Boarding School: Life Lessons - Preparing for the Modern World

“In 1976 my boarding house had no central heating. There was a coal fire in every room; boys were given enough coal to burn for an hour each evening.  In the morning the room was icy, so we would burn a newspaper to create enough heat for a few delicious seconds to get changed. Rooms often caught fire.”

I am sure that your view of modern boarding school is somewhat different from the recollections of journalist Jonathan Noakes.  Alongside an increasing need to engage with a rapidly changing and ever more global society, such schools have been required to move with the times.  They have responded to educational reforms, to tighter inspectorates, and also to the expectations of modern parents and their children.  There is much less certainty about pupil futures too.  Choosing a boarding school environment offers a child the opportunity to develop the crucial skills of resilience, tolerance and ambition to face the many challenges along the way with both confidence and a sense of purpose.

We need to equip pupils with the life skills to face up to failure, to engage in honest reflection about those experiences and to have the self-assurance to bounce back. A boarding school environment, where you are working and living together with your peers, sharing both the highs and lows of daily life, produces an empathy towards different characters and personalities, tolerance and a sense of mutual support.  In this type of school setting, strong pastoral care is crucial, a point well recognised by the Boarding Schools’ Association which now runs more than 50 courses on boarding each year.  As Victoria Goldman and Catherine Hausman wrote in the New York Times, “Mr. Chips has undergone a millennial thaw.”

Life for young people growing up in the 21^st century is challenging, and boarding schools have adapted radically to meet the ever changing pressures and embrace new opportunities.  Increased social anxieties as a result of the rise of screen based lifestyles through social media has added yet another layer of emotional demands on our teenagers.  A boarding school education offers pupils a sense of place and a sense of perspective.  It gives them the time and space to grow, allows the development of social skills in a nurturing environment, and fosters a sense of purpose in all that they do combined with the ability to adapt positively to change.  Such characteristics are crucial if our pupils are going to make the most of their own futures, and to contribute all they can to the world in which they live. 

Extracted from an article in the latest edition of Absolutely Education - Autumn/Winter 2017

Developing Leadership

Leadership at Canford is not all about “commanding” but much more about “influencing”. Different types of leaders use different styles and indeed people respond differently themselves. Part of the skill of leadership is recognising how to approach individuals and teams alike in order to optimise the efficiency and energy and there is no richer environment than an active school such as Canford with its wide spectrum of activities from which these lessons can be drawn.

We aim to imbue our pupils with a sensitivity, a confidence, an ability to communicate and a perception that enables them to make a difference and pull together disparate elements into one cohesive team so the result is greater than the individual sum of the parts. Every pupil is encouraged
to take on a significant role as a leader at some point, normally in the Sixth Form, but any forum; house plays, the CCF, in the classroom, running a club, fundraising activities will all leave those involved with a heightened sense of what it takes and add to their skillsets as they embark upon their exciting lives.

Among the ways in which we foster these skills:

• Development of leadership qualities ranks highly within the Canford assessment criteria. In the grade descriptors for the three weekly assessments which pupils receive, the top grade is awarded to those who achieve not only above target academic progress and excellent effort, but who also show leadership within the classroom. 
• Important leadership qualities are actively encourage within all houses. Pastorally, Sixth Formers act as House prefects and are responsible for running various different areas of House life whether on the social side or taking a role in pastoral issues and for helping to settle the juniors each evening. 
• The CCF offers a rich environment for the pupils to cut their teeth as leaders, starting right at the beginning where the activities all encourage confidence and adventure. Certainly the Norway Cross-country skiing expedition pushes the cadets to their limits but in doing so multiple lessons are draw from the experience where we see pupils supporting and encouraging each other in adversity. Ten Tors training and competitions adds further to this.
• Through Sport, pupils are given opportunities to lead their peers and develop teams to their full
  potential alongside coaches. The leaders of sports teams should display confidence and strength of character to address their teammates when some may prove disruptive and unfocused during training sessions. A real leader will have the courage to challenge a friend’s behaviour, however difficult this may be.

“Leaders don’t create followers, Leaders create more Leaders”

A Level Results Day - keep a cool head: Michael Doherty, Head of Careers

The third Thursday in August is awaited with a mixture of eager anticipation and apprehensive dread by all Sixth Form students – A Level Results Day.

