It's time to push at the cracks and let the light in ...

Leonard Cohen said “There’s a crack in everything – that’s how the light gets in.” COVID is one of the darkest challenges modern society has faced but it has also exposed cracks and in so doing allowed some light to get in. That has been particularly true for education. It has not been easy for schools to adapt to the challenges of the past few months but they have and in so doing, despite the concerns expressed by the media about the damage to children’s education, there are real opportunities to take education forward.

At Thorpe House, we are not afraid of challenges. When schools first went into lockdown we developed a programme of morning virtual lessons, ensured a pastoral focus to support the mental health of the pupils, embraced AI to create a bespoke learning experience for the boys whilst away from school and we even got an award for our sports programme. We rose to the challenge as a school and the boys continued to demonstrate the intellectual curiosity that we have cultivated in them by embracing the programme that we put on. It was not what other schools necessarily did but we are not like other schools and we are prepared to do things differently.

This term, we continue to do things that are different. We have started our new three year GCSE programme which focuses on 9 GCSEs but alongside this is an enrichment programme that continues to stretch the boys’ intellectual curiosity and prepare them for tomorrow’s world; they have the opportunity to learn Mandarin, examine the great speeches from history, discuss current affairs and politics, develop their cooking skills, obtain a First Aid qualification and, perhaps most importantly, have classes in resilience where they learn how to focus on their strengths. That’s just in Year 9, wait until Year 10 which is going to be even more exciting when they will be pursuing their own individual passions and also learning to give of themselves as they work alongside local charities and learn how to use social media responsibly and organise events!

We also take a different approach to homework at Thorpe. We make sure preps are very focused with no subject task intended to take more than 15 minutes. It is all about consolidation of the work they have done, whether it is reviewing their notes or doing a very specific task that requires the boys to apply what they have learnt that day. As a result, they can continue to enjoy out of school activities and come to school fresh the following day ready to learn.

As education evolves so will we. Our mantra at the school is "Better today than yesterday, better tomorrow than today" and we are always looking forward to the next challenge.