The 2018-9 Academic Year kicked off with a new approach to assemblies. . . each half term a theme will be followed.  The designated theme will permeate all aspects of assemblies whether that be full school assemblies or tutor time.  In case you parents did not know, Mondays see the full Senior School assembled in the Barn. Tuesdays and Fridays are spent as a Tutor Group.  On Wednesdays KS3 (Y7-9) reassemble in the Barn and on Thursday, it is the turn of KS4 & KS5 (Y10+). In September we started with Creativity.

Mr Instone introduced the theme of Creativity by suggesting students should ask themselves, ‘What if?’ Step out of your comfort zone –  step ‘out of the hoop’. For KS4 and 5 he opened ‘A Can of Worms’ to suggest we think more critically and keep asking questions. He also asked what we could achieve ‘if we are brave’ and we used all nine senses to get into a calm and creative state of mind.

Keeping within the Creativity theme, Ms Mitchell introduced the Numeracy Policy and reminded us that giving up is not an option. If you keep saying ‘I can’t do maths’ –  you’ll be right. Instead, we should work on strategies to get better and do better.

Students tried to solve some Lateral Thinking puzzles with Dr Richardson where we really had to think in different ways to solve a variety of strange problems.

Finally, Mr Instone reminded us that our life is a creative journey, not just a rush to a destination. He also talked about computer programming as a metaphor for being in control of our lives, to design our lives rather than be simply a user, living under the control of someone else’s imagination.  What a powerful approach!

Next half term’s theme is Nurturing. . . . watch this space for more information!