Independent School Parent Senior Winter 2012

SENIOR EDITION WINTER 2012 www.independentschoolparent.com

PLUS...

P29

Sporting chance How schools help your child go for gold

P33

The hunt is on!

Our essential guide to internships IN FOCUS

Exam choices How your child can get ahead COMMENT

Rachel Johnson Time to step back on your parenting

TOP S IPens 10aT t all te

Wh now shouldtktheir abou lth hea

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INTRODUCTION

The one-stop shop for parents seeking practical information and advice  Educating a child in the independent sector is a significant investment. We all want to be sure that we send our children to the right school and that they make the most of their opportunity (and our money!) while they are there.  In order to make an informed decision, parents need to understand how the independent school sector works and how it can help their children. Yet for many this is a bewildering subject.  Independent School Parent magazine is published each term – one edition for prep schools and another for senior schools – and is distributed free to parents through a network of partner schools.

Providing useful guidance on the key milestones in a child’s school career, it tracks the rhythm of the school year while also addressing associated topics such as health and finance.

 Independentschoolparent.com is our interactive website. Parents registering on the site free of charge gain access to a range of benefits including comprehensive information sheets, checklists and specialist directories. There is a searchable guide to over 1,400 independent schools and parents can participate in online webinars and ask questions of our resident experts.  Our Guide to Independent Schools is published twice each year and provides detailed listings of independent schools in the UK as well as practical information on selecting the right school.  Published in co-operation with many of the leading schools and educational bodies, Independent School Parent provides reassurance, advice and information on all aspects of educating a child in the independent school sector today.

Order your frEE copy today!

Call 020-7901 8000 or register online at independentschoolparent.com/register For more information visit... www.independentschoolparent.com

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winter 2012 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL ParENT 3

Contents...

p.70

Festive gifts

Welcome to the brand new senior school edition of Independent School Parent where we help you make the right choices about your children’s CNP Ltd, Liscartan House, 127-131 Sloane Street, London SW1X 9AS Tel (020) 7901 8000 Fax (020) 7901 8001 Email editor@independentschoolparent.com For website and subscriptions, please visit: www.independentschoolparent.com/register EDITORIAL Editor Claudia Dudman Art Editor Simon Thompson Editorial & Publishing Assistant Natalie Milner Publishing Assistant Josephine Price ADVERTISING Advertisement Manager Jenny Evanson Senior Sales Executive Andy Mabbitt Sales Executive Tom McMahon PUBLISHING Publisher & Managing Director Paul Dobson Deputy Managing Director Steve Ross Commercial Director Vicki Gavin Editor-in-Chief Sue Herdman Publisher Simon Temlett Consultant Publisher David Moncrieff Marketing Manager Will Delmont Subscriptions Sophie Robson Production www.allpointsmedia.co.uk Printed in England by Wyndeham Heron, Essex EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD James Durant, UCAS Andrew Fleck, Sedbergh School Tory Gillingham, AMDIS Rachel Kerr, Girls’ Schools Association Glynis Kozma, Educational Journalist Zoe MacDougall, Teacher Julie Pitcher, Independent Schools Council Dr Anthony Seldon, Wellington College Elaine Stallard, Elaine Stallard Consulting Peter Young, Marketing/Brand Consultant DISTRIBUTION Independent School Parent magazine is for parents of children educated in prep and senior independent schools across the UK. The prep and senior issues are published termly. Parents can subscribe for a free issue at: www.independentschoolparent.com/register Independent School Parent also publishes A First Eleven Guide to Independent Schools biannually.

The information contained in Independent School Parent magazine has been published in good faith and every effort has been made to ensure its accuracy. All liability for loss, negligence or damage caused by reliance on the information contained within this publication is hereby excluded.

All pictures by Thinkstock unless otherwise credited. © CNP Ltd 2012.

All rights reserved. Text and pictures are copyright restricted and must not be reproduced without permission from the publisher.

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WizIEN arle A L mas Christ er Hamp p.80

Front cover: pupil from Queenswood School, Hertfordshire. Principal Pauline Edgar

www.independentschoolparent.com

education in the independent sector.

I was left feeling quite confused this Summer – weren’t we all? – with the proposed revamp of the GCSE examination. Luckily, the Headmaster of Clifton College comes to the rescue with his view on the EBacc (p.15). Decision making is always hard, especially when you are 14 years-old: our piece on subject choices (p.23) makes the task just a little easier. Journalist Rachel Johnson laments the indulgent state of modern parenting (p.49), so let go! Win a family holiday at the luxurious Sun Gardens resort in Croatia (p.79) – the perfect post Christmas pickme-up. And on that festive note, if you tend to leave your shopping to the last minute (as I do!), we’ve got some great gift ideas for you (p.70). Happy Christmas!

Claudia Dudman, Editor Education

7 News Our round-up of hot topics 17 Same family, different schools Foster individual talents, advises Thalia Thompson 39 Life skills Sixth forms are prepping students for the next step, says Glynis Kozma 42 An artist’s way Sara McDonnell looks at gap years for creative careers

In Focus - Decisions...

23 Subject choices Charlotte Phillips looks at how GCSE, AS and A level choices impact upon a future career 27 The pupil view Olivia Charley navigates year 11 33 Foot on the ladder How can your child get relevant work experience? Tracy Cook explains all 37 Which university?

Start with a UCAS fair, writes Bill Lofthouse

Comment

15 Head viewpoint Mark Moore assesses the affects of the proposed GCSE reforms 21 Mobile phone etiquette Jane Prescott backs mobiles in schools 49 Under-parenting Rachel Johnson says to take a step back with your parenting skills

Sport

29 Olympic glory John Goodbody celebrates independent school alumni in London 2012

School Hero

47 Meet the Sports Supremo David Makey rackets master, Tonbridge

p.42

Read about creative gap years

Health

59 Top 10 health tips for teens Victoria Lambert gathers expert advice 62 Growing up Glynis Kozma tackles growth spurts

Finance

53 Student finance The Student Loans Company explains the financial support on offer and how to apply

p.45

Successful gaps...

School’s out

64 On top of the world Embrace a family skiing holiday, says Mary Lussiana 68 Bright young things What our school leavers and graduates did next

Life

70 Christmas gifts For him, her and your teens 74 Property Our pick near independent schools 77 Book club Teen reads turn dark 78 Ask the expert Answering your parenting dilemmas 82 School memories Journalist Harry Mount recalls his days at Westminster School

WINTER 2012 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL PARENT 5

Ever thought of studying your degree abroad?

The University of Nottingham has campuses in China and Malaysia offering a range of degree courses, all of which are taught in English. The courses are delivered to the same high standard as in the UK and you will graduate with a University of Nottingham degree.

• Discover a fascinating new culture • Make friends from across the world • See things from a new perspective • Add something unusual to your CV • Improve your language skills Find out more:

www.nottingham.ac.uk/overseascampuses

News The latest in education and current affairs Waterboys

A Warwick School team of six boys, aged between 14 and 18, are the first boys’ school to complete the classic, six-man, two-way Channel swim – only attempted 50 times since 1950. The swim from Dover to Calais, and back again, took 25 hours 37 minutes.

The relay dictates that they must all swim one hour at a time, taking over from behind the swimmer. In the dark, the support boat lights up the water for each swimmer to navigate. They had to make their way through the wakes from ships and ferries. Parents on the shore cheered them home in the early hours!

RADIO ONE TEEN AWARDS George Stocker, 13, from Queen Ethelburgas Collegiate in North Yorkshire, was voted a Teen Hero at the Radio One Teen Awards.

After being diagnosed with a brain tumour four years ago George started fundraising for the children’s cancer charity Candlelighters – since then he has raised over £50,000. The awards ceremony, hosted by Radio One DJ, Nick Grimshaw, took place at Wembley Arena with a panel composed of Radio One DJs, celebrities and members of youth organisations.

Malborough and Clifton battle for The Governor’s Cup

OLD RUGGER

England rugby head coach, Stuart Lancaster, was guest of honour at the oldest inter-school fixture in the history of English rugby. Teams from Clifton College and Marlborough College battled for The Governor’s Cup, first played in 1864 between the 1st XVs of the Upper Schools.

Spectators gathered on the Close at Clifton College – this year it also comes in celebration of Clifton’s 150th anniversary.

Despite winning the last four matches between the sides, Clifton lost 5-13.

IQ Test

hwood om Nort nn, 15, fr a join M to la d io e Fab n invit , has bee – the 2 16 f College o ith her IQ ove Mensa w , and ab ible score ss o p l il st nd B highe instein a Albert E both o h w s Gate 0! scored 16

Engineering scholar

Sixth former, Robert Bailey, 16, from Bedford Modern School, Bedfordshire, has been awarded a prestigious Arkwright Engineering Scholarship. His award is sponsored

by Newcastle University who are well known for their civil engineering connection and he will receive £600 over two years.

Robert will do the Headstart course in 2013 at the university and meet his sponsor. The Happold Trust invited Arkwright Scholars to a one-week work experience this October half-term at Buro Happold’s London office where they designed a small office building and presented their projects.

Great British bake-off!

George receives award from England’s Hooker Dylan Hartley

www.independentschoolparent.com

Jessica Oakhill from Oxford High School, Oxon, won the Girls’ Day School Trust Bake Off competition by impressing judges Mel Giedroyc, TV presenter, and Jane Sago, Vice Chairman of the Suffolk East Federation Women’s Institute. Six regional winners went head to head in baking 12 cupcakes to mark the 140th anniversary of the association. The regional heats involved baking a Lemon Victoria Sandwich cake from a Mary Berry recipe!

WINTER 2012 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL PARENT 7

GOING GREEN!

Over 100 schools competed in the final of the Greenpower Schools Electric Car Racing Competition at Goodwood Motor Circuit. Teams raced in a 4-hour Le Mans-style race, using electric cars that they had designed and built themselves. Chipping Sodbury School, a state school in Bristol won the F24 race, and Eton College was the top independent school in eighth position.

Right, the Eton College Greenpower Team

DEAR SIR, I AM SORRY

A letter in the Radio Times publicises Michael Gove’s apologies to his former French teacher for misbehaving in lessons. Mr Montgomery’s classroom at Robert Gordon’s College, Aberdeenshire, was the scene of what Gove describes as: “pathetic showing off”. He writes: “You were attempting to coax a group of hormonal lads to look beyond familiar horizons and venture y sycholog rnal of P u o n J e th sh ti ry further”. Gove ends by saying, “So ri d memo by the B he as a goo A study T h . s d il rk h a c rm Danny, it may be too late to say I’m at if a to bette shows th -14 ty leads n aged 12 m anxie re a d x il sorry. But, as my mum told me, it’s -e h c re 6 p 9 ct g e in ff e st e , te e revers research never too late to set the record straight.” owed th r o sh o o p ls h a it , ars nw

: It’s truees nerv lp! do he

ye

8 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL PARENT WINTER 2012

re on child . occurred ory skills m e -m g workin

Independent school A-level results

18%

of entries from ISC pupils were awarded the grade A* at A level in August 2012 comparing to a national average of 7.9%.

The proportion of entries from ISC pupils achieving at least an A grade was

51.4%

compared to 26.6% nationally.

(From the Independent Schools Council)

www.independentschoolparent.com

NEWS

Stop press

Cognita, the UK’s largest independent schools’ group, has announced the appointment of one of its own heads, Geraint Jones, as Director of Education.

Mr Jones, Principal of Quinton House School, Northants, will lead the headteachers of Cognita’s 44 UK independent schools.

The Physics Building at the University of Bristol

GRADUA A recent TES WANTE D. . . study by Aca the

Royal demy the numb of Engineering sa y engineer er of science, tech s that ing and m nology, graduate aths (STE s In the UK needs to increas M) e , engineer approximately 23 by 50%. s ,0 but Chin are graduating e 00 a has 20 ach year tim Schools a re playing es as many! school K their par ilg 340 girls raston sends 33% t; all-girls’ o degrees n to scientific an of its d a Andrews t universities such maths , Edinbur gh, ICL a as St nd UCL.

RAY OF LIGHT University of Bristol is leading a schools’ project that is investigating the origin of millions of cosmic rays that crash into the Earth’s atmosphere from outer space. Red Maids’ School, Somerset, is one of the first to link up with the international HiSPARC initiative by building two particle detectors on the roof of their sixth form building. Intricate data will be collected about the particles and will be accessed by researchers around the globe. This is the first school programme of its kind and the university has received interest from schools across the UK keen to get pupils involved in hands-on, experimental science.

Stock up for school!

Breakfast has always been claimed to be the most important meal of the day, now Imperial College London has released findings at the Neuroscience 2012 Conference to back this up.

Brain scans of 21 people revealed that skipping breakfast makes fatty, high-calorie foods more attractive.

The participants were shown pictures of high-calorie food while they were placed in an MRI machine.

www.independentschoolparent.com

GCSEPod

It’s that time again: January GCSE mock exams and modules are round the corner. This award-winning app, used by schools throughout the UK, provides in excess of 180 hours of quality audio-visual revision podcasts for 15 GCSE subjects. Available on a range of handheld devices, in bite-size three-to-five minute chapters, the app complements longer revision periods as students can access it anywhere, anytime. £9.99 for one month, £59.99 annual subscription. Download at gcsepod.co.uk WINTER 2012 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL PARENT 9

NEWS

COME OUT TO PLAY

i Alumn watch

Over half of children have never been pond-dipping, says a poll by The Co-operative. This is in spite of 77.5% of the 1,000 seven to 14 year-olds questioned saying that it is important to learn about wildlife and their habitats.

amed ifford, n Roger G f o May r o the Lord , is a 13 0 2 r fo London edbergh upil of S . former p Cumbria School in

Prior’s Field School, Surrey

COURTESY OF RANDOM HOUSE CHILDREN’S PUBLISHERS

Bully for you

The AntiBullying Alliance (ABA) has launched a book club in partnership with Random House Children’s Publishers (RHCP) to encourage schools to discuss bullying through literature. The organisations hope that children will use the book club to speak up about their own experiences.

Pupils and teachers from the AMA School and College Network will review the books online.

10 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL PARENT WINTER 2012

INVESTMENT POT

Oarsome grips

Emily Webb, former pupil from Haberdashers’ Monmouth School for Girls, has been named Young Entrepreneur of the Year at the South Wales Business Awards 2012 for her innovative handgrip product. The Oarsome Grips have been supplied to a high profile military hospital and TROOP AID, for use on injured soldiers’ crutches, and used in training by 2012 Paralympic athletes.

Women’s financial website savvywomen. co.uk found that 95% of parents say that they should be able to transfer Child Trust Funds into Junior ISAs as a means of saving for their children’s future. Founder Sarah Pennells, has called for the Government to allow such a change so that all children under 18 have an equal chance of getting the best savings rates available.

www.independentschoolparent.com

WHICH WOULD YOU CHOOSE?

Our small groups, attentive teaching methods and respect for you as an individual allow you to focus on your unique strengths and chosen path.

GSA independent day and boarding school for girls aged 11-18 74 Banbury Road, Oxford, OX2 6JR E admissions@wychwoodschool.org T 01865 517103 www.wychwoodschool.org

NEWS

Websites of the month...

STATISTIC OF THE MONTH

NEWS

Websites of the month...

STATISTIC OF THE MONTH

61%

of parents believe that an all inclusive university accommodation package (including high speed broadband, utility bills, contents insurance and 24-hour gym) is a necessity, while

Unistats.direct.gov.uk A new university comparison website called Unistats is set to help sixth formers choose courses this year. This format aims to make the job of selecting a university and course simpler, with information including the cost of housing and student satisfaction ratings (with figures from the National Student Survey). The website is published by the Higher Education Funding Council.

Bestcourse4me.com The Telegraph has launched an interactive graphic that reveals which A levels are most commonly held by undergraduates studying each subject. The data, compiled by bestcourse4me, shows that the top A levels for some courses are not what you would expect. Pupils can explore the graphic by chosen career, subject areas or university choice.

Portfolio-oomph.com This new online service equips art students with the skills needed to showcase their talents and win a place at art college. Founder Jean Read based the website on her experience as an art lecturer.

Jean insists that a creative portfolio is the most important tool to cross the threshold of art college. The site includes easy-to-follow e-books and free downloads.

1in5 teenage boys expect a flat screen TV to be included in their accommodation package!

(Pure Student Living).

Gap year top tip

Store copies

of on a secure travel documents data website.

See fco.gov.uk/travel

For more information visit... www.independentschoolparent.com

Yunnan province is considered to be one of the most beautiful in China

“Know

Before You campaign Go”

SELL, SELL, SELL!

Students at Queen’s University, Belfast, can practice their trading skills in a new financial trading room in the management school.

The 12 trading stations allow dealings in real-time equities, bonds and foreign exchange in a simulated environment. In the competitive job market this resource gives undergraduates valuable experience.

Top 10 companies students follow 1. Burberry 2. ITV

3. ASOS

4. Facebook

5. Boston Consulting Group 6. ARUP

7. Harrods

8. Bain & Company

9. PA Consulting Group 10. Net-A-Porter (LinkedIn, UK)

BRIDGING THE GAP

University friends Mark Scicluna and Mark Cottenham, of Harrow and Eton respectively, set up Bridging the Gap China to offer a unique combination of classroom-taught Mandarin with sightseeing and travelling, on one and two-month courses. Based on their own experiences, the pair wanted to create a gap year that gave students a firm grounding in Mandarin and the Chinese culture. The course is situated in the beautiful Yunnan province. Mark Cottenham lives in China and is studying for level 6 in his HSK exams (top level), which is considered to be proof of fluency in Mandarin, bridgingthegapchina.co.uk

12 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL PARENT

007_ISP_1112.indd 5

www.independentschoolparent.com

7/11/12 15:11:19

61%

of parents believe that an all inclusive university accommodation package (including high speed broadband, utility bills, contents insurance and 24-hour gym) is a necessity, while

Unistats.direct.gov.uk A new university comparison website called Unistats is set to help sixth formers choose courses this year. This format aims to make the job of selecting a university and course simpler, with information including the cost of housing and student satisfaction ratings (with figures from the National Student Survey). The website is published by the Higher Education Funding Council.

