February 3rd 2017
During the first half of this term, we have had a large number of prospective parents visit the school, and today 20 families were at Moulsford for our Open Day. Questions from prospective parents often focus on the pros and cons of single sex versus co-education. I am always very clear to parents that by far the most important consideration is that they choose an excellent school – far better for a child to receive first-class schooling in a single sex environment than an average experience in a co-educational environment, and vice versa.
We then discuss the merits of an all-boys education, and how the Moulsford curriculum is specifically designed to get the best out of boys. For example, the boys respond so well to teaching which is interactive, encourages participation, involves teamwork and has an element of nurtured competition embedded in it. When I tour parents around the school, they can then see all this in action for themselves. On tours this week, we have witnessed boys catching cuddly toys in French lessons, answering questions and then doing star jumps; in Science, the lab coats have been donned while the boys conduct experiments, and we have observed several team Science games – the ruler game is particularly popular.
In ICT, Year 8 boys have been making films about cyber bullying and I have been asked to star in four films this week! I’m beginning to feel typecast as each group wants me to play the Headmaster giving a metaphorical rocket to the cyber bully - I’d love the opportunity to expand my repertoire. When visiting the English classrooms, parents have been introduced to the new martial art of “kung fu punctuation” – ask your boys about it! The History rooms are not normally on my tour but if they were there is a very reasonable chance that we would find ourselves under attack during a re-enactment of a mediaeval battle complete with foam swords.
It’s all good fun and the boys learn a huge amount in the process.
#MPSHeadsBlog
