EPICURE Early Spring 2020

EPICURE education
SCHOOL
report
IMPORTANT UPDATES FROM
LOCAL SCHOOLS
ST HILARY'S MAKES STRIDES TOWARD
BECOMING FULLY CO-EDUCATIONAL
St Hilary’s Prep School in Godalming has had many good
reasons to celebrate in the past year, from successfully starting
their transition to becoming fully co-educational, to their
many awards and achievements. The school is going from
strength to strength.
Plans to become fully co-educational by 2022 have been
successfully implemented as they accept boys into Year 3 for
the first time. Headmistress Jane Whittingham said, “The boys
have moved seamlessly from Pre-Prep to Prep and the boys
and girls are enjoying the ability to continue learning together.
As a family orientated school, it has been fantastic to see the
boys integrating so well.”
The School was recently awarded the full accreditation of the
International School Award from the British Council, which
recognises their commitment to embedding international
awareness and understanding across the school and in
curriculum teaching. This accreditation was achieved by St
Hilary’s demonstrating their commitment to international
education throughout the entire school, involving clear plans
of activity and impact assessments to develop the quality of
international education.
St Hilary’s also recently opened ‘The Hive,’ one of 60 Lego
Innovation Studios in the UK, with most of the others mainly
found in Senior schools, colleges and Universities. The
Hive Studio provides pupils with an opportunity to engage
in 21st century skills including critical thinking, creativity,
collaboration and communication, through a hands-on
learning approach in their STEAM (Science, Technology,
Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) subjects. St Hilary’s will
be working with Lego Education over the next three years to
further develop ‘The Hive’ as a hub for training educators and
engaging children in the local community.
FORWARD-THINKING DEVELOPMENTS
AT GREAT BALLARD SCHOOL
It is important that schools take a forward-thinking approach
to education. In an ever-changing world, schools must invest
in the future and prepare children for jobs that likely do not
yet exist. As Professor Sir Roy Anderson said “The modern
workplace needs workers who have broad cognitive skills
which include being able to solve complex interdisciplinary
problems, thinking critically about work tasks, communicating
effectively with people from a range of different cultures, being
able to collaborate with others, and also being able to adapt to
rapidly changing environments or conditions.” Senior schools,
universities and employers are looking not only for evidence of
academic, sporting, creative learning and achievement but need
to know about what are often called “soft skills”. By this they
mean such skills/attributes as communication, collaboration,
resilience, creativity, curiosity, reflectiveness, and reciprocity.
With this in mind, Great Ballard has announced some significant
changes to its educational offerings. In September 2020 the PSB
qualification will be launched. This is a programme of study
for children that has at its heart the development of the values,
skills, attitudes and behaviours to best prepare children to meet
the challenges of life and flourish in an ever changing world.
It focuses on the progress a child makes in different areas of
learning, actively developing and tracking social, leadership and
teamwork skills.
In addition to this, from September 2021 the school will be
broadening its age range to offer education to children aged
2½-16! This means that the first Year 9 class will walk through
the school gates to begin their GCSE studies and be the first
cohort to sit GCSE exams in September 2024. Great Ballard looks
forward to celebrating their achievements.
If you’d like to find out more about the exciting developments
happening at Great Ballard School, their next Open Morning
is taking place on Saturday 14th March 2020 from 9.30am-
11.30am. If however you are unable to attend on this date, Great
Ballard’s doors are always open and a tour with the Headmaster,
Mr Richard Evans is just a phone call away.
With new Bursaries and Scholarships available for Year 3
entry, why not visit the school at one of the upcoming open
mornings on Friday 28th February or Friday 6th March.
Please contact the Registrar for more details on 01483 416551.
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