Bestcourse4me.com The Telegraph has launched an interactive graphic that reveals which A levels are most commonly held by undergraduates studying each subject. The data, compiled by bestcourse4me, shows that the top A levels for some courses are not what you would expect. Pupils can explore the graphic by chosen career, subject areas or university choice.

Portfolio-oomph.com This new online service equips art students with the skills needed to showcase their talents and win a place at art college. Founder Jean Read based the website on her experience as an art lecturer.

Jean insists that a creative portfolio is the most important tool to cross the threshold of art college. The site includes easy-to-follow e-books and free downloads.

Gap ye top tipar

Store c opies o f travel docum on a se ents cure da ta webs See fco ite. .gov.uk /travel “Know Before You Go ” campa ign

1in 5 teenage boys expect a flat screen TV to be included in their accommodation package!

(Pure Student Living).

For more information visit... www.independentschoolparent.com

Yunnan province is considered to be one of the most beautiful in China

SELL, SELL, SELL! Students at Queen’s University, Belfast, can practice their trading skills in a new financial trading room in the management school.

The 12 trading stations allow dealings in real-time equities, bonds and foreign exchange in a simulated environment. In the competitive job market this resource gives undergraduates valuable experience.

Top 10 companies students follow 1. Burberry 2. ITV 3. ASOS 4. Facebook 5. Boston Consulting Group 6. ARUP 7. Harrods 8. Bain & Company 9. PA Consulting Group 10. Net-A-Porter (LinkedIn, UK)

12 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL PARENT

BRIDGING THE GAP

University friends Mark Scicluna and Mark Cottenham, of Harrow and Eton respectively, set up Bridging the Gap China to offer a unique combination of classroom-taught Mandarin with sightseeing and travelling, on one and two-month courses. Based on their own experiences, the pair wanted to create a gap year that gave students a firm grounding in Mandarin and the Chinese culture. The course is situated in the beautiful Yunnan province. Mark Cottenham lives in China and is studying for level 6 in his HSK exams (top level), which is considered to be proof of fluency in Mandarin, bridgingthegapchina.co.uk www.independentschoolparent.com

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winter 2012 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL ParENT 13

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independentschoolparent.com The one-stop shop for parents seeking practical information and advice    

Searchable directory of over 1,400 independent schools Practical information on selecting the right school Comprehensive information sheets and checklists ask questions of our resident experts

register today to join the Independent School Parent association Our rapidly expanding community of parents with children at independent schools Receive your benefits today worth over £35 Simply join the Independent School Parent Association

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HEAD VIEWPOINT

All change?

Mark Moore assesses the proposed revamp of the GCSE and how it will affect your child’s education – if at all

S

o now we know. Or do we?

Although it had been tactically leaked both to the Daily Mail and to The Sunday Times, the Secretary of State for Education’s big idea for the future of the GCSE has finally been unveiled. As Michael Gove somewhat sarcastically, if cleverly, fielded questions on the floor of the House on the day of his big announcement, what were we to make of it all? What was either new or different about his proposals?

Mr Clegg very cannily made sure that any changes to examinations do not come into being until 2017, and even then only in English, maths and science.

This is presumably because he believes that a General Election in 2015 will usher in change, and the plans might be completely scrapped by any incoming government with a different education agenda. So, conclusion number one is: don’t hold your breath because change is to be slow and gradual if at all. Far from being a radical overhaul of the main secondary school examination system, this is a proposal that is compromised on all fronts.

Firstly, it only applies in England.

Secondly, coursework is to go. But in many existing GCSEs, for example Latin, that is already the case and one of the great attractions of the IGCSE, which many schools now offer, is that there is no coursework component. So, for many pupils, “no change there then”.

Thirdly, modules are to go. In GCSEs, modules are bite-sized exams where a small part of the overall GCSE is examined in a short paper of around 45 minutes. They can be re-taken and the best score counts. Such modules are to go, in the shorter term, and in time exams will be longer, cover bigger

chunks of the specified material, and will be taken in the Summer.

Although it will no longer be possible to take a section of a GCSE early, it will still be possible to take a whole GCSE exam early, or indeed late, for those who do not reach the required standard at 16 years-old. So, conclusion number two is: there is a change here, but it is not a substantial change for independent schools, where modules have not been especially widespread and where many pupils take IGCSE in any case.

Fourthly, there will be a single exam board for each subject. Mr Gove believes that competition between exam boards has driven a “race to the bottom” as each board competes for a larger market share by offering progressively easier GCSE exams with each passing year. But once in place, this change could present a new problem.

Each exam board will compete for the franchise in each subject that is examined nationally. So, for example, AQA could win the franchise for physics,

Michael Gove believes the EBacc will bring back rigour and the end of “dumbing down”

What’s your view? Discuss on Twitter... @ISParent

❝ Mr Clegg cannily made sure that any changes

to exams do not come into being until 2017, and even then only in English, maths and science❞

www.independentschoolparent.com

OCR for chemistry and Edexcel the contract for biology. How will comparability across the subjects be guaranteed? What if there is a perception that the board offering, for example, religious studies is “easier” than that for say, drama. Will schools recommend to pupils that they go for the “easier” option so as to maximise results? And will it be possible for schools in England to continue to take the Welsh board’s GCSEs, as many schools in England do, after 2017? So, conclusion number three is: market forces will still apply as schools and pupils look for the best deal.

The big idea behind these reforms is the formalisation into a qualification of the English Baccalaureate or EBacc as it is commonly known. To qualify for the EBacc, pupils have to achieve the equivalent of a grade C or more in a specified group of subjects including English and maths, a science, history or geography and a language. Mr Gove believes the EBacc will represent a return to rigour and the end of “dumbing down”. Pupils who do not achieve the EBacc at 16 (O level) will be given a certificate of achievement (CSE) cataloguing their achievements.

Conclusion number four: haven’t we been here before?

I am not convinced by the argument that the way to fix a problem is to turn the clock back to a time before the problem was thought to exist. The real issue is that whatever exam system we have, it is the assessment that matters: it has to be credible. In other words, the way the exams are marked must produce a rank order in which the best candidates obtain the best marks.

It sounds beguilingly simple but like so many simple things, incredibly difficult to achieve.

Mark Moore is Head Master of Clifton College, Bristol.

For more information visit... www.independentschoolparent.com

WINTER 2012 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL PARENT 15

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educaTion

Same family, different schools If your children are like chalk and cheese, then choose schools based on their individual talents, writes Thalia Thompson

W

e all want what’s best for our children. But the best school for each child in your family doesn’t necessarily mean the same school and a school that is perfect for one child might not be the right environment for another.

Some families choose different schools for their children right from the start, especially where single-sex education is preferred. But for others, it is in the senior years when their children’s particular personality traits and individual talents become more apparent and may mean that they would do better at separate schools.

This is a situation

that parenting coach Sue Atkins, author of Parenting Made Easy, experienced for herself. Her two children, Will and Molly started at the same school in Surrey. Both did well, but over time the differences in their individual personalities became clearer.

“My son was very academic but my daughter was far more creative and artistic” says Sue. Her son went on to

❝The big advantage of

separate schools is that each child can have their own world and create their own persona without having a sibling chasing behind them❞

Below, every child has a different forte so why assume the same school will suit both siblings?

one of the top independent coeducational schools in England but they decided to send Molly to a different senior school.

“We felt she might start to compare herself to her brother – that was something we never did – and it wouldn’t be very helpful.” explains Sue. It was the right decision, “Molly absolutely blossomed and shone – she really came into her own.”

It can be harder when the decision to send siblings to separate schools is taken out of parents’ hands. Two years ago Claire Edwards’ eldest son, Miles, passed the entrance exam into his Hertfordshire senior school with flying colours and has flourished there.

However her younger son, Harry, is currently at the associated prep school and the teachers there recently advised Claire that he was less likely to pass the entrance exam.

“At first we were taken aback” admits Claire “We’d always assumed they’d go to the same school. He’s due to sit the exam next January but we’re looking at other schools too. We’re doing a round of visits this term, trying to make sure Harry sees it as finding the school that’s best for him, rather than whether he’s ‘good’ enough for the school.”

It’s vital for children’s self confidence that they understand this distinction.

There’s a lot parents can do to help.

“Your children are guided by you” says Sue Atkins, “So your tone of voice and your body language is important to make sure they actually understand that yes, that’s the better school for them… it’s not that one talent is better than another.”

Sue stresses the importance of celebrating each child’s unique talents – something that’s a key WINTER 2012 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL ParENT 17

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part of raising happy, confident children in general, not just when you’re dealing with exam difficulties.

“It’s about celebrating the successes and achievements that are personal to each child” she explains – “Not what reading level they’re on, but the things that really make them who they are.”

Clinical psychologist and parenting expert Dr Claire Halsey, author of Ask a Parenting Expert, agrees, adding that being genuine is vital. “Our children are bright, they can tell if we’re fudging it. It is about finding something that each child is good at. It doesn’t have to be

❝Some parents

worry that siblings may grow apart if at separate schools, but in practice others often say how each child has blossomed❞ something with a trophy but you need to find something they’re genuinely proud of, that you can celebrate as well.”

Sixth form can also be a time when a desire to specialise in a certain subject area or a preference for a particular teaching style leads to a change of schools. Neil and Cecile Ashford live in a fairly rural part of Wales. Their children, Sadie and Sam, attended a good independent day school. “Both children have done well at school”, says Cecile “but Sadie in particular really excelled at science. When it came to the sixth form, we decided to send her to a boarding school on the south coast – the facilities there were superb.”

However their son has opted to remain at his day school for sixth form.

“We wanted to offer him the same opportunities, so we did take him to see several possible boarding schools, but in

the end we agreed with his decision.

Sadie was absolutely ready for the independence of boarding school and loved every minute but I think Sam will do better here on home territory.”

There can be some practical disadvantages to separate schools; for example term dates don’t always coincide. And while senior school pupils are old enough to use public transport to travel to school independently, in some areas parents still find themselves faced with a double, or even triple, school run.

Lift-sharing rotas are a good solution or alternatively pupils can often use the school library to get on with homework for an hour or more after the end of lessons, giving you more time to complete the school run.

Parents sometimes worry that siblings will grow apart if they go to different schools, but in practice parents often

above, collecting a sibling at Francis Holland School, Regent’s Park

talk about how each child has blossomed. As Sue Atkins says, “Sometimes being compared to your brother or sister all day long is not very good for your self esteem”.

Kate Spall whose two children attend different schools in Cheshire agrees, “I think the big advantage of separate schools is that each child can have their own world. They can excel in their chosen field and create their own persona without having a sibling chasing behind them.”

It’s clear that with schools, one size doesn’t always fit all. So sometimes it’s better to go for a custom fit for your family, choosing schools that suit the talents and personalities of each individual child.

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COMMENT

Mindyour mobile manners A little mobile phone etiquette can go a long way, writes Jane Prescott

M

ichael Wilshaw – Ofsted’s Chief Inspector of Schools – thinks to ban mobile phones from schools universally would be a good move. If you read the many comments on the major newspapers’ websites you would think that most of the country is in agreement.

But we cannot be Luddite about this. I worked in a school which banned children from bringing their phone to school. If, in exceptional circumstances, they needed it for the journey to and from school, there was a complicated process of handing in the device and retrieving it at the end of the school day in time to catch public transport home.

I am very glad that kind of draconian rule is not needed in Portsmouth High School. Our girls know that there is a code of behaviour expected over the use of their mobile phone in school. It should only be used for important contact during the school day, never used to bully or harass and always be silent or switched off to avoid temptation during lessons. The girls are responsible for the care of their phone and of course there are strict rules governing phones and examinations that cannot be broken.

Mobile phones do so much more than just make a phone call. Even the simplest phone will allow you to take photographs, wake you up in the morning, have a basic calculator or makes notes. The more sophisticated devices enable the checking of emails and have calendar reminders along with quick access to social networking sites

❝Mobile phones

are here to stay and we must embrace what is good about them❞

www.independentschoolparent.com

and even the ability to talk face to face over the Internet. Some even let you keep up with sporting triumphs as and when they happen.

There are even applications that allow parents to read their children’s text messages! But a word of warning – you may need your child’s help in getting it installed and anyway what does this app say about your trust in them? Also, in my experience, the technology savvy young person can get round such monitoring devices so you may not be surveying the whole picture anyway.

It is important that students are taught the positives of some applications; for example, being able to quickly photograph notes on the board or something they see that will be useful for their art or drama. My son used his phone to photograph his friend’s entire anthology of poems having lost his copy and it was quite effective! There are apps on some phones that aid revision and make learning fun, regardless of age. I must admit to being addicted to one such app that asks you to form words from a collection of letters against the clock and I believe it keeps my mind active and alert. I do enjoy the odd flutter with Angry Birds and argue it helps me think strategically and very

Above, girls at Portsmouth High School make records from the board using their mobiles

definitely improves my dexterity.

I don’t, however, sit in meetings playing on my phone. I think it is important that we teach children to manage their devices. One day they may attend meetings and must understand that it isn’t acceptable to be constantly looking at your phone. And it is, in general, rude to text in company. By the time some of your children embark on their careers the approach to mobiles may be entirely different, so it is not in their interests for us to prevent them learning good mobile etiquette.

Mobile phones are here to stay and we must embrace what is good about them and make sure our children are taught how and, perhaps more importantly, when it is acceptable to use them.

CHECKLIST ✱ Turn your phone off at night – you don’t want to be woken by a text at 3am! ✱ Put it away during meal times and when you should be concentrating on something else. ✱ Sometimes it is inpolite to use your phone – in a cinema, church or when you are talking to someone else. ✱ Use your phone to remember events. ✱ Think before you text – would you say this to their face? ✱ Using an expensive phone openly in public can attract theives – be careful. ✱ Back up your phone contacts. ✱ Not all phones work everywhere so always have a back-up plan.

What’s your view? Discuss on Twitter... @ISParent

✱ Take photographs of exciting things. ✱ Use it as a learning tool. ✱ Keep it charged.

Visit independentschoolparent.com for our free checklist for all you need to know on MOBILE ETIQUETTE

Jane Prescott is Headmistress of Portsmouth High School, Hampshire.

For more information visit... www.independentschoolparent.com

WINTER 2012 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL PARENT 21

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Decisions, decisions Charlotte Phillips looks at why the choices your child makes at GCSE level can impact on their future career Right, Dr Helen Wright discusses GCSE choices with each of her Year Nine pupils

W

ith their robust approach to subject choices, pupils – without any help from Michael Gove and his EBacc – have been taking a solid core of non-negotiable GCSE subjects for years. Schools, like their pupils, are simply good at exams.

And there is a reason schools place such value on correct decision making on subject choices at GCSE level – they know it will have a direct impact on a pupil’s future career.

While some pupils will know from the age of 11 what they want to be when they grow up, others won’t have a clue. Most children sit a near identical clutch of subject essentials, headed by science, maths and English language and

literature together with at least one modern language, and history, geography or religious studies taken singly or in combination as well.

Qualityover quantity At this stage, although breadth is emphatically best, it helps to have an idea of where your future interests might lie.

Budding medics will be steered towards three separate sciences, would-be geographers, lawyers and historians encouraged to consider their humanities choices with care to ensure range and relevance, and the creative helped to avoid artistic overload (top universities have a limited tolerance for so-called “soft” subjects such as photography).

Quality often trumps quantity: at least one psychology degree course now requires a top GCSE maths grade.

Beyond that, however, there’s little in the way of decision-making. “You don’t have to do history as well as geography, German and Latin to get somewhere,” says Simon Wilson, Deputy Headmaster at The Leys School, Cambridge. “[At 16,] it’s all about getting a balance, not closing doors, and taking the exams you need to get on in life.”

Independent schools, always good at ramping up extra-curricular options, from sports a go-go to Young Enterprise, fundraising trips abroad, to The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme, and broadening pupils’ horizons in the

❝ While some pupils will know from the age of 11 what they

want to be when they grow up, others won’t have a clue❞

www.independentschoolparent.com

WINTER 2012 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL ParENT 23

❝ Schools are there to prepare children for their futures and

sometimes we lose sight of that❞ Dr Helen Wright

process, have increasingly started to help them to look inwards, too.

What makesyou tick

Below, Lord Wandsworth College, Hampshire

New Age it isn’t. Schools are pragmatic places, and soul-searching – when it happens – is a well-controlled business.

However, it’s often highly effective at giving even the newest of senior school arrivals an insight into what makes them tick and how that might translate into subject choices further up the school.

For Dr Helen Wright, Headmistress of St Mary’s Calne School in Wiltshire, and the Independent Schools Council’s spokesperson on careers, it’s a hugely

24 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL ParENT WINTER 2012

important, yet sometimes overlooked, part of academic life. “Schools are there…to prepare children for their futures and sometimes we lose sight of that – we think we’re just preparing them for exams and that’s absolutely wrong,” she says. She sits down with “every single girl” in Year Nine as they start to make their GCSE subject choices. “I operate a kind of imaginary Venn diagram,” she says.”[It] has one circle of things you enjoy doing, another of things you’re good at and a third circle which is what this means in terms of your choices.”

They like to start early elsewhere, too.

In Personal and Social Education (PSE) lessons at St Margaret’s School, Bushey, 12-year-old pupils learn to visualise themselves working and operating in the real world, assessing their strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes. Even in these supposedly liberated days, Head of Careers Barbara Blakemore gives, a perhaps surprisingly, large amount of old-fashioned thinking about what girls can and can’t do compared with boys.

Get the focus right and by the time students and their parents come to make decisions about sixth form courses, they should have the self-knowledge to opt for the subjects (usually four at AS, dropping to three in the final year) that combine academic clout with satisfaction.

“First and foremost you should do the subjects you love most,” says Anthony

Curtis, Head of Careers and Psychology at Stonar School. Admittedly, that love may have to be tempered with realism.

Maths, the sciences, English literature, English language, history, geography, modern languages, Latin and Greek are the new (and, indeed, old) black when it comes to academic fashion, heading the list of highly regarded A levels. Nonegotiation must-include subjects are also well worth bearing in mind – maths for future economists and coupled with physics for engineers; chemistry with another science for future doctors, dentists and vets.

