April 26th 2019
My three children are through prep school and are at various stages of their senior school career. On Tuesday, I went to a talk at Radley for all parents of boys in the Lower Sixth to learn about university applications and graduate employment opportunities. Given that Moulsford boys are on this trajectory, it was an invaluable afternoon professionally as well as personally.
In applying to university, good predicted A-level grades are clearly very important. However, the Radley Director of University Entrance also focused on the following areas as being key: wide and deep reading; genuine engagement with the subject beyond the syllabus; and independent thought. As parents will know, at Moulsford we focus heavily on encouraging boys to read, so that this becomes a pastime and skill, which boys can enjoy and draw upon for life. Instilling a passion for specific academic subjects is a goal all Moulsford staff strive hard to achieve, and the new curriculum, introduced in 2017, is designed to encourage creativity and lateral thinking and to develop skills.
The second speaker of the afternoon was Martin Birchall, who is the editor of The Times Top 100 Graduate Companies. He gave us an insight into the most prestigious and sought after employers, as judged by graduates. Similarly, he advised on the skills which employers are looking for in graduates. What is very clear is that employers recognise the enormous benefits gained by graduates through having experience of initiative and commitment on the extra-curricular front. The Moulsford Activities programme is designed to mirror this at a younger age.
Please click here for a link to The Times Top 100 Graduate Companies. You’ll need to register to get fully into the website, but it is an interesting read, and gives very useful insight into the world of graduate employment. Of course, not all Moulsford boys will go to university or work for graduate employers. There will be a wealth of alternative opportunities available to your boys, and the world of employment may look very different by the time they enter it. However, it is important that we see prep school education as part of a continuing journey (rather than in isolation), and that we understand where the direction of travel is ultimately leading to.
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