Learning is for Life - Not Just for Summer

In the holidays?", demanded William in outrage. "In the holidays? Why there's laws against it, I'm sure there is - or there ought to be. In the holidays? I never heard of such a thing!"

Richmal Crompton's characterisation of the reaction of a young boy to learning that the expansive and glorious weeks of the summer are to be curtailed by some tutoring may belong to the world of the last century, but there will certainly be some pupils and parents who hold a few misgivings about the apparently oxymoronic term 'Summer School'.

There is a perception - perhaps even an expectation - that the academic strand of a Summer School is seldom its strongest feature. For many programmes with an international focus, there is a necessity around English Language learning and it is certainly true that agents and parents alike are often seeking out intensive courses in this area. Working outside of the traditional curriculum and operating at a time when pupils are traditionally taking their ease, there is a feeling that lessons in anything other than English Language are simply an add-on, a nicety - a nice tick in the box on a brochure.

Oswestry, however, is nothing if not authentic and nobody on the programme is interested in doing something simply for the sake of doing it. One of the joys of having the Summer School staffed by Oswestry teachers is that a commitment to real, meaningful education, is every bit as strong here as it is in the main school.

Instead of seeing the fact that the Summer School is operating outside of the traditional curriculum as a limitation, we have chosen to see it as an opportunity - and a major one at that. Free from the trappings of examinations and mandatory syllabuses, we have created something different, unique and - we feel - distinctly relevant.

In doing this, we've focused on three maxims which are at the heart of our programme: enjoyment, relevance and application.

The first of these is, or should be, a no-brainer. If pupils are coming to us for the Summer the last thing we want is for it to feel like some sort of educational penal colony! Learning should be enjoyable - because it is. With only 60 lessons to work with, we have the opportunity to make each one count - and this is as much about delivery as it is about content.

We'll be keeping the landscape varied with highly interactive structures which involve physical movement, multi-media activities and role-playing as much as they do the more traditional methods. We'll be looking to pupils to engage in challenging discussion and to move creative ideas forward. In our second week, for example, they will have the opportunity to work in teams to bring a product to market in a Dragon's Den style experience, presenting in front of local business leaders in competition for a prize.

Those more interested in the arts can have a go at crafting their own poetry and prose as we explore Shakespeare and Dickens in our final week and, for those passionate about debating a Model UN experience will see them pitting their skills of persuasion against their peers.

Enjoyment varies from pupil to pupil - but we believe that our three-week programme has been skilfully engineered to provide something for everyone. There will be bountiful opportunity to showcase existing talents and skills, but also to encourage pupils to discover new ones.

With small class sizes and assistants in place to meet needs and bolster confidence, a classroom at the Oswestry Summer school is an ideal place to gain skills, grow knowledge and build confidence.

So what are we actually learning? Over the course of the three-week programme we have chosen to look in depth at areas that are tangential to the traditional curriculum but which are the most relevant to children in the world today.

We start by looking at Leadership, Government and Politics - giving pupils the chance to explore political structures and systems and to understand what leadership really means by looking at some of the most extraordinary figures in history. We'll be considering good and bad decision-making and looking at the challenges of managing change as our pupils take it in turns to chair meetings in our disaster simulation sessions.

In week two, attention turns to practical science - but while we'll obviously be getting our pupils into the lab to undertake a range of eye-widening experiments, we'll also be looking at the economics of science and building understanding of how an extraordinary idea or concept can become something profitable, exploring the dynamics of supply and demand in the global marketplace.

Art, Literature and Culture will be the focus of our final week - but we'll be focusing on connection - between words and visual forms, between thought and speech and between the way art is created and the way it is received. Pupils will also have the opportunity to engage in creative writing, in music, in drama and of course in art.

By designing courses that have real relevance to pupils heading out there into a changing world, we are determined to give them an unforgettable learning experience that will tangibly benefit them when it comes to further study as well as university and employment entrance. We'll be helping pupils to see how what they are learning in the classroom impacts on the real world with practical examples of application.

To help drive this home, our trips and evening activities have been designed to connect in with the weekly themes - in the first week pupils will visit Darwin's Birthplace as well as Manchester Football Museum to consider some extremely contrasting approaches to leadership. In the second, we will visit the Liverpool Docklands to look at the intersection of industrial science and economics and, in the third week, we will visit both Stratford Upon Avon and Oxford University as we contemplate the definition of art.

To add the finishing touch to this particular element of the academic programme, we will be offering any pupil who is with us for the full three weeks the opportunity to undertake AQA's Higher Project Qualification (equivalent to a GCSE) - a certificate which requires pupils to acquire, demonstrate and reflect on the skills of research in an area of their own choosing.

We're proud of the programme we've designed. It's meaningful and it's unique and it's going to be delivered by highly qualified Oswestry teachers who are genuinely passionate about education - but more than this, we believe it is a programme accessible to every pupil on the Summer School in a manner from which they can gain both enormous benefit and enjoyment.