Get the focus right

“In broad terms, degrees fall into two categories: vocational, preparing you for a career so they tend to have very specific entrance requirements…and degrees where you are studying a subject for three years because you are deeply passionate about it,” says Jonathan Hardwick, Regional Director at The Inspiring Futures Foundation, whose super-sophisticated profiling tests are used by an increasing number of schools to provide forensic insights into pupils’ personalities, interests and strengths.

But wiggle room does exist – just.

“Ologies”, for example, are fine in moderation, with psychology, a hot favourite, capable of adding just a little bling-like lustre to a wide range of subjects. www.independentschoolparent.com

in focus

❝ First and foremost you should do the subjects you love most❞ Anthony Curtis, Head of careers and psychology, Stonar School Left, Merchiston castle school, Edinburgh Below, st Mary’s calne, Wiltshire

It’s also possible to do a bit of mixing and matching when it comes to law or business studies degrees, as long as your subjects come with lashings of academic rigour topped with decent grades, too.

There’s even occasional scope to slip into an old favourite at AS level. Design, for example, can be a complementary addition to physics and maths, while there’s nothing to stop creative types from opting for a slightly higher risk strategy and including, say, AS art in a shopping basket of science goodies – as long as they are confident of top grades.

Top-flight career

That may not cut the mustard with desperate parents, so intent on honing their children’s life chances in any way possible, that they may not just guide but herd them towards courses that come with the gold-plated guarantee of a well-paid career at the end of it.

Anthony Curtis, however, has first-hand experience of the disappointments caused by making the

wrong initial A-level subject choices, followed by the transformation when you get it right. “I was given very little advice when I selected my A levels and found myself doing double maths, which was extremely hard. Six weeks into my course, I changed to psychology and single maths. It was a decision that changed my life.”

Not half. In addition to his role as Head of careers and psychology at Stonar, he also edits Psychology Review (a national magazine for A-level psychology students) and is thus a bang up-to-date role model for today’s pupils who, like him, may embrace multiple careers.

What, though, if your child’s progress doesn’t follow a textbook trajectory that catapults them from the groves of academe straight into a top-flight career?

Adaptable skills

“[In] two thirds of job adverts for graduates, the recruiter doesn’t specify what degree subject is required,” says Jonathan Hardwick, reassuringly. “They

just say ‘We want a graduate and will take your transferable skills and adapt them to the way we work.’”

And while Dr Wright sympathises with parents, she believes we shouldn’t worry too much. “Our society is evolving to make different ways into higher education. You can do access courses, you can do subjects after you’ve left school, you can do a degree in one subject and go on to a completely different subject.”

Ensure that children learn to understand and like themselves as well as finding out about the world around them and they can weather just about anything that’s thrown at them.

“By the time they leave school and are going to be 18, they are a tiny fraction of the way through their lives. If you have worked with them to build up resilience and confidence, they will fall on their own two feet.”

For more information visit... www.independentschoolparent.com

WINTER 2012 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL ParENT 25

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IN FOCUS

Juggling act Pupil Olivia Charley explains how she is managing the daunting decisions that face her in Year 11

Y

ear 11 is notorious for being a year of hard work, full of stressful exams and lifechanging results. But amid all the hype about GCSEs, we students are also making some of the most crucial decisions about our futures.

Just after taking the mock exams for our GCSEs, we have to hand in our A- level options: A levels that will lead to our university course options, which will lead to our future career options. How, at the age of 15, can we be expected to make these decisions?

For some of my friends this is easy.

They want to study medicine and become a doctor, so they have to do the sciences for A level. But for others, like me, having to choose which subjects to specialise in is a tall order. Eight months ago, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do when I was older. The more people asked me, like family, friends and teachers, the more it terrified me.

However, over the first year of my GCSEs, I have realised which subjects I really enjoy doing and which career options are just not for me.

My school helps out a lot. With career meetings, and online surveys of our

❝Our school

offers a‘Take Your Daughter To Work Day’, to give us an insight into the world of work❞ For more information visit... www.independentschoolparent.com

www.independentschoolparent.com

skills and personality, they give us so much guidance so that this great leap from decision a child to making adult decisions does not feel so bad. We also had a taster day when we spent a trial day being a sixth former. We got to try out possible A-level subjects, such as philosophy, psychology, economics, history of art and classical civilisation.

These taster lessons gave us a great sense of what it would be like to study completely new subjects.

But it is hard having to decide our A levels and career path when we have so little idea of what jobs are out there, other than the obvious ones such as being a doctor, vet, lawyer or accountant. So to help us with this, our school offers the “Take Your Daughter To Work Day”, to give us an insight into the world of work.

I went with my father, who is a management consultant, to London.

Being in an office and experiencing a real boardroom meeting was invaluable to me. We were in a video conference with senior executives who were sitting in offices in America, Canada and Bermuda and I watched my father make key decisions. I even got to interview one of the top women in the company, the Operations Director. She told me how experience and qualifications were what set her on the right career path – after university her first job was in McDonald’s! This reassured me that the decisions, although important, were not the end of the world and I still had so much life to live before I joined the world of work.

My day in the office also really set my sights on working in business one day and got me interested in economics, which I would now like to do at A level.

An advantage of wanting to work in business is that you can (mostly) take what you want for your A levels. Unless you want to specifically have a career as an artist or a scientist, most subject combinations can get you where you

Olivia Charley is in Year 11 at The Lady Eleanor Holles School, Middlesex.

want to go.

Therefore, in my opinion, the most important thing to do is study subjects that you love – bearing in mind that at A level you spend a lot of time studying just the three or four you choose. For me this decided my subjects for me, which for now are history, English, maths and economics. But I have many friends who are still undecided.

CHECKLIST ON HOW TO MANAGE YEAR 11  Stay on top of your homework. Don’t let it pile up so it swamps you.  Use lesson time to work out which subjects you really enjoy. Don’t confuse liking the teacher with liking the subject.  Research possible A-level subjects you might not have tried before so you can be sure you are making an informed decision.  Talk to parents and family friends about their jobs. What do they actually do on a day-to-day basis? If you do know what you want to do use the time to find out from your careers teacher what your options are at A level and the sort of work experience you should get.  Start thinking early about how you want to spend your work experience week after GCSEs. Try to arrange it sooner rather than later, so it doesn’t become a pressure as you approach your Summer exam study leave.  If you have already turned 16, try and get some local work experience, either in a part-time job or volunteering an hour or two a week for a local charity.

Visit independentschoolparent.com for our free checklist for all you need to know on MANAGING YEAR 11

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SPORT

We are the champions Only 17% of Team GB went to independent school, but they accounted for a third of the medal haul, writes John Goodbody

IMAGE COURTESY OF BRITISH OLYMPIC ASSOCIATION

E

ven before this Summer’s Olympics so enthralled the country, there was the expectation that Team GB would rely on former pupils of independent schools for much of their anticipated success. Early in July, David Cameron had complained that too much of the state sector paid insufficient attention to sport with the result being that “independent schools produce more than their fair share of medal winners.”

As the Games got under way and the country entered a state of euphoria, revelling in the triumphs of competitors such as Sir Chris Hoy (George Watson’s College, Edinburgh), Alistair Brownlee (Bradford Grammar School, West Yorkshire) and Mary King (Manor House, Devon), the debate escalated.

Lord Moynihan, the Chairman of the British Olympic Association and, like www.independentschoolparent.com

Cameron, educated at a private school, stated: “It is one of the worst statistics in British sport, and wholly unacceptable, that over 50% of our medals in Beijing came from independent schools, which means that half of our medals came from just seven per cent of the children in the United Kingdom.”

It has often been so. When London staged the 1908 Olympics, Britain won 56 gold medals, a total unlikely ever to be beaten. These included many champions who had been educated privately. There was, for instance, middleweight boxer J.W.H.T. Douglas (Felsted School, Essex), who also captained England at cricket. Then there was Wyndham Halswelle (Charterhouse, Surrey), first in the controversial 400 metres when his American opponents withdrew, and Reggie Doherty (Westminster School, London), gold

Above, Sir Chris Hoy is the most successful British cyclist of all time

medallist in the men’s tennis doubles, who together with his brother Laurie collected 17 Wimbledon singles and doubles titles.

This year, as Britain won 29 gold, 17 silver and 19 bronze medals – the best performance since those 1908 Games – former independent school pupils were in the forefront of the host country’s success.

In rowing, Heather Stanning (Gordonstoun School, Moray) and Helen Glover (Millfield School, Somerset) released the flood of national victories by being the first British gold medallists when they were successful in the coxless pairs, while Ben Ainslie (Truro School, Cornwall) won his fourth successive title and, in equestrianism, Carl Hester (Elizabeth College, Guernsey) and Laura Bechtolsheimer (St Mary’s Calne, Wiltshire) were members of the WINTER 2012 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL PARENT 29

STaTS & faCTS  93 members, or 17%, of the 543-strong Team GB for London 2012 attended independent schools.  The 47 women and 46 men were educated at 75 different schools.  They were twice as likely to finish in the top eight as other members of Team GB and three times as likely to win a medal.  72 of the 93 finished in the top eight positions in one of their events.  45 of the 93 went home with one medal; two of them won two.  At both the Beijing and London Games approximately a third of the medals were won by those who had been educated privately.  Approximately 40% of the 93 members of Team GB were supported financially at school with sports scholarships or all-rounder scholarships.  42 of the 75 schools attended by the 93 team members currently offer sports scholarships or all-rounder scholarships.

triumphant dressage team.

What is particularly interesting about the 2012 Games is not the number of former public schoolboys and girls who made up the 542 competitors in Team GB, but the success that they had. Work carried out by Dr Malcolm Tozer, editor of the book Physical Education and Sport in Independent Schools, published

by John Catt in June, together with Rudolf Eliot Lockhart of the Independent Schools Council and shared with the Sutton Trust, has identified 94 of those 542 who were educated at independent schools at senior level. This is just over 17%.

However, Dr Tozer, who was himself educated in the state sector, points out that since most pupils in independent schools stay on until they are are over 16 years-old, it is fairer to compare this statistic of 17% with the percentage of boys and girls in all full-time education between 16 and 18 years-old. This is 18%, and Tozer confirms: “This suggests that independent schools win their fair share of places – and no more.”

30 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL ParENT WINTER 2012

❝ It is remarkable

just how well the products of independent schools have done, given that the sporting ethos is not upon excelling in the Olympic sports❞

Top, Heather Stanning and Helen Glover Above, Zara Phillips Right, Tom Daley Below right, Alistair Brownlee

However, Tozer does go on to recognise two crucial points. Firstly, that at the 2012 Games, Team GB took part in several sports because they were the host nation and those which they don’t normally enter because of the qualification process. And in these teams, independent schools provided no members for 2012. These were men’s and women’s football, basketball, and handball. These three sports alone accounted for a total of 88 athletes.

Therefore, in Rio (as was the case in Beijing), one can expect the proportion of ex-independent school pupils in Team GB to be much higher.

Secondly, the emphasis at many independent schools is on developing ability in several sports such as cricket, www.independentschoolparent.com

SPORT or 15% did so. Dr Tozer concludes that former independent school pupils “were three times as likely to win a medal as their teammates.”

So what’s at the root of this achievement? In many cases, the facilities are better and staff are inexhaustibly committed. But the main success originates from the traditional expectation of excellence on the sports field, just as in the classroom.

MEDAL TALLY GOLD

Who? Sir Chris Hoy What?

Cycling Where? George Watson’s College, Edinburgh Who? Alistair Brownlee What? Men’s Triathalon Where? Bradford Grammar School, West Yorkshire Who? Helen Glover and Heather Stanning What? Rowing: Women’s Coxless Pairs Where? Millfield School, Somerset and Gordonstoun School, Moray (respectively)

SILVER

Who? Zara Phillips What?

Equestrianism Where?

Gordonstoun School, Moray Who? Laura Robson What? Tennis: mixed doubles Where? St Catherine’s, Greater London Who? Andrew Simpson What?

Sailing: Star Class Where? Pangbourne College, Berkshire

BRONZE

Who? Tom Daley What?

Diving Where? Plymouth College, Devon Who? Beth Tweddle What? Gymnastics Where?

The Queen’s School, Cheshire.

IMAGES COURTESY OF PRESS ASSOCIATION, ROMILLY.COM

Visit independentschoolparent.com for our free information sheet for all you need to know on ALUMNI MEDAL WINNERS

rugby union, and lacrosse, none of which was on the Olympic programme in 2012.

It is, therefore, remarkable just how well the products of private schools have done, given that the sporting ethos in so many of the schools is not on excelling in the Olympic sports. Although it is also true that the experience of P.E and sport at those schools gives individuals the necessary formative background when they take up the Olympic sports.

So, how well did independent school alumni do in London 2012? Dr Tozer has found that 239 of the team of 542 reached the last eight in their events. Of the 94 privately educated members of Team GB, 73 or just over 77% reached the last eight; of the other 448 competitors, 166, or just under 37% did www.independentschoolparent.com

so. Dr Tozer says: “Sportsmen and women, educated at independent schools, may have only won their fair share of places in Team GB but they were over-represented at the sharp end of competition – and twice as likely to reach the last eight as their teammates.”

This becomes even more significant examining which members of Team GB won medals. A total of 114 competitors went home with medals (21% of the team) with many winning them in team events: where every member receives a medal. Of the 94 privately educated competitors, 45 or just under 48% got medals; of the other 448 athletes, just 67,

Physical Education and Sport in Independent Schools, edited by Dr Malcolm Tozer (John Catt, £15.99).

Please see our exclusive Reader Offer on page 80!

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UNDERGRADUATE CAMPUS TOURS FOR 2013 ENTRY

NEW HOME FOR THE BUSINESS SCHOOL

The main entrance to the campus now showcases a new £30m flagship building, scheduled for completion this year.

It will provide new teaching and research facilities as well as an auditorium and art gallery.

Campus tours are offered regularly throughout October and November 2012. Booking is essential, please visit www.brunel.ac.uk and follow the Open Days link, or call 01895 265595.

QUALITY RESEARCH Brunel’s performance in the Research Assessment Exercise confirms not only our status as a research-intensive university, but also our arrival as a university of international standing. One of only a few universities with two EPSRC centres, in both LiME and Match, our groundbreaking yet practical approach to research has been widely recognised. A number of our current projects are included in RCUK’s “100 most significant ideas emerging from UK Universities”.

To discuss research collaboration with Brunel please contact Prof Geoff Rodgers on 01895 265609 or email g.j.rodgers@brunel.ac.uk

QUALITY EDUCATION AND GRADUATES Brunel’s focus on jobs and employability means that our graduates have the skills and information they need to compete for the jobs they want. One of our most distinctive features is our commitment to including periods of work experience – sandwich placements – in many of our courses. Our graduates are therefore more likely to settle quickly into the working environment.

Our Placement & Careers Centre was named “Best University / Careers Service” at the 2012 National Placement & Internship Awards, run by RateMyPlacement.co.uk.

To discuss working with us and our graduates please call 01895 266840 or email careers@brunel.ac.uk

QUALITY RELATIONSHIPS

QUALITY STUDENT EXPERIENCE

Brunel’s Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Liquid Metal Engineering (LiME) is an example of the practical collaboration between Brunel and industry, including Jaguar Landrover. The Centre’s vision is to achieve full metal recirculation through advanced technologies for reuse, remanufacture and recycling of secondary metals, with major benefits for the automotive and metals industries worth £17 billion a year to the UK economy.

Brunel is the UK’s most improved university for student satisfaction, according to the National Student Survey (NSS) for 2011. Out of the 22 universities in London, Brunel is now joint 5th.

Your business could benefit from a conversation with Brunel.

Please contact Andrew Ward on 01895 267698 or email andrew.ward@brunel.ac.uk

www.brunel.ac.uk/brunel-nss-2011

www.brunel.ac.uk

First steps on the ladder Tracy Cook explores how work experience can put your personal statement to the top of the pile

Y

ou may have a fistful of A*s and be predicted five more at A level, but these days that’s not enough for universities and employers. To really stand out from the crowd, you need to be able to offer experience of practical skills, show evidence of commitment and look like the sort of person who can make things happen. In short, you want work experience on your CV. And lots of it.

“All work experience is good experience,” says Anna Rogers, University and Careers Adviser at Tonbridge School. “You can never have too much. A good education alone is not going to get you into university. For medicine, veterinary science and dentistry, it is absolutely required. For other vocational subjects, like architecture or engineering, it can really make your UCAS personal statement stand out, if you can say, for example, “my love of engineering began when I first worked in a cycle shop.’”

At Tonbridge, like many schools, they offer a comprehensive work experience

programme. In the penultimate week of the Summer term, fifth formers must do a week’s work experience and the school is active at finding structured placements, either through parents’ contacts, old boys or organisations they have worked with before. “We send a lot of boys to the City, to financial institutions like Barclays or Credit Suisse and to legal firms like Norton Rose or chambers. But equally we have found placements for boys in very unusual fields, like boat manufacturing, or even for one boy who wanted to go somewhere where they made prosthetic limbs! We start straight after GCSEs because just a year later the boys are having to fill out their personal statements.”

Phil Brewer, Head of sixth form at Truro School agrees that work experience is crucial and from this year is making

❝ These placements can

transform lives. Our goals are to teach, expose and motivate students. We aim to give them total immersion❞

Reputation Director, International Centre for Business and Technology 33 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL PARENT WINTER 2012

www.independentschoolparent.com

❝ Learning ‘soft skills’ – communication,

customer awareness, self-management – are key, not just placements that sound impressive❞ INfOrmaTION SHEET ON INTErNSHIPS Our pick of the best

For TV, radio, film and research see bbc.co.uk/careers Legal experience for AS/A-level pupils pinsentmasons.com Medical placements for Years 10-13 bartsandthelondon.nhs.uk Apply before Jan 4th for experience in the House of Lords parliament.uk A taste of investment banking with J.P. Morgan careers.jpmorgan.com Property and surveying with Rider Levett Bucknall rlb.com Royal Geographical Society offer one-week internships rgs.org Look out for Summer 2013 placements with EMI emimusic.com A 4Talent Day is the first step to gain experience at C4 4talent.channel4.com Apply in June 2013 for engineering internships with rolls-royce.com Visit independentschoolparent.com for our free information sheet for all you need to know on INTERNSHIPS

Join us on ISP magazine!