It is very important to keep a cool head and make rational decisions on a day of such frenetic activity.  Here are a few points to keep in mind:

DO’s

·         1. Have access to the internet and a phone on the day

·         2.Ensure you have your UCAS ID Number and access codes easily accessible

·         3.Check your results as early as possible to enable you to act quickly if necessary

·         4. Constantly check UCAS Track – sometimes, even if you haven’t achieved your offer grades, you can receive a place from your Firm Choice or Insurance Choice

·         5. Ensure you have signed up to the UCAS Clearing contact list so universities can contact you if you are in Clearing

If you have achieved the grades for your CF offer, confirm acceptance via UCAS Track and find out whether any further information is required.   If you are in the fortunate position to exceed your expectations and grades, you can put yourself forward for ‘Adjustment’ and contact other universities to ask about possible places available.  You have 5 days to find an alternative acceptable offer.  You might achieve the grades for your insurance offer, in which case you can either confirm acceptance via UCAS Track or, if you are having second thoughts, consider a Gap Year and reapply or find a similar course at a preferred university through Clearing.  Finally, if you don’t achieve the required grades for either offer but are still keen to go to university, you can apply through Clearing and then await confirmation via UCAS Track.  

DON’Ts 
 1. Delay – Start early and if you have no offers, act quickly to identify alternative options

·         2. Make arrangements or organise to work on the day – you may need time to resolve problems

·         3. Request a marks review of your papers without checking the grade boundaries and with your HoD first

·         4. Rush into hasty decisions and commit yourself to an option that you are not totally sure about

·         5. Ignore the help that is available at school: The Careers Department via phone or email, The Exams Officer via phone or email or Heads of Department via email

Finally, remember that deciding on a university course is a big decision so it is important that you don’t panic if you don’t get the grades you need and think clearly about whether that particular university or course is going to be right for you.

Exam Results: Keeping a Sense of Perspective - Hannah Ryan, Head of Support for Learning

As GCSE and A Level results loom for our Fifth and Sixth Form pupils, a mixture of emotions will inevitably arise.  

A sense of growing tension is natural, so it’s worth keeping busy the day before - plan a cinema trip; catch up with friends; go to the gym - as this helps distract us from unhelpful thinking patterns such as catastrophizing (‘It will be a complete disaster if I don’t get the grades’) and fortune-telling (‘Everyone will think I’m a complete failure if I don’t get As’).

On the big day, hopefully tension will be replaced by elation, and relief will take over as those well-earned grades have been achieved. However, a feeling of anti-climax is more common than you might think.  Despite achieving the required grades, a pupil found it difficult not to dwell on the one result that was not what had been hoped for or expected by the pupil and parents alike. Another pupil was way off his predicted grades, and had to completely reconsider his options. In both these cases, a sense of perspective was required and both pupils were lucky to have friends and family, and support from school staff, who helped them to see that one set of results was not going to stop them achieving their goals, even if these had to be redefined – and they didn’t.  So it’s worth forearming yourself against unhelpful thinking (and unhelpful people) and having a clear, reasoned plan of action in place before the day arrives, just in case of disappointment.

On a final note, before diving into your social media be sensitive to your own state of mind, and that of your friends (remember, others may also be nursing their own private disappointments), and take a moment to stop, pause and acknowledge your wider strengths and achievements – whatever the outcome of the exams. These results do not define you, and while there may be a need to get creative and consider other routes, they should not deter you from your personal dreams and goals.

Hannah Ryan - Head of Support for Learning

Should education be decided in the corridors of power?

According to the United Nations 57 million children globally receive no formal education. Many millions more receive only a very rough and ready education which leaves them barely able to read, write or add up. Most developed nations have cut their funding to support worldwide educational provision and the UK is now the largest direct donor to basic education but the overall situation is critical.

And yet in this country we are in real danger of losing our sense of what a high quality education should consist of. Pressure of rising pupils numbers, inflationary costs, increased costs to cover regulation and compliance has meant a projected 8% fall in per pupil funding in state schools between 2014/15 and 2019/20. 

Britain is ranked only 109th for the proportion of budget it spends on education – just below Kazakhstan and Cambodia. In 2014, the UK government spent 11.78% of its budget on education, while Zimbabwe, which came top, spent almost three times this amount. (As a benchmark, achievement of the UN’s sustainable development goals for education is calculated to require a 20% spend.). In 2015, the UK government spent 4.7% of the country’s GDP on education, down from 5.8% in 2010.

