The Power of the 3-18 Journey
There are a huge number of benefits to the children from being part of a 3-18 school. Not only do we get to share the experts, such as our Fencing Coaches, Resident Musicians, Sports Coaches, Chess Masters and so on, but we also get to share expertise and be part of the children’s journey after Year 6.
The Journey
This Thursday, the Senior School hosted one of their frequent Chamber Concerts in which there were a range of musical genres, instruments and experience levels. Not only did our Director of Music at the Prep, Mrs Romhany, accompany on the piano some of the performances, but it was wonderful to see many former Prep pupils take to the concert stage.
Ore J (now in Year 9) opened the concert with a tremendous rendition of Méditation by Massenet on the violin. Across the evening, we were wowed by Vikram (now in Year 7 and it only seems like yesterday he was dashing across the Prep stage in Bugsy Malone) performing Waltz by Grieg on the Oboe, James F (now in Upper 6th and a Deputy Head of School linked to the Prep) sang an emotionally charged version of Your Song by Elton John.
Ananya G (now in Year 9) sang Adelaide’s Lament by Loesser, as well as performing a duet with her peer, singing You Love Who You Love by Wildhorn. Emily C (now in Year 10, even though I can recall with ease Emily’s beautiful work on Hinduism in Year 6) sang Hallelujah by Thomas. Alongside their fellow peers who joined the Senior School from a range of different primary and prep schools, the evening was a wonderful display of musicality.
Sharing the Expertise
This morning, Mrs Barfield-Moore, Director of Pedagogy and Staff Development 3-18 hosted our second in-house Teach Meet at 7.50am! Despite it being Friday morning after a busy week and the rain making us all a little soggy, the Teach Meet was well attended. The theme was stretch and challenge, and the presentations spanned from Reception to Upper Sixth teachers. Mrs Roberts, Head of Year – Reception, presented on how to incorporate stretch into every activity, from lining up, entering the classroom, to higher order questioning.
Juxtaposed to this, Mrs Giles, Head of Business Studies, delivered a session on using AI to support marking in Sixth Form. Mr Blom, Head of Maths at the Prep, gave an excellent explanation of extending maths thinking skills from fluency to reasoning to rule-making. And high octane as always, Miss Le Blancq, Director of Sport (Prep), delivered a compelling case for motivation as the underlying ingredient for success in sport for all children.
As educationalists, we believe in a lifelong love of learning, not as a tokenistic catch phrase but as a way of being. I am proud of the Brentwood School staff, Prep and Senior, for putting in the time and care to keep pushing forward our professional understanding in order to get the best from the children.
Have a wonderful autumnal weekend,
Alice Goodfellow