✱ are you a talented, up-and-coming journalist? ✱ Looking for work experience and to have your work published? ✱ Love to work in a high-octane, fastpaced environment?

If you’re passionate about producing great editorial then a highly-prized week’s internship at ISP could be yours!

Send in one feature idea for either our prep or senior edition and a plan for a Twitter campaign to help spread the ISP word. Email before 4th January 2013 to: editor@independentschoolparent.com

34 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL ParENT WINTER 2012

Right, internships come in all shapes and sizes, from hands-on engineering to shadowing someone in the City

one week’s work experience compulsory post GCSEs. “It gets pupils into the world of adults and helps them see how their A levels link to the real world. They can think about the bigger picture and their long-term career goals. And it helps confirm that either they really do want to go into a particular area, or that they don’t. That’s very valuable. ” Nor does being in a rural area limit the scope for good opportunities. While most placements are informal and usually found through parents’ or friends’ contacts, approaches can be made to companies in cities far from home, provided the student has somewhere safe to stay. At Truro, they use the Institute for Education Business Excellence, available to all schools, to help find companies willing to offer placements. “Even though we are in Cornwall, we can still offer some very interesting placements locally, with Culdrose Royal Navy search and rescue squadron, or in graphic design through art schools in Falmouth.” Brewer is also keen to encourage pupils interested in languages to try work experience abroad, through exchange schools they have links with.

For sixth formers, work experience is usually unpaid, although some companies might offer help with transport costs. But a week of work experience can be invaluable. “I was really interested in politics and school got me a week’s placement with a political publisher,” says Jude Lenier, 16.

“I spent the week doing research on MPs and the Lords. I really enjoyed it, not just to make contacts, but it was also useful to understand what it’s like to commute to an office, work to deadlines and to work in a team. It’s made me sure I want to do a politics degree.”

Some companies, like BP, have formal programmes to give opportunities to school children. Mikhael Bhudri is Reputation Director at their International Centre for Business and Technology and he offers 140 one-week work experiences post GCSEs. “These placements can transform lives. Our goals are to teach, expose and motivate students. We aim to give them total immersion: this is what it feels like to work for a big company, these are the sorts of people you will work with, this is

what you might be doing.”

Pupils are placed on a project supervised by a manager, depending on their interests and skills, such as brand design, marketing or working on international projects. “One student, based in our centre in Sunbury, worked with geologists on an engineering project looking at seismology in Angola, another did a chemical and process engineering project here with our Onshore Egypt team. It’s like a teaser and we hope we start links with students who will keep coming back to us.”

But it is not just placements that sound impressive that are important.

Rogers argues that learning “soft skills” – the ability to communicate with different people, business and customer awareness, self-management and working in a team – are key skills that can’t be learnt from education. “Some parents may say they don’t want their child working say, in the local garage, but I think actually doing this sort of public-facing job can be more useful than shadowing your father’s cousin in the City. Pupils need to get out, interact with people and learn these skills.”

Placements organised through schools in term time are rigorously checked out, with health, safety and insurance issues being covered. But if you or your child are organising a placement for the holidays, it is as well not only to check these issues, but also to clarify in advance what are the goals for the placement and what your child wants to achieve from it. For Laura Jamieson, 16, a week at a national charity, arranged through a friend, was not a great success. “I was asked to do really mundane tasks, like typing lists. It didn’t really give me a sense of the charity, nor did I feel I really learnt anything.”

And even if your subject is not vocational, it can still be valuable says Rogers. “If you’re applying to Oxbridge to do English and 80% of your personal statement is about academia, being able to say you’ve worked in an advertising agency that has given you some understanding of ‘persuasive writing’ could give you that edge. Never mind the long-term advantage you will have when you actually go looking for that first job after university.”

So it seems, work experience is no longer just nice to have, but a must have.

Without it, it’s hard to stand out from the pack.

For more information visit... www.independentschoolparent.com

www.independentschoolparent.com

in focus

www.independentschoolparent.com

WINTER 2012 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL ParENT XX

PROMOTION

Graduates’ camouflage confuses employers But as Paul de Zulueta, Chief executive, at Lifestep, argues: “to land a good first job, you only have to be five per cent better in an employer’s eyes to be 100% better”

E

veryone looks the same; it’s like playing a game of Where’s Wally.”

This remark by the Chief Executive of a financial services firm employing a dozen graduates a year sums up the frustration shared by graduates and employers alike. But instead of Wally’s red-and-white stripes, the camouflage is three As, a 2:1 (64% got this award in 2012), the Duke of Edinburgh’s award scheme, and a week here and there shadowing a godparent whose “something” in the City.

So what does the five per cent look like so that you have a chance to stand out?

First, as Paul de Zulueta agrees, Tracy Cook’s editorial on Internships is spot on.

Consistent and meaningful work experience built up post AS level to graduation is crucial. A paid internship in your first or second year at university means that, providing you make your mark, you have a strong likelihood of being offered a full-time position on graduation.

As George Orwell might have said all work experience is equal but some work

36 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL ParENT winter 2012

experience is more equal than others.

Second, if you are to avoid becoming yet another casualty of today’s Weapons of Mass Rejection, you need the strategies to compete at the highest level - the skills to write effective applications and covering letters that demonstrate you’ve really done your homework, and the skills and behaviours to make a powerful impact when meeting with employers - either in interviews or assessment centres. Paul tells a story: “I had a really good intern last year at Lifestep, let’s call him Tom. He wanted to go into PR. I said to him, choose six firms you’d like to work for, find out who the Chief Executive is, buy some good quality paper, write a well targeted covering letter, and hand deliver it to reception looking presentable.” Within a week, Tom had four replies, two offering him an interview. He is now established in the career of his choice.

The last, and probably the most important thing to sort out are your contacts.

Otherwise, you have no choice but to join the queue; worse, without contacts, employers

look on you as an outsider - a risk. You don’t need to have been to the right school or born into the right family. The leads that you need are just a phone call, a conversation or an email away. And, above all, Paul says “Sort out your online image so that it’s professional as possible, join LinkedIn, the professional network site, because it’s often the first place recruiters go to.”

In today’s over-heated, over-supplied job market and graduate job market, that extra five per cent can make all the difference as to whether you are going to be a driver or a passenger.

abOuT uS... ✱ Lifestep offers two day pragmatic programmes in central London, or one to one coaching on how to stand out in a crowded market. Next program 17 & 18 December 2012.

CONTaCT us... ✱ Tel 02079534084/07817720783 ✱ Email partner@lifestep.co.uk

www.independentschoolparent.com

IN fOCUS

Which university?

Attending a UCAS fair helps the decision-making process, says Bill Lofthouse

I

n March each year, Ampleforth College hosts a Higher Education and Careers Conference to which we invite all our Year 12 students and their parents, together with Year 12 students from a number of partner schools, both independent and maintained. Around 25 universities, including institutions from the USA, Switzerland, Spain and France, attend, together with representatives from the armed forces and a number of professional organisations.

In the morning, there is a series of open seminars covering a multitude of topics from applying to Oxford and Cambridge to careers in journalism. In the afternoon, there is a Higher Education Fair at which visitors may meet representatives of the various universities and learn more about what they have to offer. We always try to have a good variety of universities present: these will range from the likes of Durham, Oxford and Cambridge to the Royal Agricultural College and Northumbria.

So what can you do if your school does not have a similar event? Well, UCAS runs a series of what are called UCAS conventions throughout the UK in the Spring and Summer of each year. Many of these events are even bigger than the one we hold at Ampleforth College. You can find out the dates and locations of them from the UCAS website: ucasevents.com.

For Year 12 students, UCAS conventions are a starting point for them to learn more about their higher education options and they can assist you in a number of ways at the first stage of your research.

IMAGE COURTESY OF UCAS

❝You can gain a

good deal of basic information about your shortlisted universities in one place❞

www.independentschoolparent.com

Firstly, they allow you to gain a good deal of basic information in one place about the universities in which you might be interested. For example, one important consideration might be whether you want a campus university or not. Additionally, there are a number of universities which now have secondary campuses often at a considerable distance from the main site, for example Exeter University has a Cornwall campus 80 miles away in Falmouth where Geology is taught.

Similarly, Durham University has a campus in Stockton-on-Tees.

Secondly, you should be able to discover something about the availability and cost of student accommodation.

Does the university guarantee accommodation in halls of residence to all first year undergraduates (infinitely preferable) or might you be living in rented accommodation? And if this is the case, what will they do to help you find such a place?

Thirdly, if you go to university you are likely to pay in the region of £27,000 for a 3-year course (£36,000 in Scotland, unless you are Scottish). And that is just the tuition fees – add living costs and the total is likely to be in the region of £50,000. It is important, therefore, that students give some thought to their prospects of gaining a job after they

A UCAS convention is an opportunity to really do your research

graduate. Most universities understand this and have carried out extensive research to discover what happens to their students after graduating. Be suspicious if they aren’t able to provide you with some answers about this.

Generally, UCAS conventions are not the best place to discover really detailed information about course content or entry requirements. It is worth remembering that for the most part the people manning the stalls are not admissions tutors or academics at the university; they are employed to boost student recruitment. Of course, they are knowledgeable about the universities they represent, but they are unlikely to tell you anything negative.

So, make a checklist of questions you want to ask before you go and remember to take a pen and paper. Otherwise, after you have met two or three, the chances are that they will all begin to sound the same and you won’t be able to remember the important things they told you!

Bill Lofthouse is Head of sixth form at Ampleforth College, North Yorkshire.

For more information visit... www.independentschoolparent.com

10 quESTIONS TO aSk aT a uCaS CONvENTION

1 2

Are you a campus, city-based or rural university?

Would I be able to live in university-run accommodation for the first year? What about afterwards?

How much does the accommodation cost and how much travelling is involved?

What social and sporting facilities do you have?

On average, how many contact hours per week are there and what is the ratio of students to staff?

When is your open day?

Do I book in advance?

3 4 5 6

7 8

How can the careers service at your university help me to find a job?

What proportion of your graduates are in full-time work six months after finishing their degree? Do you know their average starting salary?

What proportion of your students claimed to be satisfied with their course in the latest National Student Survey? (Be worried if the answer is less than 85%).

What distinguishes your university from all the others here?

9

10

Visit independentschoolparent.com for our free checklist for all you need to know on UCAS CONVENTIONS

WINTER 2012 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL ParENT 37

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EDUCATION

Off intothebig wideworld Sixth forms offer a real stepping stone between school and university life, writes Glynis Kozma

T

he day when you wave goodbye to your son or daughter as they settle in to their university hall of residence can resurrect the emotions you felt when they started school. The transition to university life cannot be underestimated. How will they cope emotionally, practically, financially and academically? Is university life a long alcohol-fuelled party or is the reality more sobering?

Even for teenagers who have spent years boarding, the challenges of studying and living entirely independently are a rite of passage.

However, parents, schools and universities can do much to minimise the challenges.

The University of Cambridge puts a great deal of care into looking after its freshers. Dr Patricia Fara, Senior Tutor of Clare College, told me: “We realise our students have worked hard to get here: it’s our responsibility to help them settle in and stay.”

Cambridge students may leave one set of parents behind, but each new student is allocated a “mother and father”: one older student who is studying the same subject and another who lives on the same staircase in the college. These “parents” provide support by email before students arrive, as well as once they are there. Dr Fara explained: “New students can ask their student parents anything, no matter how trivial it may seem, without feeling embarrassed.”

Cambridge offers, alongside other support services, Peer2Peer. These are students who are trained to support fellow students in a similar way to a counsellor. They can be the first port of

call for any student who is troubled about anything. Additionally, student mentors are available to help students with time management, organisation or other issues.

There are the academic demands which often, according to Dr Dominique Thompson, Director of Student Health at the University of Bristol, “hit them like a brick”, but there are also the practical demands of budgeting, cooking and eating healthily, managing their laundry, making friends and creating a social life.

Universities are aware of the potential problems first years encounter.

Thompson acknowledges, “There is peer

Above, University of Cambridge puts a lot of care into looking after its Freshers

❝ Choosing your own tutor may be every

student’s dream but it’s the reality for sixth formers at Shrewsbury School, Shropshire❞

www.independentschoolparent.com

pressure around socialising, drinking alcohol, and taking drugs. There are issues with having to navigate the NHS alone for the first time, and other support services. Minor illnesses such as colds can be overwhelming if they don’t have familiar people around to ask advice of.”

For the first time in many teenagers’ lives they are not going to have a parent, house staff or matron to keep an eye on them. But an increasing number of schools are tackling these issues to ensure their sixth form students are prepared for university life. One example is by creating accommodation which replicates halls of residence.

As St Mary’s Calne’s, Wiltshire, Headmistress Dr Helen Wright explained, “In our sixth form we ensure that girls have plenty of preparation for independence. Our new Upper Sixth Form House provides a set-up very similar to university halls. The girls have WINTER 2012 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL ParENT 39

❝They do fall out with each other

when the washing up isn’t done.

They have to learn to rub along – there’s nowhere to hide❞ Main image, sixth formers at St Mary’s Calne, Wiltshire Right, pupil with houseparent at Wellington College Below, pupils at Campbell College, Belfast

their own study bedrooms, a kitchenette on each floor, and a cafeteria for communal eating. They can do their own laundry and cooking if they wish.”

St James Senior Girls’ School, London, runs a number of initiatives. At the end of Year 10, pupils attend a “Skills for Life” week which provides workshops on social and presentational skills, leadership, organisation, time management, team building, interview techniques and writing CVs. This is held off-site: last year it was in Leicestershire.

The course includes outside speakers as well as school staff.

From Year 9 right through to Year 13, pupils follow a Financial Literacy course which teaches them about the importance of saving, budgeting, consumer rights and responsibilities, and employers’ and employees’ rights.

Year 12 and 13 students follow a residential “Survive and Thrive” course: talks by the school nurse and doctor, how to manage life at university, and cookery sessions. Head of sixth form Kate Bayes explained, “We aim to cover everything our pupils need to know. In the Sixth Form you start preparing for the next stage as soon as you are in Year 12.”

In 2006, Fettes College, Edinburgh, created Craigleith House, a separate boarding house for their Upper Sixth.

The new building is a conduit between school and university life. Fettes Headmaster, Michael Spens, explains, “By making the house co-educational, we were treating our eldest pupils as young adults and giving them a realistic living environment that would equip them for university.” Students have single study bedrooms, with en-suite facilities. Craigleith has its own library, resources and social centre. There are laundry and cooking facilities, and 40 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL ParENT WINTER 2012

matron runs lessons in washing and ironing. No more white shirts being washed alongside new denim jeans here!

Many students find that living in close proximity with other students is one of the trickiest parts of life at university.

Even seasoned boarders find that harmonious university living depends more on doing their share of the washing-up than a liking for the same bands. In my experience, as a parent of a son and daughter who have recently graduated, the conflicts around sharing a tiny kitchen, respecting privacy, and keeping down the music volume, frequently outweighed any study issues.

As a parent you can help by ensuring your son or daughter knows how to use a washing machine, budget for and cook economical meals, understands basic food hygiene, and essential cleaning.

The summer holidays are an ideal time to have a trial run. Other top concerns are Freshers’ Flu –which is not a myththey all get it – and the worry of meningitis. Equipping your teenager with a basic first-aid kit and information on meningitis is invaluable.

Steve Fairclough, Headmaster of Abbotsholme School, Shropshire, acknowledges that many teenagers lack essential life skills, which is why his school offers its Upper Sixth the unique option of living in log cabins in the school’s grounds. The cabins sleep six in twin-bedded rooms. There is a shared

living area, kitchen and laundry facilities. House staff live alongside in another cabin but it’s strictly “hands off” unless they are needed.

As Fairclough explained, “They do fall out with each other when the washing up isn’t done. They have to learn to rub along – there’s nowhere to hide.” He also firmly believes that students come out of it learning to respect each other’s personalities, and better equipped to

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EDUCATION For more information visit... www.independentschoolparent.com

Apart from the demands of the academic work and settling in to accommodation, the other pressures which face new students are friendships and sexual relationships. The vast majority of universities take student welfare, encompassing emotional and physical health, seriously. Most offer counselling and students have a personal tutor to whom they can talk.

At the University of Bristol’s Students’ Health Centre, Dr Thompson finds that, “Sexual health and contraception are a familiar theme in the first year as students often start new relationships and can get carried away, with little thought to any risks involved. The university has many support services in place to help in the first year, as well as later.” There is communication between academic and medical staff if there is concern that a student is struggling and needs support.

So although the transition to university is a major step in a teenager’s life, universities understand this.

A little preparation from parents and schools pays dividends in helping students adjust successfully, and parents should be reassured that support systems within universities continue to help. living in university accommodation.

At Cheltenham Ladies’ College, the practical skills required at university are covered in Saturday morning sessions.

These are organised by Sue Morton, Opening Minds Co-ordinator. Sessions include cookery, and lectures from visiting speakers on driving safety, drugs and alcohol, personal safety, internet safety, budgeting and banking.

Many girls participate in expeditions, sometimes overseas, where they are responsible for organising their own transport and accommodation.

It’s not just the practicalities that present a challenge to first year students.

One important difference between sixth form and university is that students are expected to manage their study time, including exam revision and extended learning, without a teacher or parent reminding them every five minutes.

The value of independent learning is acknowledged at Oundle School, Peterborough. Carolyn Gent organises the School Leavers’ Programme, which prepares students for the world of university and work. It develops skills such as independent learning and critical thinking, recognising these as www.independentschoolparent.com

essential for undergraduates.

Choosing your own tutor may be every student’s dream but it’s the reality for sixth formers at Shrewsbury School, Shropshire. Sixth form tutors, “Oversee academic progress and university applications, yet the essential value of the role lies in expanding students’ intellectual, personal, cultural and moral horizons in preparation for entry into higher education and the adult world.”

Winchester College has a teaching style similar to universities. Director of Studies, Dr James Webster, explains, “Winchester College’s whole approach is aimed at encouraging a love of learning for its own sake, not merely exam results. Division, Winchester’s unique, non-examined, subject is taught to all year groups. Pupils are encouraged to engage in academic debate with their teachers, rather in the manner of university seminars. Sixth form pupils have small-group, extra-timetable lessons with specialist subject teachers where they cover topics not necessarily on the exam syllabus but which will help make them better prepared for the type of teaching and extension work which they may expect at university.”

