take risks in the classroom, put up their hands, accept that sometimes they’re going to be wrong and that that’s a crucial part of learning. You can create that academic culture of fearlessness if you work hard enough at it, and that is a really important element of learning."

Mrs. Naima Charlier speaks to us about her unique role at Wellington College, as well as the Harkness pedagogy and how equality is implemented into the school’s curriculum.

"When I first saw this job and started doing my research into Wellington College, I looked into the kind of establishment that they were and the type of work that they were doing. It was so innovative and so forward thinking in the way that they understand how learning happens and how children need it to interact, and they have placed wellbeing at the centre of the curriculum."

Dr. John Taylor speaks about life at Cranleigh School, expanding the curriculum, using AI in schools and the changing role of technology in the classroom.

"I think one of the effects that AI will have is it will intensify, as it were, our focus on the human, social, emotional and effective aspects of learning, because that will be our bit. We will get to the point by which the machinery will be able to automate many of the processes that go on in the classroom at the moment, and the teacher will need to have the supervisory eye on all of those, but the teacher’s contribution will be to provide the human touch and the relational dimension that no machine is ever going to be able to recreate. "

Mr. Graeme McCafferty speaks about life at Rosemead Preparatory School, their strong community, using AI in the classroom and the advantages of merging with the St Dunstan’s College group of schools.

"There will be a change to the Rosemead transition process into St Dunstan’s, too. Rosemead’s branding on 11+ will always be that we will work as hard as we can to get your child into the school that is right for you, and if the right school for you now is St Dunstan’s, there’s a nicer process than the 11+ for Rosemead children. "

Emma Beamish speaks about her journey as a female cricketer from a young age through to becoming the opening batter and playing in the World Cup in South Africa in 2005. She also discusses the challenges that women can face in sport and the opportunities she received through attending Reed's School and with Surrey Cricket. Emma continues to play for the MCC Women's cricket club.

"Cricket is for everyone, and whether it’s a ball made out of electrical tape and sticks for wickets, trust me, the kids will be competitive. For me, I think it’s all about just having someone to keep turning up for them, and to give them access and opportunities."

Mr. Nick Hewlett speaks about their conference on Tuesday 20th June titled: ‘Let’s Talk about… Porn, Sex and Educating for the Difference’ in an effort to raise awareness as to the current growing

teen pornography crisis. 

"I believe that we have an absolute imperative as educators to tackle that proactively, to facilitate a dialogue among young people so that they can make corrective choices online and build a values base from which they can make active decisions as to what they want to engage in and what they don’t want to engage in."

 Mr. Chris Muller speaks about their ethos, school motto, their socially and ethnically diverse community, welcoming AI into the curriculum and the benefits to staff and pupils of being forward thinking as a school. 

"It looks like 40% of jobs currently being done may well not exist by the time many of my students go into the workplace, so it is really important for us to keep our eye on what is happening and make sure they’re fully prepared, in terms of the digital learning they’re receiving, for their eventual entry into the world of work."

Miss Laura Whitwood speaks about the benefits of attending the Junior School, the Forder Programme and their Stuart curriculum and work that takes place with the local Lewisham community.

"We don’t want you to ever be able to spot a St Dunstan’s pupil, other than the fact that they’re really brave, bold, true to who they are and they embrace their individuality. They love that they have differences from others across the school. I think that that is a real benefit of St Dunstan’s, as it sets the children up for a really positive future."