Leaving the turmoil created by recent GCSE and A Level academic curriculum developments aside, the education white paper, ‘schools that work for everyone’ , suggests yet more change on the educational horizon. But will it deliver high quality educational outcomes which serve all our young people?

One of the major reasons why independent schools are so successful is that they can and do devote significant resources to the development of the whole child both in and beyond the classroom. Independent schools such as Canford will seek to use those resources and their greater freedom of action to ensure that the educational experience we offer is driven by more than just financial expedients. We know that academically – and in a broader sense – the personal development of our young people must be rich and diverse if it is to be truly valuable and effective. Our maintained sector colleagues are just as passionate about these issues, but they are starved of resources: four out of every ten academies were in deficit last year and the number of schools with pension deficits doubled.

A high quality education is such a valuable and life-changing asset in so many ways.  Yet a narrow perspective of education and its aims has been asserting itself ever more actively in the corridors of power.

Academy Partnerships - enriching for all

I was delighted to see Canford included in the latest partnerships booklet from the Independent Schools Council celebrating the work of independent schools with those in the maintained sector http://bit.ly/2oO9WAd.  It is perhaps not as well known as it should be that Canford is one of only a handful of independents who have successfully fully sponsored an Academy – The Bourne Academy in East Howe, Bournemouth.  

Staff at both schools are proud of what has been achieved since the Academy opened its doors to pupils aged 11-16 back in 2010, with a Sixth Form opening 3 years later.   GCSE results in 2016 saw the A*-C rate first equal among non-selective Bournemouth schools and the 100% A*-E rate at A level ensured that all UCAS applicants were accepted by their first-choice universities.  Attendance figures continue to be well above the national average.   Outside the classroom the Academy continues to attract an outstanding list of visiting speakers, and events such as the Digital Horizons launch aimed at 15-18 years olds strengthened links between education and industry.

Former or present staff, parents and governors still form the majority of governors at the Academy and the relationship between our two schools continues to grow, with each gaining excellence from the other.   Teach First teachers continue to spend a week at Canford, and a Canford teacher taking her PGCE was able to do her second school experience at the Academy.   The first joint INSET last year saw Canford and Academy staff discussing ‘Improving Outcomes’ with sessions led by staff from both schools on their areas of expertise.

Our pupils continue to spend time at each other’s schools as well, enjoying learning together on projects such as F24.   We have welcomed seven Academy pupils so far into our Sixth Form.  It is very important to me that Canfordians leave with a sense of responsibility, of empathy towards others and with a real desire to make a difference to their own lives and to the lives of others.  Through our sponsorship of The Bourne Academy, the lives of pupils and staff at both schools have been enriched.  

www.canford.com/The-Bourne-Academy

Stepping up to the exam challenge with confidence

“I’ve always taken an approach to just get on with the job.”

So says Theresa May and her words strike a chord with me, even if I don’t agree with all of her policies.  With the exam ‘season’ now upon us, I think it is important to reflect on just how hard we are working in independent schools across the country within an ever shifting educational landscape.

Schools are currently tackling significant operational changes such as a major reform of examination systems and more strategic matters such as what is the right ‘type of school’ to best educate our young people – grammar school, free school, academy and so on.  In the independent sector we are working hard to protect the freedom of decision making and action that we currently enjoy and use so effectively “to get on with the job”.  

Alongside the academic and intellectual there is a heightened importance on developing soft skills, building mental toughness, and supporting the well-being of both pupils and staff in an age where the pressures of social media and an ever increasing demand for instant communication and transmission of information has significantly increased the impact of workload expectations, stress and accompanying mental health issues.

We could not “get on with the job” effectively for our pupils without the dedication and commitment of our staff.  Teaching staff shortages have been well documented in the press and statistics show shortfalls across a wide range of subject areas, such as STEM, Humanities, MFL and the Creative Arts.  We are fortunate to attract high quality staff and it is fundamentally important to us that we support their professional development.  A recent joiners’ ‘post induction’ feedback process at Canford revealed that this commitment is highly recognized and much valued.

For pupils sitting external examinations this summer, I hope that that sense of purpose, intellectual curiosity and the blend of those soft skills of self-discipline, resilience, leadership and teamwork, which we work so hard as educators to instil will combine to ensure that those facing the public exam challenge step up as individuals and support and spur each other on collectively to achieve their very best.