ESSENTIAL LIFE SKILLS  Be able to cook simple, nutritious meals and eat healthily.  Manage a weekly budget: food, clothes, social life, fares, personal care.  Basic first aid knowledge: burns, scalds, cuts, upset tummies.  How to treat minor illnesses with over-the-counter medicines.  When to call a doctor or go to A&E- not just for them but for friends.  Be able to do laundry: products, wash temperatures, ironing.  Food hygiene: how to store food, clean up in the kitchen, avoid food poisoning.  Basic housework: cleaning bathrooms, looking after their own rooms.  Personal safety in new environments.

Visit independentschoolparent.com for our free checklist for all you need to know on ESSENTIAL LIFE SKILLS

WINTER 2012 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL PARENT 41

Artistic licence C

areers in artistic subjects, be it fashion, photography, the theatre or playwrighting are notoriously difficult to get into. Many will tell you that success is as much about “being in the right place at the right time” as it is about talent. But leaning on luck is a somewhat dated way of landing a job and nowadays even the artist can further their cause with a well-planned gap year. Incorporating activities that will help you network as well as gain experience in your chosen field – and develop your talent – are clever ways of impressing future admissions officers and employers alike.

“Showing evidence of being pro-active really counts,” says Astrid MacKellar, Assistant Registrar at The Arts University College Bournemouth, who advises students to ensure they’re already qualified and then do something to keep their interest alive during a gap year. “If possible, try and work in the industry, be it as a runner on a film set or work experience, “industry experience is a huge plus point, especially from a networking aspect.”

The first point that MacKellar mentions: getting the right qualifications for the course you are interested in, is crucial. Many arts courses – photography, fashion or fine art – require an Art Foundation Diploma for entry. This year-long course is worth doing straight after school, as the course fees are not charged to students under 19 (although independent colleges may charge, so do check first). While some undergraduate art courses accept students on the basis

42 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL ParENT WINTER 2012

of a strong portfolio, many will ask for a Foundation Diploma as a minimum requirement and consider it the best preparation for undergraduate study.

A foundation course is not a prerequisite for entry to drama school.

However, there are a growing number of short and year-long courses designed to help talented actors hone their skills for the rigorous audition process. The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), for example, auditions all applicants and each one is solely judged on their audition performance. While talented students can get in simply on merit, there are many who have benefited from taster courses offered by the Academy such as the two-week Audition Technique course that takes place during the Easter and Summer holiday period. “It doesn’t guarantee students a place at drama school but it helps gain an insight into what people are looking for,” explains Sarah-Jane Chapman, Head of Marketing and Communications at LAMDA. “It enables you to get expert advice on the audition pieces to choose and pitfalls to avoid.”

LAMDA’s One Year Foundation course provides a more extensive preparation for entry onto a three-year vocational degree programme and helps students get a clear idea of the intense training schedule that the longer course entails.

“It is tough training and a different sort of experience to university,” explains Chapman. “We’re mirroring the industry and you come to the drama school because you are very serious about a career in the profession.” Which probably goes some way to explain the

Above, art at Akeley Wood School, Buckinghamshire Right, Sam Truman and Chris Leask in LAMDA’s 2011 production of Cressida by Nicholas Wright, directed by John Baxter

❝There

are a number of short courses designed to help actors hone their skills❞

course’s current track record. “What we’ve found since we developed it, is that the students on the foundation course do go on to places such as LAMDA, RADA, Bristol and Central,” continues Chapman. However, anyone considering this course should bear in mind that they must finance it themselves.

For students considering applying for a History of Art degree, a demonstrable knowledge and love of art is essential. In fact, the course description for the History of Art course at Cambridge university recommends the following as an ideal preparation for the course: “You should visit as many museums and exhibitions as you can, taking descriptive notes of what you see. Visit buildings such as churches or country houses. […] When a work of art or architecture excites you, try to analyse why it has this effect.

Art History Abroad encourages, and enables, its participants to do just this.

“About a third go on to read the subject at university, and it’s useful because they get to see such a wide range,” says director Nick Ross. AHA’s six-week courses, which take place in various cities across Italy, are conducted in front of the paintings, sculpture or buildings that are being discussed. “It’s about building up a visual catalogue and putting things into context,” says Ross, who also points out that many architecture students find the course useful for their studies.

For those with their heart set on travelling, there are also more traditional gap year experiences available with a “community arts” slant www.independentschoolparent.com

image By John haynes, courtesy of LamDa LimiteD

Boost your chances in the creative industries with a well-planned gap year, says Sara McDonnell

ipsum Arts

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WINTER 2012 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL ParENT 43

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arts the Yvonne arnaud Youth theatre’s production of Romeo and Juliet

❝ If the right research is done now, the

benefits of a successful gap year could reap rewards for your degree and career❞

– on The Leap’s Cambodia Children’s Painting Project, for example, volunteers work with street children, encouraging them to paint and draw and then sell their work, with the proceeds split between their families and a communal education fund towards school fees.

Industry experience is key to the fashion industry, and work experience at a well-known fashion house or magazine can really make an application stand out. The London College of Fashion, which is over-subscribed on its courses, takes as much notice of extra-curricular activities as it does qualifications. “A lot of students have a very similar qualifications, grades, and personal statements,” says Student Recruitment Manager Jason Clapperton. “So the next thing we look at is the kind of things that they do outside of school or college or what they’ve done on a gap year.”

Fashion publishers such as Condé Nast, which is opening its own fashion college next Spring, often take on interns but what do you do if you’re not based in a major city? “We are very aware that if you’re not slap bang in the middle of London, it’s a lot more difficult to get that kind of experience,” admits Clapperton. “But there are things you can do such as set up an online blog or write for your student magazine. We’ve had really tenacious students set up their own businesses online, selling their own things.”

What Clapperton and many others in university admissions agree upon is that applicants should continue their design work throughout their gap year. “If you’ve stopped for a year you might be at a disadvantage compared to other students who have carried on, over that year, building their portfolio,” he says.

He also points out that in the case of the London College of Fashion (LCF), applicants on gap years may be called in for interview after the UCAS application deadline, which could prove tricky for those in far-flung places (LCF rarely allow deferred entry).

For theatre lovers, work experience opportunities may be thin on the ground but are by no means non-existent. The www.independentschoolparent.com

Yvonne Arnaud Youth Theatre in Guildford, for example, runs a year-long apprenticeship scheme. With just one position available per year however, competition is tough. “Applicants have to show a love of the theatre and an interest in drama,” says Alison Webber, the theatre’s spokesman. Each apprentice has a goal to achieve by the end of the year, the nature of which is defined by the apprentice’s key strengths and interests. “One apprentice’s goal was to produce the theatre’s leaflet, from design to production,” Webber continues. “Another’s was to lead one of our Summer workshops. She went on to drama school.”

Whatever your budget and area of specialism, there are likely to be opportunities to either gain experience in industry, create your own project, or develop your knowledge on a relevant course. If the right research is done now, the benefits of a successful gap year and effective networking could reap rewards throughout the rest of your career.

FIND OUT MOrE...  London College of Fashion fashion.arts.ac.uk  the arts University College Bournemouth aucb.ac.uk  Yvonne arnaud Youth theatre yvonne-arnaud.co.uk  the London academy of Music and Dramatic art (LaMDa) Introducing one-day workshops in Easter 2013. lamda.org.uk  art History abroad Set up to introduce students to Italian art, fashion and design. arthistoryabroad.com  Christie’s Education A range of art history and art courses in London, New York and Hong Kong. christieseducation.com  Cathedral Camps Volunteer and help restore Britain’s historic cathedrals. cathedralcamps.org.uk  the arts Educational schools London Foundation, part-time and evening courses. artsed.co.uk  Drama UK This new website is a one-stop-shop for drama training. drama.ac.uk  Get Into theatre Theatre related jobs, internships and training. getintotheatre.org/jobs  Creative Choices Jobs, internships and training in the creative arts. creative-choices.co.uk/jobs-opportunities  Me My art Create an online portfolio. memyart.com

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above, students on art History abroad at Villa Borghese rome Left, akeley Wood school, Buckinghamshire

WINTER 2012 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL ParENT 45

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SCHOOL HEROES

MEET THE...

Sports supremo

R

ackets! What’s Rackets? Please tell me more”. These are the questions that parents frequently ask of their sons during the first couple of weeks of term when they first arrive at Tonbridge.

The young lads, fresh out of prep school, have often heard of Rackets but few have had the opportunity to play.

The responses vary slightly but in general are similar: it’s played on a massive, high, black-walled indoor court; with a rock-hard, very fast ball; and it’s the fastest ball sport in the world, played with a long handled tightly strung racket. It sharpens reactions and your hand-eye coordination; it’s also exciting, skilful and great fun.

In its earliest form, during the 18th century, Rackets was played on the walls of the yards of the two main debtor’s prisons, the King’s Bench and the Fleet.

As well as being a fun sport to play, Rackets, like cricket, is highly technical.

In fact, Colin Cowdrey, (former England www.independentschoolparent.com

cricket captain) and a top class Rackets player in his own right, would regularly have a knock about on the Tonbridge court before going out to bat when the schools 1st XI were playing at home. To this day, many of the current batsmen in the school’s 1st XI do the same.

The game can be played at singles or doubles. All inter-school fixtures during the two winter terms are doubles only.

Public Schools’ Singles Championships are played over the course of a week at The Queen’s Club in London, in December, with the Public Schools’ Doubles in March, also at Queen’s.

Tonbridge School enters around 20 boys for the Singles (there is a limit), and we enter eight pairs (the maximum allowed) in the four different age groups at the Doubles event. Fourteen of the top public schools in England have courts, including Charterhouse, Eton, Harrow, Rugby and Winchester. We play inter school matches against all of them, and they all have full time Professional

It’s rackets all the way for swashbuckling coach, David Makey, of Tonbridge School

David Makey, Rackets coach at Tonbridge School, Kent, spearheaded the funding campaign for the new court

Rackets’ coaches.

One hundred and eighty four miles per hour is quick, and if a ball strikes your head at that speed, you’d be lucky to wake up in time for your Corn flakes! Protection, such as helmets or goggles, are not worn by most players, though some schools have given in and made their junior boys wear eye protection. Personally, I would rather give up playing than be forced to wear it!

I excelled at the variety of sports that I played at school, so when I left, there was only one direction in which I was heading – and that was anything to do with sport.

The manager of the sports shop where I took my first job was also the part time Rackets coach at Tonbridge School and he asked me to have a go at playing it. He must have seen something in me because he said he thought I had what it takes to become a top player, and, more importantly, the right type of character to become a good coach. That was in 1980. I have since coached many school champions. I play in tournaments here and in America, and reached six Professional singles finals, three in the USA and three here, losing in all of them!

I did, however, win the US Open Doubles in 2005. I have also been British Over 40s singles and doubles champion.

Rackets coaches at most schools have a close relationship with the boys. The door to my office is always open and many of the boys at school come to me to share stories, share their problems and receive advice in a slightly more relaxed atmosphere than in the Housemaster’s study!

The last couple of years have been particularly hectic as I have been fundraising for a new Rackets court – an achievement of which I am particularly proud! A stunning new court, The Appeal Court, was opened to great fanfare in March and it’s thanks to the generosity of Old Tonbridgians, parents, Tonbridge School and other supporters of Rackets, that we managed it at all.

For more information visit... www.independentschoolparent.com

WINTER 2012 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL PARENT 47

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COMMENT

I blame theparents Rachel Johnson laments the indulgent state of modern parenting and says it’s time to let go and be hands off!

The toughest job in the world is not being President. It’s being a parent.” – Bill Clinton.

This quote I’ve kicked off with? Well, I’M SORRY but it makes me want to emit a wordless, silent howl. I much prefer this lapidary lamentation that mirrors my mood so much better.

“Times are bad. Children no longer obey their parents and everyone is writing a book.” Yes, Marcus Tullius Cicero got it about right two thousand years ago. Everyone thinks that the next generation is more feckless, irresponsible, and disrespectful than the last.

In many ways, nothing changes. We love our children. We want them to grow up to be competent, decent human beings fit for adult purpose. These are the main things, and in these main things, we have – I think we are all agreed – done not too badly.

So what we are here to examine chiefly is not the children. They are examined enough as it is, from Sats via Gove-levels all the way to finals. No, the kids are all right. Where we should peer is under the stone, at the dark, damp place where pale worms feebly wriggle, for this is the condition of the modern parent, in order to try to determine where we – and I include myself – have gone so terribly wrong.

Listen to what English teacher David McCullough told high school leavers in Wellesley, Massachusetts, in June 2012 in his commencement address, entitled You’re Not Special, and weep with appalled recognition.

“Yes, you’ve been pampered, cosseted, doted upon, helmeted, bubble-wrapped.

Yes, capable adults with other things to do have held you, kissed you, fed you,

wiped your mouth, wiped your bottom, trained you, taught you, tutored you, coached you, listened to you, counselled you, encouraged you, consoled you and encouraged you again. You’ve been feted and fawned over and called Sweetie Pie. Yes, you have. Absolutely, smiles ignite when you walk into a room, and hundreds gasp with delight at your every tweet.”

But before we come to the wretchedly indulgent state of parenting that McCullough has so amply illustrated above, I suppose I had better set out my stall. Inevitably, when one becomes a parent, one can’t help revisiting one’s own childhood, in order to make invidious comparisons between then and now. The two main differences I find between my childhood and my parenthood are these: 1. When I was little, we were given no choices – about what we ate, wore, did, when we went to school, bed etc. I could choose only what to read.

2. There was not so much stuff (a lot of my son’s 15-year-old friends have iPods, iPads, MacBooks, unlimited access to their parents’ credit cards, PayPal, eBay, and iTunes accounts, and not just an iPhone but a BlackBerry too).

My parents provided us with the essentials then got on with their own lives. Which makes me realise they were brilliant, not because of what they did, but more what they didn’t do. So we were fed, we were clothed, we were loved, and we had all the books we could read and the best education that money could buy. But there was not the life of plenty, the expectation of having every wish granted that there is now, and that is the best thing my parents could ever give us.

I remember only once going to a restaurant in the UK (if memory serves

What’s your view? Discuss on Twitter... @ISParent

❝Don’t bring up your children with the crazy

idea that they’re special. You are making a rod for your own back❞

www.independentschoolparent.com

it was a Happy Eater on the A303) and being told we could have the spag bol, from the children’s menu. We had a TV, but as we lived in Belgium there was nothing to watch apart from two sitcoms that came on once a week.

We were so poor that when we went to England my father would invariably book the cheap overnight ferry crossings. He would never shell out for a cabin, despite a 1am departure.

Instead, Dada would tell us to go to sleep in the back of the Opel Kadett, parked with the handbrake on in the lower deck for the duration, where we would either pass out from diesel fumes, or the reek of each other’s vomit.

We never had friends round for “play dates” either. Keeping children busy and happy was not a constant parental priority. If we were bored, that was our own fault. In fact, there was nothing to do for weeks on end except read on our beds.

And not only did I have three brothers to fight, my father and my mother both believed enthusiastically in corporal punishment. My mother once broke a large stick over my legs after Boris and I had spent a happy and, we felt, productive morning carefully filling every single Wellington boot in the passage to the brim with water. I bear neither parent any ill feeling for beating me. I would have done the same.

My mother tells the story of how, when we lived in Washington DC, she was racing to meet my father with Boris aged four and me, three. As crowds surged and pressed behind us to cross the four-lane highway, I refused to cross Pennsylvania Avenue. In the end, she had to pick me up by my hair, at which point a woman stormed: “You don’t deserve to have that little girl.”

But she did deserve me; rather, I didn’t deserve her. One of her most revealing relics of the tribal Johnson childhood is a note composed by Boris and signed by all four of us children saying: “Dear Mama WE are SORY that we were SO BAD today.”

WINTER 2012 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL PARENT 49

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COMMENT

❝In Bristol, mothers have been dossing down in the dorm with

their daughters at university. This has led dons to warn that students are becoming ‘infantilised’ due to their parents’ presence❞

As for school – well, reports were read, but not dwelt upon, as they were also not my parents’ business, but ours. As for parental involvement – well, all I can tell you is that my father’s proudest boast as a parent is not that all his children went to Oxbridge but that he never, once, attended a parent-teacher meeting at any one of our various schools.

When I was ten and Boris 11, my mother would drop us at the Gare du Nord in Brussels with our school trunks, hand over a few francs for frites on the ferry, and then get back to the much more interesting business of painting or seeing her psychiatrist. We would get on a train to Ostend. We would then get on the ferry to Dover. At Dover, we would get the train to London Victoria, where we would interchange for Forest Row. There were very few trains to Forest Row then, so Boris and I would kill time in the Cartoon Cinema, where paedophiles in brown macs were waiting for little lost schoolchildren just like us to wander in, so they could offer us “sweets”.

The point is, I suppose, my parents never worried even when, one half-term, I was an unaccompanied minor and the British Caledonian airline stewardess supposed to be looking after me forgot to put me on the plane and I had to spend the week in the Trusthouse Forte at Gatwick airport on my own instead.

As I say, it never did me any harm, but still, I can’t repeat this sensible regime of character-building, toughening, anecdote-forging benign neglect for my own children…and nor, it appears, can anyone else. Now examples of wet parenting abound.

Mary Killen, agony aunt for The Spectator, and mother of two daughters, admits she is a classic example of a wet modern parent. Especially when it came to the gap year of her older daughter, Freya. For this important period for the young adult about to take wing into the world, Mary paid an older male student to accompany Freya, 19.

“Yes, I did pay Karl to go on her gap year with her,” Mary said, by way of explanation. “You see, Freya had grown www.independentschoolparent.com

This extract is from Rachel Johnson’s chapter in How Rude! Modern Manners Defined, (Waitrose, £8.99) marking the 75th anniversary of Waitrose joining the John Lewis Partnership

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up in a tiny Wiltshire village, where all the men were nice, or at least not active sex offenders. I knew that if I didn’t hire a male chaperone, she would be raped and beheaded on her first day, and weeks later her body would be found in the bottom of a ravine.”

