Headmasters blog

Headmasters blog

For as long as I have known we have held to a very traditional view of what education should look like. It is important to hold onto elements of this - the prioritising of values, taking pride in our efforts and accomplishments, developing our knowledge and communication skills, understanding the world in which we live and how we have got to where we are today. However, education has lagged behind society for far too long and it is crucial that education not only catches up but now looks to take the lead in developing the society in which we want to live rather than letting society dictate to us what we should be doing in our schools.

Nathaniel Woodard said “we only have one chance with the education of our children, so their tomorrow must be our urgency today”. We take that responsibility incredibly seriously. At Thorpe House we look to prepare our pupils for the world that we believe we should all aspire to, one in which there is an emphasis on encouragement and recognition of our diversity and where we want the boys to consider not what they can do for themselves but what they can do for others. Through an enrichment programme that runs throughout our three year GCSE course, we build on the confidence that has already been nurtured in the earlier years to develop skills and empathy that will make them the leaders that we want and need to direct the course of our society in the future. They will develop their understanding of the world through studying politics, current affairs and other cultures (and even other languages whilst they study Mandarin), they will learn resilience through dedicated classes that focus on maintaining perspective and looking after one’s mental health, they will work directly with local charities and their intellectual curiosity and love for learning will thrive as they use their study skills to research topics about which they are uniquely passionate.

In looking to the future it behoves us to hold onto the challenges of the past.  Michelangelo said, “the greatest danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short but in setting our aim too low and achieving our mark”. We will always set our aim high and so long as we shoot for the moon, even if we fall short, we will be among the stars.