September 29th 2017
This week I attended the IAPS (Prep Schools) conference in Edinburgh, the theme of which was "Leading Inspirational and Aspirational Schools". Many of the key speakers focused on the huge importance of preparing children for life in a workplace which has rapidly changed over the past decade, and will continue to do so at a very fast pace as your boys approach working age.
Two key points which I took away from the conference were as follows: first, the importance of adopting a curriculum which focuses on developing skills which will enable boys to flourish and adapt to new environments. For example, oral comprehension and expression, active listening skills, written comprehension, critical thinking skills, collaboration and understanding, appreciating and developing links across all disciplines. The latter is particularly important in a global world.
Second, and closely linked to the above, is the significance of developing softer skills such as empathy, communication, contemplation and reflection, risk taking and adventure. In a world where the workplace is going to be less predictable, and certainly less linear, than it was for previous generations, having such skills will give your boys foundations on which to adapt, build and fall back on, as well as the human skills which will be invaluable for them to lead happy, fulfilled and purposeful lives in a changing world.
Everything that I heard at the conference supported the direction of travel that we have adopted at Moulsford this year for both the curriculum and the wider education for your boys. Both the content and the delivery of the curriculum needs extremely careful thought to ensure that it is, and remains, directly relevant for the modern world.
On a lighter note, many of you will be aware that we had block fixtures against Cothill on Wednesday. The Head of Cothill is a very good friend of mine and during a break in the conference, we watched the live results ping in on the Moulsford sports website. It was a very exciting 15 minutes, with honours roughly even across the board. The picture above shows us enjoying the culture north of the border.
#MPSHeadsBlog #InspiringSchools