“But she was going to Italy!” I shrilled.

“It’s not exactly darkest Peru!”

Killen is, of course, sui generis, but she is representative of a world where a manic Chinese mom calls herself a Tiger Mother and writes a bestselling book about how to produce straight-A violin-playing tennis-champ superkids, and where pushy, anxious, parents hover over every school.

A friend reports that when her son was due to visit the Brecon Beacons on a school camping trip in the Summer term, three mothers pulled out their huge teenage sons on the grounds that the weather forecast was “rainy”.

Parents are even meddling in universities, to the extent that dons are complaining of a traumatic level of parental over-involvement just at the exact moment that mummies and daddies are supposed to be letting go.

Parents now not only accompany their children to entrance days, they fill out their Ucas forms. They arrive laden with duck-down duvets at the start of freshers’ week, and then, worst of all, don’t proceed to leave.

In Bristol, mothers have been spending up to a week dossing down in the dorm with their daughters at university.

It was the complete opposite in my day. When I was on my gap year I called my father from Israel in September and told him I’d decided not to take up my place at Oxford. I announced I wanted to stay in Galilee with a handsome Israeli shepherd called Ehud. For ever. My father didn’t miss a beat. “Great scheme!” he cried, astutely divining that if he approved the plan, I’d never carry it out.

Wet parenting is such a dreaded For more information visit... www.independentschoolparent.com

development: not only does our coddling of our young fail to prepare them for leaving the nest, the rigours of employment, self-catering, London transport and earning a living in a recession, it doesn’t even prepare them to do the most basic of household tasks.

To conclude, all I can say is this: don’t bring up your children with the crazy idea that they’re special. You are making a rod for your own back. As David McCullough concluded in his commencement address: “The sweetest joys of life, then, come only with the recognition that you’re not special.

Because everyone is.”

RACHEL’S TOP TEN TIPS FOR UNPARENTING

1 2 3 4

Do not do your children’s homework for them.

Do not ask them whether they have done their homework.

Do not offer a menu of foods at any meal.

Resist all guilt-making attempts by your child’s school to manifest repeatedly in person on endless trips/ special activity days/visiting speakers etc. But DO show up for sports, sports days and prize days.

Smile brightly when your child tells you that you were “the only mother in the whole year who didn’t come”.

React in the same way to good exam results and poor exam results.

Do NOT offer your child prize money or other presents to pass exams or get into Eton.

Do not make a meal of school reports.

Encourage your children to do grunt jobs in the holidays so they know the value of money.

Ban smartphones during all meals.

5 6 7 8 9 10

Visit independentschoolparent.com for our free checklist for all you need to know on UNPARENTING

WINTER 2012 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL PARENT 51

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FINANCE

Money matters Student Loans Company expert Nichola Malton gives the low-down on how to apply for funding for university in Year 13

Tuition fee loans are available to cover the costs of university fees and these are paid directly to the university

H

ave you a child thinking of going to university in the near future?

Then it’s time to start thinking about student finance. It is vitally important that students have access to adequate financial support while studying at university. And remember you don’t need money up front to pay for tuition fees.

The Student Loans Company delivers funding to students across the UK on behalf of the Government and collects repayments from former students.

Student finance – what’s available?

Universities and colleges in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are able to charge different fees for their different courses, up to a maximum amount of £9,000, which is set by the Government. Tuition fee loans are available to cover the costs of university fees and these are paid directly to the university or college, while maintenance loans are paid directly to the student to help with the living costs, such as rent, while studying.

Tuition fee loans are available to all students while a proportion of maintenance loans are incomeassessed. During the academic year 2013/14 everyone who attends an eligible course

❝There are a number

of factors that can affect student loan eligibility❞ www.independentschoolparent.com

WINTER 2012 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL PARENT 53

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To receive the next issue of our FREE ‘Viewpoint’ investment magazine, please call 020 7384 7322 and quote ‘First Eleven’, visit chelseafs.co.uk/first11 or scan in the QR code below.

Chelsea Financial Services offers a direct offer/execution-only service. If you require individual investment guidance you should seek expert advice. Chelsea Financial Services is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

FINANCE Maintenance loans are available to help with living costs such as food, accommodation and travel

❝If your child applied to university this year then student

loan applications should be completed online in early 2013❞

Did you know?

During the academic year

20132014,

everyone who attends an eligible course qualifies to receive

65%

of the maintenance loan with the remaining being income-assessed.

qualifies to receive 65% of the maintenance loan with the remaining amount being income-assessed.

Maintenance loans are available to help with living costs such as food, accommodation and travel.

Maintenance grants, which are assessed based on parents’ household income, and do not have to be repaid, may also be available. There are grants that support students with a disability, these are not based on household income and do not need to be repaid.

Who qualifies for student finance?

There are a number of factors which can affect eligibility for a student loan, these include resident status, the university or college the student wishes to attend, the course, if the student has previously been in higher education and age.

How to apply for student finance If your son or daughter has applied to university this year then applications should be completed online as soon as the process opens in early 2013 at gov.

www.independentschoolparent.com

uk/studentfinance. Students do not need an unconditional, confirmed university place to apply for student finance.

What do you need to apply?

If applying for student finance for the first time, the prospective student will need the following information to hand: UK passport number, the university or college course details – students should choose the course they’re most likely to start at as it’s easy to update your details online at a later date – bank account details, National Insurance number.

There is a section for parents to complete so it may also be helpful to have your National Insurance number ready, if your child is applying for student finance based on the household income.

Should any evidence be requested it’s advisable to send it in straight away!

When to expect the loan If the application was received before the deadline with all the correct evidence and a signed and returned declaration form, the funds will be paid a few days after registering at university.

Maintenance loans and grants are

5 TOP TIPS TO BE STUDENT FINANCE SAVVY

1

Apply when applications open in early 2013 at gov.uk/studentfinance.

Get your application completed in a timely fashion to help ensure your funding is in place for the start of term.

2

When completing the online application make sure you have all the necessary information to hand – passport number, course details, bank account numbers and National Insurance number.

3

Should you be asked for further evidence send it back ASAP so as to not hold up your application.

4

Be aware of online fraudsters and do not post information which can be used to access your account and your funding!

5

To speak to a customer advisor call 0845-300 5090 or visit slc.co.uk Visit independentschoolparent.com for our free checklist for all you need to know to be STUDENT FINANCE SAVVY

WINTER 2012 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL PARENT 55

Now there’s private health insurance that understands a child’s growing needs.

For an affordable monthly cost your child will have access to expert advice and medical treatment. Childsure offers quality extensive cover you can count on.

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finance

paid directly into the student’s bank account in three installments, one at the start of each term. The tuition fee loan is paid direct to the university or college in three installments.

the threshold.

The repayment of loans is administered through the tax system and the responsibility of repayments is shared between the Student Loans Company and Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC). The Student Loans Company undertakes communication with borrowers who are repaying their loans. Collection is taken through the PAYE system with HMRC liaising with employers or the account holder (if self-employed) who take repayments from taxable earnings and then allocate the amount to the loan account.

There is further information available about repaying a student loan at: slc.co.uk and follow Student Finance England on facebook.com/SFEngland and twitter.com/sf_england to keep up-to-date with application announcements.

WaNT mOrE INfOrmaTION abOuT STuDENT fINaNCE?  Student Finance England’s phone helpline is open seven days a week from 8am-8pm every weekday and 9am–5.30p.m at weekends.  The Student Finance England facebook page (facebook.com/ SFEngland) holds regular social media surgeries each week where questions can be posted and answered by a customer adviser.

Students are advised not to include account numbers on the internet so as to avoid online fraudsters.

Visit independentschoolparent.com for our free checklist for all you need to know about STUDenT finance

How to manage your student finance?

Students can apply and manage their student finance online via the “student zone”. Their online profile allows the student to check the status of their loan, see when a payment is due to be made, update personal details and make certain changes.

Students should be aware of online fraudsters and phishing scams who will use information using clues which are often found on an individual’s social media profile to access their student finance account and steal their funds.

The Student Loans Company advises students to be careful what personal information they post online and who can access it!

Students with special circumstances If your child has a disability, they may qualify for extra help on top of the main student finance package, depending on your circumstances.

repaying your loans?

above, students at the University of Liverpool

Repayments are only made once you have left university or college and are earning over the threshold of £21,000.

The amount that is paid is dependent on your income and not the amount that has been borrowed, each month you would pay back 9% of your income over

www.independentschoolparent.com

For more information visit... www.independentschoolparent.com

WINTER 2012 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL ParENT 57

Year-round family beach sailing holidays Year-round family familybeach beachsailing sailingholidays holidays Year-round from £620 per person per week from £620 per person per week from £620family per person week Year-round beach per sailing holidays www.nonsuchbayresort.com or call 020 8090 4978 www.nonsuchbayresort.com orcall call 0208090 80904978 4978 from £620 per person or per week www.nonsuchbayresort.com 020 www.nonsuchbayresort.com or call 020 8090 4978

58 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL ParENT winter 2012

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HEALTH

Doctor, doctor Victoria Lambert has some top tips no self-respecting teenager in search of good health can afford to ignore…

Y

ou can’t tell a teenager anything – at least that’s what it feels like!

But here, a group of doctors and nurses reveal the one piece of – often surprising – advice they’d really like to drum into their own offspring to protect their health in the future.

1

SPINAL TAP

“ Your choice of shoes now is crucial to the long-term health of your back,” says Lee Breakwell, Paediatric Spinal Surgeon and Consultant for Sheffield Orthopaedics Limited. “Young men love their trainers but they could be sacrificing health for style, as when the shoes get worn down, if they are not replaced, they stop supporting the instep of the foot properly – which affects posture and balance. I will try and encourage my son, 10, to have a range of footwear, rather than relying on the same pair of trainers 24/7. It’s important to change your footwear, not only for the comfort of your feet, but also to ensure you have a shoe that has been designed for a particular sport, for example.

“And girls don’t get off lightly – high heels increase the inward curvature of the spine, known as lordosis. This causes a build-up of pressure in the lower lumbar region of the back. While I don’t imagine in the future that my daughter, 7, will give up high heels altogether, I will encourage her to vary the shoes she wears.

“Teenage spines are tender at this age as they are still growing so limiting wear of fashionable high heels now is sensible for the long-term health of your back.”

www.independentschoolparent.com

ME OUT 2 HEAR

have your MP3 player so loud that you can’t hear the noise around you.

“MP3 players, iPods and other “Little ear bud headphones leak mobile music players can make sound so you have to turn them you permanently deaf,” says Dr up louder to drown out the outside John Culling, advisor to Deafness world. Use bigger over-the-ear Research UK, based at the headphones with your MP3 player University of Cardiff. “So always or even noise-cancelling ones. use the noise limiter on your MP3 They’ll protect your hearing for player. Parents should look for a longer. If at a gig it is advisable to locking feature on the player and get special ear plugs that will still use it to set the maximum volume let you enjoy the music without using a special code. Adopt the damaging your hearing. Top artists 60:60 rule – only use your MP3 like Muse and One Direction use player at 60% of its maximum them when performing. volume for a maximum of 60 More tips from Deafness Research UK on 0808-808 2222, or via email info@deafnessresearch.org.uk minutes a day. You should never WINTER 2012 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL PARENT 59

6

3

DITCH YOUR CAFFEINE FIX

SWEET TOOTH

Unbeknown to most teenagers, warnings about alcopops are not all to do with binge drinking. Dentist Harvey Grahame, Clinical Director of Smilepod, a walk-in hygiene studio in central London, warns that too many brightly coloured, sweet drinks can ruin a perfectly good set of teeth.

“As a family dentist, I take pride in how preventative treatments allow my teenage patients to set off to university with perfect teeth. Straight, clean, white teeth with no cavities are the norm now, not the exception.”

But, he warns, young people often forget about good oral hygiene as they get older. He thinks university can be a particular problem.

Freshers’ week smiles don’t last long.

Alcopops have a low pH (so they are acidic). A diet of fast food, alcopops and poor oral hygiene leads to a rapid demise in the condition of the typical young person’s teeth. And many alcoholic drinks contain hidden sugars which can really increase your chances of getting tooth decay. The streptococcuss bacteria that causes dental decay feeds on carbohydrates and exudes harmful acids that destroy the calcium layer that covers your teeth.

SOCIAL NETWORK 4 THE

“One of the greatest challenges of our day is to use the advances of the technological revolution while not suffering the risks of neglecting other parts of life,”says Dr Richard Graham, Consultant Psychiatrist at Capio Nightingale Hospital, London.

“The possibilities of making contact with new people online creates the atmosphere of the most exciting party ever! Many young people recognise that this way of communicating doesn’t give them the feeling of pleasure that they get from spending time with friends in the outside world. This is because in real life we use the whole of our bodies, and not just the eyes, to communicate.

A 5 HAVE LITTLE FEEL

“Most young women know that it is important to be breast aware – to check your breasts for lumps that might be malignant – but young men don’t realise it is just as vital for them to regularly check their testicles,” says Dr Tom Powles, a Senior Lecturer in Testis Cancer at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London.

Recent research from the male cancer charity Orchid revealed that only one in 10 men were familiar with the signs of testicular cancer and 1 in

60 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL PARENT WINTER 2012

“Young women often suffer breast pain and lumps, which causes them great worry,” says Mr Tim Davidson, Consultant Breast Surgeon at the London Clinic and the Royal Free Hospital in London. “While they are normally not at risk of breast cancer as they are too young (although cases of breast cancer can occur in your twenties; the risk is 1 in 15,000), breast pain, nipple discharge and infection are quite common, and in bad cases can even lead to abscesses and a type of mastitis, which causes swelling and fever. There’s a strong connection between these types of benign breast disease and overconsumption of heavily caffeinated drinks and smoking, even though we don’t know why yet. So I advise all young people to avoid too many coffees or Red Bull-type fizzy drinks, and cigarettes, as well. It saves them pain and worry. And it’s also a good idea to get used to examining your own breasts – you’ll need to do that automatically when you’re older.”

4 still never checked their testes. He says, “This situation needs to change because the earlier testis cancer is detected, the better the chances of a cure. Testicular cancer is the most common form of cancer in men aged 15-35 and a regular check could make a difference. “The check should be done every month and after a warm bath or shower. Each testicle should be checked by rolling the thumb and finger over the entire surface to see if it is free from lumps.”

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HEALTH

TALK ABOUT DRUGS 7 LET’S

“You know that cocaine is illegal and a Class A drug,” says Ellen Mason, Senior Cardiac Nurse at the British Heart Foundation, “but did you realise that it is particularly dangerous for young people?

Cocaine has been associated with heart attacks in younger people with no underlying heart disease, and has also been associated with strokes. Both can result in death. Cocaine can also cause myocarditis which is a serious inflammation of the heart muscle and heart rhythm disturbances, which in some people have been fatal.”

8

10

WALK THIS WAY

“Being driven to school could also be bad for your health,” says Dr Brian Karet, Clinical Diabetes.

Lead for Commissioning, NHS Diabetes “Teenagers may think they do enough sport because there are a couple of P.E lessons at school, but they need to be engaged in at least an hour’s physical activity every day if they want to lower the risk of being overweight and obesityrelated conditions such as Type 2 diabetes.

“An hour may seem like a lot – after all, school takes up half the day, then there’s homework, watching a bit of telly, fitting in meals and instant messaging mates. But walking to and from school can help build up to that hour. Would it really be so difficult to sack the chauffeur and tell mum or dad that you’re going to save them time and money by ditching the car?

“Walking is a good calorie burner. My having told her daughter is now 21 and ha that just half an hour’s walk burns 105 calories was encouragement enough for her – if only to look good in her “skinny” jeans!

IT 9 FAKE

“There’s no such thing as a healthy tan,” says Rebecca Maxwell, Nurse Specialist at The Mole Clinic.

“People think it’s ok to get a light tan and that it will protect them against sunburn, but whenever your skin changes colour, this is due to the cells in our body changing to try and protect us from harmful UV rays from the sun.

When you sunbathe, you damage the DNA of the cell – the UV light causes the cell to mutate – this is irreversible and can lead to skin cancer. And even if you are not burnt, your skin is still showing signs of damage – because that is what a tan is: sun damage.

www.independentschoolparent.com

“It is important to understand that the damage you do to your skin when you are in your teens is what causes skin cancer later on in life. Melanoma is linked to excessive sun exposure in the first 10 to 19 years of your life and this is when 50%-80% of a person’s lifetime sun exposure occurs.

“Another danger for teens is sunbed use and there is a 75% increase in risk of developing melanoma if you use a sunbed before the age of 30. There can be a pressure to look tanned when you are younger but there are so many great fake tan products about that you don’t have to risk your life using sunbeds to achieve the same look. My advice is to avoid sunbeds completely.”

IN THE SHADE “There are currently many young people threatening the future of their sight for the sake of fashion,” says Alex Lane, Optometrist at Andrew Jelley Opticians and advisor to Bausch & Lomb.

“Cheap sunglasses from the high street are a fashion must-have, more often than not they will not have adequate UV filters in place. When we wear sunglasses the dark lenses cause the pupils – the central area of the eye – to open wider in order to let more light in, and in doing so, expose more of the pupil to the harmful UV rays of sunlight. So when you buy sunglasses, whatever the price, always read the label carefully to make sure the lenses are UV protected. If you don’t, it could lead to earlier age-related degenerative changes developing in the eye.”

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WINTER 2012 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL PARENT 61

Grow up Mum, these shoes are too small now!” They can’t be; you bought them six weeks ago at the start of term. The previous pair lasted only a couple of months. Your son’s trousers look cropped; fashionable perhaps for your daughter, but not quite the same for a strapping 12-year-old boy.

Rapidly growing feet and hands are one of the first signs of growth spurts which occur anywhere between the ages of eight to 12 in girls, and 10 to 14 in boys. Rapidly increasing height is a sign that your son or daughter is about to experience puberty, as the hormones that stimulate growth also trigger

❝ Crashing down the stairs,

eating messily, bumping into everything and everyone in the house and talking far too loudly: yes, it’s your pre-teen❞ CHECkLIST ON grOwTH SPurTS Girls: starts from 8-12 years Boys: starts from 10-14 years

✱ Growth of up to 9cm per year. ✱ Feet and hands grow first, shoulders and hips last. ✱ Coordination can deteriorate until the brain re-adjusts. ✱ Puberty follows or may coincide with a growth spurt. ✱ Boys aged 11-14 need to consume 2,200 calories a day. ✱ Girls aged 11-14 need to consume 1,845 calories a day.

