Surrey Homes | SH109 | February 2024 | Education Supplement inside

The Priceless Education Supplement
Future Leaders
and how they are made
We speak to local schools to find out how they
foster leadership skills in young people
Sensible Seniors
Joff Powis, Headmaster, tells us how Vinehall’s
Year 7s and 8s learn leadership skills
In today’s rapidly changing
world, leadership has become
a pivotal trait. Prep schools are
instrumental in shaping young
minds, fostering an environment
that nurtures and develops essential
leadership skills.
Here at Vinehall, we want our Seniors
to be serious in their endeavours,
striving for success in all they do, while
also learning not to take themselves
too seriously. Our hope is that they
will find joy in learning as confident,
self-motivated learners, as well as
finding delight and comfort in the
relationships they enjoy with their
friends and teachers. We recognise
that leadership skills are developed
by giving children the chance to lead,
and over the course of their final two
years at Vinehall, children have many
opportunities to take on positions
of responsibility as Prefects, House
Captains and Committee Leaders.
Pupil voice is celebrated and
promoted through a series
of Committees and
the School
Council,
with our Year
8s leading and chairing these forums.
I am a huge advocate of the 13+ Prep
School model and feel it necessary, more
than ever, to sing from the roof tops of
the incredible opportunities open to a
senior prep school child. They are in
a very privileged position, benefitting
enormously from being at the top of
a teaching and learning pyramid as
opposed to being the youngest members
of a senior school community. This
encourages maturity and independence.
Our approach to cultivating leadership
is by empowering our children with
various responsibilities. Our pupil leaders
are actively encouraged to help and
accompany visitors on a school tour or
are seen making conversation with them
over lunch, where this is the natural and
expected behaviour for the senior pupils
in a prep school. Through personal
guidance and feedback, our children
gain confidence in decision-making
and problem solving, integral aspects of
effective leadership.
At Vinehall we create an environment
where leadership is not just a concept,
but is a lived experience. Through a
combination of practical experiences,
mentoring and communication, we aim
to equip our children with the skills and
mindset needed to become the leaders
of tomorrow. This innate responsibility
and maturity is without doubt what
the senior schools shout about when our
Prep pupils move on to them.
Learn more at vinehallschool.com
79
Green Shoots
Radnor House Sevenoaks is raising
the next generation of eco-heroes
Radnor House Sevenoaks, a day
school for ages 2-18, is leading the
way in environmental education by
empowering students to make impactful
changes. Already students have planted over
100 trees, cut energy consumption, built bug
hotels and produced honey on site.
The school has established a student-led
Eco-Committee of 15 pupils from across the
Prep and Senior School. The committee meets
weekly to discuss environmental initiatives and
has conducted a full Environmental Review to
assess the school’s green status and find areas
for improvement. It then launched Radnor’s
Eco Promise, with actions that every member
of the school community can pledge to fulfil,
from small, everyday activities like using
recycling bins, to tasks such as tree-planting,
beekeeping and reducing power wastage.
“We love having the responsibility to
make our school a greener and cleaner
space.” – A Year 8 student
The committee has linked with the
British Antarctic Survey to raise awareness
of conservation activities and the value of
scientific study beyond the school campus.
Efforts have been acknowledged by Kent
Green Schools Awards, which awarded
students for the impact of the Eco Promise
at the November 2023 ceremony. The team
also received an Eco-Schools Green Flag with
Distinction but, more importantly, it has made
a real difference to the school’s environmental
performance.
The committee members and their student
advocates are well on their way to becoming
the next generation of environmental leaders.
To join the Prep School Open morning on
16th March, sign up at radnor-sevenoaks.org
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