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This week I was lucky enough to be able to attend my daughter’s first sports day. She is four years old, nearing the end of reception, and it was a largely traditional affair: an egg-and-spoon race, a dressing-up race, winners recognised.
Questions you never think you’ll have occasion to ask…
‘What is the collective noun for town criers?’
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Society increasingly appears to have adopted a mechanistic understanding of education, one which casts schools as little more than industrial production lines. Raw materials are fed in at one end; standardised pedagogies are applied on the ‘shop floor’; before outputs are distributed to the adult world. These ‘factories’ are evaluated according to their productivity; measured against metrics like GCSE or A Level results, Russell Group or Oxbridge admissions, or progress 8 and value added. This mindset is the logical extension of the industrial model of education bequeathed to us by the Victorians.
Like many of you, I used the Easter holiday as an opportunity to take a break. My family and I travelled to Quinta do Lago, Portugal, our first proper holiday together since the twins were born just over 18 months ago. I have a new camera, and I was keen to use it. I didn’t want to miss a thing: my children playing in the sand, laughing in a restaurant, or discovering the sea for the first time.
In recent months, much actual and digital ink has been spilled about artificial intelligence and its disruptive influence on the world of work. Headlines oscillate wildly between the utopian and the apocalyptic: jobs transformed, jobs lost, productivity unleashed, creativity mechanised. It is little wonder that parents, pupils and teachers alike are asking what this means for today’s generation of young people, and what should schools be doing to prepare young people to have successful, fulfilling careers in the age of generative AI.
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Curiosity is one of the values that form The Warwick Way. Curiosity is the desire not simply to learn what we are told, but to explore ideas, and to pursue knowledge and understanding beyond the obvious. It is what drives people to ask questions that others overlook. It pushes them to read more widely, think more deeply, and imagine possibilities that do not yet exist.
My daughter loves Matilda the Musical. Many of you will be familiar with the recent big-screen adaptation, even more of you will know the Roald Dahl novel on which it is based. It tells the story of Matilda Wormwood a precocious five -year-old with a love of books, a remarkable intellect, and the gift of telekinesis. She is clever, brave, and determined to overcome the obstacles in her life.
In recent months, debates about free speech have been a prominent feature of public life. Universities have restricted or cancelled speakers because of their views on the war in Gaza; protestors have been arrested under public order legislation for chants and placards deemed inflammatory; and social media platforms have suspended accounts for comments that, while falling short of inciting violence, are judged offensive or misleading.
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The start of term has been overshadowed by tragic news that Noel Tapper-Gray, our Head of Careers and Volunteering since April 2020, passed away unexpectedly over the holiday, just a few days short of what would have been his 64th birthday on Christmas Day.
People often ask me whether I enjoy my job. My standard reply is that being a Head Master is like most roles; there are parts I love, parts I enjoy, and parts I really don’t! Thankfully, the moments of joy far outweigh the more challenging ones. Last Friday evening was a perfect reminder of that.
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The world is changing so quickly that all schools have a duty to innovate – to ensure that young people are equipped to thrive in a complex and evolving world.
It has been wonderful to hear this week about the extraordinary array of educational visits that took place over the half-term break. From two trips to Finland, a Year 8 and 9 Hockey tour to Jersey, a Third and Fourth XV rugby tour to Biarritz, a Sixth Form trip to Paris, to a CCF camp in Leek – each offered its own distinctive experience, yet all offered new challenges, fresh perspectives, and lasting memories.