Visit independentschoolparent.com for our free checklist for all you need to know on GroWTH sPUrTs

62 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL ParENT WINTER 2012

Glynis Kozma explains the ups and downs of growth spurts

puberty. Boys can grow by as much as nine centimetres in a year, and girls are a close eight centimetres behind.

Growth starts from the outside and works in: hands and feet first, then forearms and shins, upper arms and thighs, spine, then boys’ shoulders and girls’ hips. And if your son or daughter boards, you may see a huge difference in their growth over half a term.

Puberty in both sexes is earlier than ever, owing to better diet and lifestyles.

But not all children develop at the same rate. Sometimes a boy of 13 will have hardly begun his growth spurt, whereas a girl may have almost completed hers by 12. Bearing this in mind, it can be hard for young people if they are ahead – or behind – their peers. On average, girls grow fastest between the ages of 12 and 13, and boys from 14 to 15. And while they are growing so quickly, they also need more calories. Be prepared for the constant requests for more food, as soon as an hour after they have eaten a huge meal. It’s easy to say, “You can’t be hungry already!” But they are.

What’s it like to be a pre-teen experiencing a growth spurt? Crashing down the stairs, eating messily, bumping into everything and everyone in the house and talking far too loudly: yes, it’s your pre-teen. You certainly know when they are at home. But wait – before you start nagging and consider this: they may be bigger but their brains are still small. When your child undergoes a growth spurt their body changes rapidly; but the part of their brain that controls co-ordination can’t keep up.

This affects everything they do. Lucy told me, “My son’s tennis coach warned me that when Eddie had a growth spurt, his tennis would deteriorate for a while until his coordination adapted to his longer arms and legs and centre of gravity.” Be prepared for your supersporty child to go off the boil for a while or even ask to give up a sport because they don’t feel so good at it any more.

Playing the violin or piano may be harder for a while. On a positive note, it can be a good opportunity to suggest

they try another sport where additional height and strength are a bonus.

Because girls reach puberty earlier than boys, they can experience changes from the age of eight. It can be surprising, and somewhat alarming, to see the small signs of puberty in your daughter often many years before you – and she – anticipated them. You may have thought that you wouldn’t be buying a bra for your daughter for several more years, but you’re suddenly re-thinking – fast!

If she is a boarder, waiting another six weeks or a term until she’s home again may be too long. It’s sometimes easy to think that allowing your nine or 10 year-old daughter to have a bra will propel her into womanhood too soon.

But young girls are very sensitive about their changing bodies. They can be embarrassed taking off their blouses when changing for P.E or swimming when they have the merest hint of breast development. There is nothing more embarrassing for a girl who obviously needs a bra to be bouncing around in P.E without one! Bras are almost a status symbol among young girls; if your daughter is growing very slowly, a pretty cropped vest top can make her feel less isolated. Most stores’ lingerie sections cater well for young girls and your daughter may feel more comfortable being fitted by a trained assistant.

Boys’ development includes some obvious signs. Some 11 year-olds have an obvious moustache and their voices are starting to break. It can be hard for a boy who is growing fast if his friends haven’t grown much by the age of 14.

Conversely, if your son is small for his age, reassure him that he will catch up.

If you are worried about your child – either because they are growing too fast too soon, or not at all – talk to the school or your doctor. In most cases it’s perfectly normal and your biggest worry will be how long those new shoes will last.

For more information visit... www.independentschoolparent.com

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health

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WINTER 2012 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL ParENT 63

pRomotion featuRe

The ultimate ski experience with Powder Byrne

Fantastic service and a real understanding of what skiers want make a Powder Byrne holiday the very best in family skiing

R

egarded as the leading luxury family ski specialist, Powder Byrne has been delivering personalised holidays since 1985. Their focus on the highest quality, flexibility and service adds real value for skiers, and, over the past 27 years, their award-winning children’s ski programmes have been developed, extended and fine-tuned so that they cater for every child in the family, from 4 months right up to teenage years. (And their parents too!)

Exclusive programmes and academies have been designed to offer the ultimate experience for kids of all skiing abilities and are run during the school holidays in select resorts. For novices aged 10

– 14 years SnoZone Beginners offers the perfect introduction for young skiers wanting to learn with kids of the same age and in small groups. SnoZone, for the same age group, is the perfect environment for confident red run skiers to learn and improve under the guidance of Powder Byrne’s hand-picked team. The unique FreeStyle Course, for competent skiers aged 12 years plus, incorporates the extensive parks in Flims and Laax, with evening sessions at the world-class indoor FreeStyle Academy.

The exclusive Martin Bell Ski Camp in Zermatt, for kids aged 11 – 15 years, gives advanced young skiers the technical foundations for a lifetime of enjoyable skiing.

The former Olympic skier will teach technique for mastering off-piste, moguls and variable snow conditions, supported by daily video analysis and evening feedback review sessions.

Powder Byrne offers complimentary guiding in their FreeZone programme for teenagers aged 14 years plus who prefer to ski with like-minded

64 independent sChooL parent WINTER 2012

friends rather than their parents.

Young, enthusiastic ski instructors will show them the best of the ski terrain, but at the same time offer tips and technical advice, and supervise action in the snow parks.

PowderZone, operating in Grindelwald, introduces more adventurous teenagers (and parents too), who are confident black run skiers, to the buzz of powder skiing. Led by hand-picked mountain guides, participants will be kitted out with all the necessary gear before embarking on their own off-piste adventure.

All their programmes take place under the guidance of fully trained staff and professional instructors.

Parents can be relaxed about where their kids are skiing, safe in the knowledge that safety comes first with Powder Byrne.

For ardent ski enthusiasts, Powder Byrne runs an all encompassing gap year programme for school leavers, Piste2Profession. Candidates selected for this course will spend 18 weeks (a complete season) in Flims, Switzerland gaining their BASI ski instructors’ qualification

as well as valuable tour operator work experience.

Powder Byrne provides completely bespoke holidays, offering beautiful hotels and private properties in hand-picked resorts in Switzerland, Austria and Italy. The dedicated team provides a seamless service, managing all the little details before you depart (they’re a safety net for busy parents) as well as delivering a personal yet unobtrusive resort service.

ski with powder byrne ✱ All Powder Byrne holidays are

bespoke – contact them to secure arrangements to best suit your family. ✱ Prices from £2,750 per adult for 7 nights at the Hotel Schweizerhof in Grindelwald, from 16th February, on half board basis. Includes private flights, transfers and Powder Byrne resort service. ✱ Call 020 8246 5300 ✱ or visit powderbyrne.com

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SCHOOL’S OUT

On top of the world Mary Lussiana embraces the thrills and spills of a family skiing holiday in the French Alps

I

f it had been up to me, I would never have done it. Just the idea of getting small, resistant feet into ski boots, small frozen hands into gloves and small wriggling bodies over large gaps and into moving ski lifts was enough to put me off before I even began to think about dealing with the wet clothes when the children finished for the day – hoping of course they were still in one, unbroken piece.

But “Non”, my French, skiing husband said “If not now, never”. And so, “never” seeming too large a responsibility to bear, I caved in. Not being a skier myself, I saw only the problems and not the pleasure. Having tried it once, though, I was converted. It was the enthusiasm that the children had for it which did it. I had never, ever imagined the co-operation with which they helped me get their small feet into the ski boots, helped me to put their cold hands into their gloves and behaved as they should

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in getting in and out of ski lifts. The rosy cheeks and happy smiles made the wet clothes worthwhile and the exercise and mountain air meant that they slept like angels each night.

But that is a long time ago and now we are old hands. That is the beauty of skiing holidays. Children – whatever age – never seem bored of them. As their confidence grows on their skis, friendships evolve on the slopes.

Teenagers enjoy their “rite of passage” moments, when they pass another grade in the French Ski School system, or whizz past slopes that they remember

learning on. They are perfect for extended families too, with each member going at their own pace and tailor-making their holiday. My eldest son, at 24, loves snowboarding; my husband is a Norwegian skier by preference. Our youngest two at nine and 11 are placed in the capable hands of a Monitor. And I get to sit under the sun and plan where we should eat lunch.

So where to go? For us that was easy as my husband’s family have an apartment for just such trips, in the beautiful town of Le Grand Bornand, within the sound – and sight - of the

❝Not being a skier myself, I saw

only the problems and not the pleasure. Having tried it once, though, I was converted❞

WINTER 2012 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL ParENT 65

Below, half the pleasure in skiing for teens is seeing the same faces, lunching at the same places and marking their progress as they steadily move up the mountain

64 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL ParENT WIntER 66 autumn2012 2012

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SCHOOL’S OUT

❝The children have been lucky enough to have

Christophe for whom they risk life and limb to execute perfect speed and style❞ church bells and views on to the mountains from all sides. It is only about 45 minutes from Geneva, in the French Alps and it is a perfect place for children to go, as the town is small and friendly and teenagers have a cinema and an ice rink to gather at, once skiing is done for the day. It is simple to get around and it’s also very French, (wonderful for their language skills), not having been invaded by the English, nor the Russians who tend to stick to the better known resorts of Courchevel, Megève et al which means that it hasn’t lost its traditional mountain soul.

But it has still moved with the times and can offer the amenities of a world class ski resort. It is divided into two parts; the lower (1,000 metres) is a typical Savoyard town – as bustling in Summer as in Winter, with a real community, a beautiful church – dedicated to the Virgin Mary of the Assumption – which dates from the 14th century. An incredibly helpful Tourist Office is on hand, where individual skiing lessons can be booked, or you can enrol your children in the ski school. There are endless, mouthwatering shops with saucisson hanging up in the windows, aromas of maturing cheeses – not least huge wheels of Reblochon – and restaurants which offer irresistible Tartiflette, Fondue, Raclette and local, crisp, cold white wines. That combination, enjoyed under a hot sun and surrounded by snow-covered mountains, has to be one of life’s greatest pleasures.

The higher part of Le Grand Bornand (1,300 metres) is reached by ski lift and is where the skiing, as opposed to the après-skiing, starts. There are 90 kilometres of runs – some going as high as 2,100 metres and a good mix of easy slopes for beginners and more challenging black pistes on the Aravis mountain range. There are walking routes (Norwegian skiing is very popular here) and paths which connect you over the mountains to neighbouring La Clusaz, a slightly more developed town and several other ski stations. The landscape is ravishing: huge spruce trees with icicles clinging to them soar up into a clear blue sky, little carved wooden chalets punctuate the white pastures, rabbit tracks cut through the deep snow and silence reigns. www.independentschoolparent.com

We don’t put our children into ski school, taking instead a Monitor who can give private lessons every morning and sometimes in the afternoon too. The children have been lucky enough to have Christophe for the last few years, for whom they risk life and limb to execute perfect speed and style. This is partly because we never seem to arrive at the right point in the six-day cycle (from Sunday to Friday) to begin ski school, but also because we feel that the children will obviously learn that much more in a lesson for two – and it allows us the pleasure of lunching together while our offspring compete to relate their exploits.

As Winter approaches, conversations have already occurred between the children and their friends about whether they are going. Ours wouldn’t swap Le Grand Bornand for anything (but their friends who ski in Megève, regularly come over, or vice versa, to ski together).

Half their pleasure is in seeing the same faces, lunching at the same places and marking their progress as they steadily move higher up the mountain. When I think back to the beginning and that hesitation I had – even with the expense and the hard work in the early days – the sheer joy each year with which the children reach the top of the ski lift, clip on their skis with such gusto and vanish down the slopes without a backward glance, means that I am enormously pleased that, just sometimes, I listen to my husband.

Don’t miss

✱ Treat yourself to a last night in Geneva, one of Europe’s nicest cities. Show the children the Jet d’Eau, buy them a box of Caran d’Ache or lots of chocolate and hole up at the gorgeous Le Richmond Hotel: it’s got great views and the ultimate in spoiling bathrooms.

CHECKLIST

1

Go for red. I find that looking for my children against the blanket whiteness is made much easier by putting them in red helmets and jackets!

2

For new skiiers break them in gently with a morning or two first before attempting a whole day. It is best to stay a minimum of a week.

3

Easter is a brilliant time to go to Le Grand Bornand because the French schools are not on holiday at the same time as the English schools. It does mean though that the snow may well be starting to melt on the lower slopes, so watch the snow fall guides carefully.

Visit independentschoolparent.com for our free checklist for all you need to know on SKIING

Where to stay...

✱ The best hotel in the area is Au Coeur du Village in La Clusaz which is a five star, Relais & Chateaux Hotel with a spa and a gastronomic restaurant. In Le Grand Bornand itself there are both simpler chalet style hotels and chalets to rent. The tourist office is the best port of call for advice.

26, Montee du Château, La Clusaz Tel: +33 0450-015 001 hotel-aucoeurduvillage.fr ✱ Le Richmond Hotel Jardin Brunswick, Geneva Tel: +41 227-157 000 lerichemond.com

Where to eat...

Below, Mary’s son is becoming a snowboard fanatic

✱ If you want gourmet food, try L’Hysope, which serves good classical dishes in elegant surroundings. I, though, never miss the opportunity to indulge in rustic food in plein air. To me that is what the mountains are all about.

We love the terrace at the Auberge du Pré Vieux for just that.

Where to find out more... ✱ Maison du Tourisme is a comprehensive Tourist Office with an excellent website, which includes webcams of the slopes. Also you can book accommodation, individual ski lessons with the Monitors, ski school courses and issue carnets (ski books which track your progress). ✱ Private ski lessons for one or two are €38 per hour. A six day/ half day course at ski school, from 9.30-14.00 including lunch, is €244. A six day/ full day course at ski school, from 9.30-17.00 is €356 Tel +33 0450-027 800 legrandbornand.com

For more information visit... www.independentschoolparent.com

WINTER 2012 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL PARENT 67

BRIGHT

YOUNGTHINGS Up-and-coming stars from the independent school sector, by Natalie Milner Milly Simmonds, 21

antonia Clarke, 18

In 2011, Vogue magazine named Milly Simmonds The Most Versatile Model of London Fashion Week, having walked for nine shows including Pringle of Scotland and Mulberry. By the Autumn of 2011, she had made her name with a Burberry campaign. She told Vogue: “I just can’t believe this is my job”! She was first scouted when she was 15, but waited until she was 20 to launch her career on the runway as she wanted to finish her studies. Milly modelled for the cover of Vogue Russia in April 2012 and Vogue Italia this Spring.

A true rising star, Antonia Clarke secured the role of Nina in the new

Model, OakHaM ScHOOl, RUTlaND

Actress, DOWNe HOUSe, BeRkSHIRe Les Misérables film, directed by Oscar winner Tom Hooper, and starring Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman and Eddie Redmayne.

Antonia starred in the ITV drama A Mother’s Son this Autumn, with Hermione Norris and Martin Clunes, and the recent period drama Parade’s End with Benedict Cumberbatch. Antonia feels that it is important to build her CV and gain experience, often through smaller roles, and is never short of interesting parts – she has just played a ghost for ITV drama Lightfields due to screen in February 2013.

Elspeth Hanson, 26

Violinist,

ST HeleN & ST kaTHaRINe, OxfORDSHIRe elspeth Hanson is a member of the electric string quartet Bond – whose albums have achieved Platinum status five times and have sold almost 5 million albums. She plays viola in the band but is also a classical violinist. Bond recently played at the london 2012 closing ceremony, while elspeth also played solo at the handover to london ceremony at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. She came late to the classical violin at the age of 12 and later studied her Masters at the Royal academy of Music.

She has played at the Proms with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and recorded solo violin with the london Symphony Orchestra, Royal liverpool Philharmonic and the Prague Philharmonia.

James Longman, 25

Foreign Correspondent, WORTH ScHOOl, WeST SUSSex

A fascination with Syria has fuelled James Longman’s career to date. He is a producer for the BBC’s World Affairs Unit with a special focus on the Middle East. His year abroad at the University of Damascus led him to tracking the fledgling Syrian uprising in 2011 as a journalist, reporting for both the Daily Telegraph and The Times, as well as US broadcasters NPR and PBS. 68 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL ParENT winter 2012

www.independentschoolparent.com

School’S oUT

Matt Sawyer, 23

Architectural Assistant, Bedford Modern School, BedfordShire Matt Sawyer was awarded The Leslie Jones Memorial Prize by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) for his designs that help people explore London. The project that caught their eye was The Ariadne Device, which is worn on your arm and intricately maps your route with string. Matt aimed to reconnect people with the physical landscape in a world where GPS and apps dominate, “I wanted to make people realise the spaces that they may never have discovered.” Matt took a foundation course at Northampton University and specialised in 3D, creating interactive artwork and sculptures. He achieved a first class degree at the Oxford Brookes School of Architecture and is now completing a year out before returning to university to become a fully licensed architect.

HANNAH MILLS’ IMAGE: ONEDITION

Hannah Mills, 24

Olympic Sailor, howell’S School, cardiff hannah Mills won an olympic silver medal in london 2012, with her sailing partner Saskia clark, as one half of the GB 470 women’s class sailing team. after just six months of sailing together, they achieved a silver medal at the olympic test event in weymouth and Portland in august 2011. hannah started sailing at the age of eight and in 1998 she attended the national Sailing Squad trials where she met the coach that was to guide her for the next seven years.

By the time she was 14, hannah had won every junior domestic title, and in 2002, was named UK Young Sailor of the Year and BBc welsh Young Sports Personality of the Year.

www.independentschoolparent.com

For more information visit... www.independentschoolparent.com

winter 2012 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL ParENT 69

The Christmas list A selection of 45 festive gifts for him, for her and for teens...

