Senior schools: single-sex or co-education?

Art in all its forms engages, inspires and challenges pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create. Art should be enjoyed as a visually and intellectually stimulating activity that encourages the observation and appreciation of human life through its range of historical and cultural references. ‘When children are cut off from the arts, education is...

On exactly the same grounds, however, I am also irritated when people presume that somehow single-sex might be invalid as a form of education in the ‘modern world’ or that boarding is outdated. And heaven forbid that one might think single-sex and boarding might be the right option. Surely not? Won’t the boys – in my school’s case – turn...

Historically, a UK boarding school education has been admired throughout the world for the extra or co-curricular opportunities that it has offered. Activities such as sport, drama, music, dance, debating and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) provide a wide range of benefits beyond the classroom setting to help develop the whole person. This includes the development of social skills,...

Nevertheless, there is still reluctance to talk about mental health issues (or special efforts would not be needed) and it would be surprising if school leaders – especially leaders of girls’ schools – weren’t also reluctant. National statistics show that girls are somewhat more likely to have mental health problems than boys. It would be easy to jump to the conclusion that these must be worse when children are away...

And what about women in this picture? In the UK, females make up 15.1 per cent of engineering graduates and only 11 per cent of the engineering workforce, the lowest in Europe. To put that in context, Latvia, Bulgaria and Cyprus lead with almost 30 per cent of engineering professionals being women. In 2015–16, women in the UK accounted for...

The research concludes that the key to learning is how students see themselves in relation to the subject, now and in the future – their ‘physics self-concept’ if you like. Pupils’ experience of school physics and a personally supportive physics teacher is also vital. Undoubtedly, and thankfully, global interest in the subject is increasing and physics is now a ‘regular’...

Endless fascination with simple programs ensued, producing amusing times with controlled lights and beepers. It would be at least 15 years before most school administration systems were computerised and smart technology could be used extensively. Now it has arrived, boarding schools have embraced the digital revolution, with all its pros and cons. Progression into smart technology has provided many new...

At Godolphin, through our ‘Policy for Progress’ we consider progress in a number of broad areas. Academic is of course included but we also focus on personal and pastoral progress, extra-curricular progress and staff development (by setting a culture of everyone progressing and learning, we find this rubs off on the pupils too).  In its most basic sense, progress is...