September 30th 2016
Earlier this week, I attended the IAPS Prep School Heads’ Conference in London. As well as an opportunity to catch up and discuss current issues with numerous other Heads (over 400 delegates were present), there was a series of very useful talks.
Of particular interest was Natasha Devon, who was appointed mental health champion for schools by the Department for Education in 2015. She did not last long in this role, apparently having differing views to Nicky Morgan, the Secretary of State for Education at that time. Natasha Devon’s talk was entitled “Understanding the Modern Teenagers’ World” and key points taken away were as follows: the importance in developing children’s critical thinking so they are better placed to navigate their way through the mass of information and social media; identifying outlets for children to relieve their anxiety/stress; teaching boys in particular the importance of talking about their emotions.
The conference closed with an excellent talk by Tony Little. Tony was headmaster of Eton from 2001- 2014 and is now Chief Education Officer of GEMS – an organisation which encompasses 88 schools in 13 different countries. His talk on “Leading a School at a Time of Exponential Change” outlined the very rapid change that the world is about to experience over the next 40 years as a result of developments in computing – specifically in both artificial general intelligence and then artificial super intelligence. To prepare children for this new world, he stressed the importance of an education system which allows for flexibility and mental agility, as well as the sowing of strong moral values, so that children have clear points of reference in tomorrow’s non-linear, dynamic world and workplace. He also emphasised the importance of having fun in schools!
Amongst the Heads, there was also a lot of discussion about the senior schools’ admissions process and the future of Common Entrance. There are a number of schools taking a very similar route to Moulsford, but at present we are among the forerunners to introduce a new curriculum - it is absolutely clear that many are about to follow.
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