FOR HER

Dancing shoes Gold evening shoes

by Rupert Sanderson,

Stocking filler Create a bespoke stocking at Kuati boutique,

Heaven sent Miss Dior fragrance by Dior,

You crack me up Asprey cracker with luxury gift inside, choose from a selection,

Keep it under wraps Leather Kindle case from Lusso-London,

(£585, rupertsanderson.com)

(From £25, kuati.com)

(£58.50, 50mls, dior.com)

(£180, asprey.com)

(£120, lusso-london.com)

Heavy metal Glistening nail varnish by Estée Lauder,

Party popper Luxury hamper set,

Strike the right note Peoneve Eau de Parfum by Penhaligon’s,

Away day Passport holder by Aspinal of London,

Comfort blanket Cashmere throw from The White Company, 140 x 190 cm,

(£14.50, esteelauder.co.uk)

(£55, fortnumandmason.com)

(£85, 50mls, Harvey Nichols)

(£29, aspinaloflondon.com)

(£500, thewhitecompany.com)

Watch this space…

TAG Heuer Formula 1 Lady Steel & Ceramic Diamond Dial 32mm,

Understated glamour Long Lecco coat from the MaxMara Atelier collection,

(£1,950, 0800-037 9658,

(£1,140, 0207-518 8010,

Lights out Festive Diptyque candle, (£38,

Flat out Rosario red tea drop ballet shoes by Pretty Ballerinas,

tagheuer.com)

maxmara.com)

0845-604 9049, johnlewis.com)

(£249, prettyballerinas.com)

Bag of goodwill Calfskin boy bag by Chanel, (£1,830, 0207-493 5040)

70 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL PARENT WINTER 2012

www.independentschoolparent.com

LIFE

FOR HIM

I came, I saw, iPad...

Calf leather iPad folding case

by Smythson,

Sweater weather Gieves & Hawkes sweater,

(£325, smythson.com)

(£125, gievesandhawkes.com)

(£349.95, 0845-604 9049,

Blue suede shoes Suede driving shoes by Havelocks London,

Time out Yacht-Master II watch in 18 ct Everose Rolesor,

In the shade Rayban glasses,

johnlewis.com)

(£125, havelockslondon.co.uk)

(£7,100, rolex.com)

(£175, ray-ban.com/co.uk)

(From £495, 0207-493 4138,

Close shave Molton Brown shaving set,

Click away Olympus SZ-31MR camera,

All wrapped up Wool scarf by Boden, (£39,

umi.com)

(£195, moltonbrown.co.uk)

(From £248, olympus.co.uk)

0844-873 0000, boden.co.uk)

Ride on Bike by Cannondale,

Off the cuff Cufflink box by David Linley,

(dealer locator at cannondale.com)

(£495, davidlinley.com)

Pack it all in Weekend bag by Mulberry at John Lewis, (0845-604 9049, johnlewis.com)

In the swim Men’s Christmas shorts by Vilbrequin, (£150, vilbrequin.com)

www.independentschoolparent.com

The beat goes on Beats Pro by Dr. Dre Studio at John Lewis,

Jet set Tumi international carry-on luggage,

Well-heeled Andy Warhol shoes by Berluti, (£1,300, berluti.com)

WINTER 2012 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL PARENT 71

Tailor Made Family Holidays

South Africa

by Joel

beyond expectation

Maldives

www.exclusivecanapes.co.uk info@exclusivecanapes.co.uk 0208 752 8940

Mauritius

beyond expectation

Alison Aldred

www.exclusivecanapes.co.uk info@exclusivecanapes.co.uk 0208 752 8940

With more than 15 years experience in the Travel Industry and with children of my own, I specialise in creating tailor made holidays for families to South Africa, Mauritius and the Maldives. Through personal experience I have found some fantastic “family friendly” accommodation throughout these regions and would be delighted to help you plan your next holiday. For more information, please call or email me:

Tel: 01483 762033 • Web: www.hungrylions.co.uk Mobile: 07754 501617 • E-mail: ali.hungrylions@gmail.com 72 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL ParENT winter 2012

by Joel

www.independentschoolparent.com

LIFE

For more information visit... www.independentschoolparent.com

FOR TEENS

Get your skates on Penny skateboards are back!

In nine different shades,

Wash and go Stag Cables wash bag by Ted Baker, (£35, 08456-049 049,

Heaven scent The scent of bluebell woods with citrus head notes,

Height of fashion Stand out in these gasoline gilitter flame shoes in navy,

Bottle up Snuggle up on a cold evening,

(£79.99, firebox.com)

johnlewis.com)

(£80, penhaligons.com)

(£55, topshop.com)

(£19.95, joules.com)

(£25 + £1 per character,

Watch out!

Tissot Moto GP watch,

Beauty by the book Beauty Rules by Bobbi Brown,

Crème de la crème Limited Edition Crème de Corps for SportsAid,

White stripes Striped rugby shirt by Ralph Lauren, (£65, 0207-535 4600,

emmabridgewater.co.uk)

(£530, 0845-296 2556)

(£17.99, 0870-034 2566)

(£27, kiehls.co.uk)

ralphlauren.com)

Shine on High Beam complexion enhancer by Benefit at John Lewis, (£18.50, 08456-049 049

Walk tall Suede and velour shoes by Ash the Vertigo,

Call me iPhone 5 by Apple,

Squeaky clean Relian blue cross chain washbag by Ted Baker,

Stargazing Telescope, (£45, 08456-049

johnlewis.com)

(£95, asos.com)

(£529, apple.com/uk)

(£39, tedbaker.com)

049, johnlewis.com)

Drink me, I’m all yours..

Hand-painted personalised JOY mug,

www.independentschoolparent.com

WINTER 2012 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL PARENT 73

School run ISP’s pick of the best properties near independent schools across the UK

Campion House £879,950

WINKFIELD, BERKSHIRE Converted from the stable block of a former finishing school with communal parkland grounds of 20 acres including a lake and formal gardens. A stylish blend of period and modern features. ✱ 7 miles – Eton College hamptons.co.uk @Hamptons_PR

Newhall Farm £995,950

BURTON-ON-TRENT, STAFFORDSHIRE Country house standing in an elevated position with mature gardens, land and woods, heated outdoor swimming pool and stable block. ✱ 5 miles – Abbots Bromley School ✱ 10.4 miles – Abbotsholme School ✱ 14.5 miles – Lichfield Cathedral School ✱ 15.4 miles – Repton School savills.co.uk @SavillsUK

Airleywight House OIEO £1,250,000

BANKFOOT, PERTHSHIRE Stunning country house with outbuildings, coach house, paddocks, storage barn and walled gardens. ✱ 9 miles – Kilgraston School ✱ 11 miles – Glenalmond College ✱ 17 miles – Strathallen School knightfrank.com @knightfrank

For more information visit... www.independentschoolparent.com

74 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL PARENT WINTER 2012

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LIFE

Imperial Square £950,000

CHELTENHAM, GLOUCESTERSHIRE Grade II listed townhouse overlooking Imperial Gardens. A rare opportunity to take on a property that has been granted change of use from office and retail, to a single dwelling.

The Old School and Gallery £865,000

WHIXLEY, NORTH YORKSHIRE Beautifully converted Victorian village school with additonal artist’s studio, office and gallery.

✱ 0.4 miles – Cheltenham Ladies’ College ✱ 0.4 miles– Cheltenham College hamptons.co.uk @Hamptons_PR

✱ 11 miles – St Peter’s School ✱ 11.5 miles – Bootham School ✱ 12 miles – Harrogate Ladies’ College ✱ 21 miles – Ampleforth College knightfrank.com @knightfrank

Bressingham Lodge £795,000

BRESSINGHAM, NORFOLK Magnificant Victorian former Rectory set in five and a half acres with outbuildings, coach house and stables.

Full of period charm and perfect for surrounding boarding schools. ✱ 21 miles – Framlingham College ✱ 22 miles – Finborough School ✱ 30 miles – Langley School fineandcountry.co.uk @FineandCountry

www.independentschoolparent.com

WINTER 2012 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL PARENT 75

A Day & Boarding School for Boys & Girls in the heart of the Sussex Downs

BOOK CLUB

The dark side

Top teen reads as the nights draw in…

FAVOURITE READ

A MONSTER READ

The Obsidian Mirror

by Catherine Fisher

Captiowertn in here ipsum vbnaconprae doles consequisi bla corer ayuiopmet Pis nonsed bnmuiexero

Paperback, Hodder Children’s Books £6.99, 12+

Time travel and the faery world collide.

When Jake’s father disappears while working on mysterious experiments he is determined to use the Obsidian Mirror to discover the truth.

THE HOUSE OF SILK

byAnthony Horowitz

Paperback, Orion £7.99, 16+ Best-selling author of the Alex Rider series, Anthony Horowitz, pens the first official new Sherlock Holmes mystery for the next generation of fans. A man arrives unannounced at 221b Baker Street and Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson cannot help but be drawn into his unnerving tale from which a string of sinister events unravel. From the gaslit streets of Victorian London to the criminal underworld of Boston, the much-loved characters come alive once more as Horowitz pays homage to Conan Doyle’s world.

For more information visit... www.independentschoolparent.com

www.independentschoolparent.com

The Paladin Prophecy

by Mark Frost Paperback, Doubleday £9.99, 12+

Will’s parents force him to live life under the radar, but a mysterious prep school scouts his hidden talents – and this in no ordinary school. He is drawn into a terrifying millennia-old struggle that threatens his world.

Such Wicked Intent

by Kenneth Oppel

Hardback, David Fickling Books £12.99,12+

At 16 Victor Frankenstein swears off alchemy forever, but when he discovers a portal to the spirit world he cannot resist. Second in a pair of thrilling prequels to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

DICKENSIAN SPIRIT Dodger by Terry Pratchett Hardback, Doubleday Children’s £18.99, 11+

Dodger is a sewer scavenger living in Dickensian London. Escape into Pratchett’s humorous and mysterious world and follow Dodger’s infamous trail through a tale where history and fantasy are entwined.

The Secret Circle

by L.J Smith

Paperback, Hodder Children’s Books

WHATUR O ARE YN TEE SG? REaAcoDnvIN ersation

: Start itter page on our twarent or @ISP on follow usok o b e c Fa

Sword and Scimitar

by Simon Scarrow

Hardback, Headline

£6.99, 11+

£18.99, 15+

From the author of the Vampire Diaries, adapted for TV (ITV2), comes a bewitching saga of struggle and tested trust. The Secret Circle is under threat as a band of powerful witchhunters target the group – will Cassie survive this age-old battle between good and evil?

Sir Thomas embarks on a quest for a hidden scroll that threatens Queen Elizabeth’s reign – but his allegiance is divided. Set in the Siege of Malta, the future of the knights of the Order of St John is wavering and Sir Thomas must confront the torture of his past.

WINTER 2012 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL PARENT 77

LIFE EmmaJane Cross

Ask the expert

Dr Max Pemberton

Dr Nina Bailey

Our specialists from different fields answer your questions...

I think my son is being cyber-bullied. Is this common and is there anything I can do to help?

Mark, Gloucestershire Emma-Jane Cross, CEO of BeatBullying says: Unfortunately, this type of bullying is all too common. More than one in three young people in the UK have been a victim of cyber-bullying, and one in 13 suffer from persistent abuse online.

At BeatBullying we are only too aware of the terrible impact cyber-bullying can have on young people’s lives.

It is vital that you look out for signs of growing anxiety or depression as in some cases this can lead to self-harm. It is best if he does not retaliate online, this is hard but would only provide them with more ammunition. The most important thing is for your son to know that you are there for him to speak to. But if he is not opening up to you, which can sadly

My 17-year-old son has his heart set on nursing. My husband is in disbelief, thinking it a waste of the school fees and is worried he will never earn a decent living. How can I support his dream, and help him stand up to his father but at the same time, ensure he is not selling himself short? Perhaps he wants to be a doctor but is frightened of failing medical school?

count himself lucky that he has a son who

Miranda, Surrey

jobs and see which appeals while suggesting

feels passionately about a career at such a young age. Is there a realistic chance that your son could get into medical school? If so is he capable of getting mostly As at A level as well as a high score in the medical school entrance exams? There is no point in anyone trying to push him to consider this as a career choice if it is unrealistic. Encourage him to get lots of work experience, both with nurses and doctors, so he can compare their he talks to some doctors and nurses.

Dr Max Pemberton says: Nursing

Nursing needs dedicated, caring and

is a wonderful profession but it is

intelligent people and I sincerely hope I get

often poorly paid and does not

to work with your son on a ward one day. All

receive the respect that it deserves. It seems

any parent wants is for their child to be

a shame that an enthusiastic young man is

happy, and if being a nurse makes him

being deterred but I do understand it.

happy, then that is mission accomplished

Having said that, I think your husband should

and was worth the school fees.

78 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL PARENT WINTER 2012

My 14-year-old daughter is having terrible difficulty in concentrating and seems to be distracted very easily these days.

I know that diet is important when it comes to mood but are there any specific nutrients I need to look into and if so where do I find them?

Sue, Kent

be the case, then find a way to let him know there are other people that can help. In 2009 BeatBullying launched CyberMentors (cybermentors.org.uk) to enable young people to support and mentor one another in dealing with cyber-bullying. There are thousands of young people on hand and we find that peers who have been in similar situations can often provide the support and guidance that is needed.

To contact our experts

If you have a parenting dilemma and need our experts’ advice send your query to: info@independent schoolparent.com

Dr Nina Bailey, Nutrition Scientist says: Try to avoid refined sugary foods and source quality complex carbohydrates such as high-fibre cereals and whole grain products to supply the brain and body with glucose at a steady rate.

Complex carbohydrates are digested slowly, avoiding the sudden spike in blood sugar, or “sugar rushes”, observed after consuming processed, sugary foods. These have a negative impact on a person’s concentration and mood and can lead, after the initial spike, to lethargy.

Consuming the prescribed “5-a-day” provides essential vitamins and minerals required for higher brain function. This is because B-vitamins, magnesium and zinc, are involved in the production of brain chemicals (neurotransmitters) known to regulate mood, memory, focus and learning.

Also, if children are not getting a good source of quality protein this can impact negatively on the amino acid pool from which neurotransmitters are synthesised. Fish is an ideal source of protein packed with vitamins, minerals and omega-3 fatty acids such as EPA – known to benefit learning and concentration in children. Choose your fish wisely, however, as white fish store their omega-3 in the liver – which is discarded – and tuna loses its omega-3 during the canning process. Choose oily fish such as salmon or sardines or for non-fish lovers opt for good quality supplements rich in EPA.

For more information visit... www.independentschoolparent.com

www.independentschoolparent.com

Win! A family holiday in Croatia

competition

iSp and five-star Dubrovnik Sun Gardens resort are offering you the chance to win a three-night stay in a luxury Garden Residence in Croatia

o

verlooking the Adriatic Sea and nearby Elafiti Islands, the beautifully designed dubrovnik Sun Gardens boasts private luxury residences and a wealth of indulgent facilities. The winning family will be able to enjoy the resort’s beach and pools by day and choose from thirteen alfresco bars and restaurants by night, serving a range of dishes from gourmet cuisine to wood-fired pizzas.

Parents can escape to the comfort of an outdoor terrace or the award-winning Spa by oCCo that offers an extensive list of treatments. Teenagers meanwhile can enjoy multiple tennis courts, a football pitch, rock-climbing wall, pool tables and bike rental.

Sat on the idyllic dalmatian Coast, and just 15 minutes by boat or road from the heart of the dubrovnik’s old Town, dubrovnik Sun Gardens is one of the very few fully-integrated resorts to be found in this covetable location.

WIN! A family holiday in Croatia SENd youR ENTRy To: dubrovnik Sun Gardens Competition, Independent School Parent, The Chelsea Magazine Company, Liscartan House, 127-131 Sloane Street, London, SW1X 9AS My answer: Name: Address:

Postcode Tel no:

How to enter

Email address:

For your chance to win just answer the following question: Q. How many residences are located within the resort?

The closing date is 31st december. Terms and conditions: subject to availability and excluding July/ August. For full terms visit independentschoolparent.com. For more information on the resort visit: dubrovniksungardens.com/resort.

079_ISP_1012.indd 1

Please tick here if you would prefer not to be contacted by Independent School Parent  , the competition sponsor  , or carefully selected third parties .

Enter online at Independentschoolparent.com/win

7/11/12 15:03:16

AlpineAnswers No one knows luxury ski holidays like us!

The smart way to book a ski holiday We’ve been visiting and reviewing resorts, chalets and hotels in the Alps covering those we consider to be excellent value for money right up to the most hip and cool for twenty years now. We only choose our favourites, and we share the same insider knowledge we’d give our best friends with you. Feel free to browse our portfolio on-line and send us a brief , or simply just give us a call.

For more information visit our website:

www.alpineanswers.co.uk Or simply call us on:

020 7801 1080 www.independentschoolparent.com

ABTA No.D4050

winter 2012 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL ParENT 79

COMPETITIONS

WIN Twilight for Two at Thermae Bath Spa

Win our Ultimate Christmas Hamper…

Located in the heart of Bath, Thermae Bath Spa is the UK’s only thermal Spa where you can bathe in naturally warm spring waters which contain 42 minerals.

During the Twilight for Two package, you can bathe in the indoor Minerva Bath, enjoy the spectacular views from the open-air rooftop pool, refresh your senses in the aroma steam rooms and sample the delights of the Springs Restaurant.

The Twilight for Two offers: ✱ 2 x 3-hour spa sessions. ✱ 2 x individual main courses from the Springs Restaurant. ✱ 2 x glasses of house wine, lager or juice. ✱ Complimentary use of a towel, robe and slippers for two.

To enter the competition visit, independentschoolparent.com/win to answer the following question: Q: How many minerals can be found in Bath’s spring water?

For details about Thermae Bath Spa, please visit, thermaebathspa.com

The Twilight Package is available Sunday to Friday from 4pm with last full entry to the Spa at 6pm and last serving in the Restaurant at 8.15pm. Subject to availability. Thermae Bath Spa terms and conditions apply.

Entrants must be over the age of 18 years. For full Terms and Conditions, please visit http:// chelseamagazines.com/terms-and-conditions/

READER OFFER

Look and feel fantastic all year long with our sumptuous naturally active hamper, worth £199.50. One lucky winner can unwrap the gift of smooth, radiant-looking skin, with layer upon layer of luxurious face and body essentials.

Enter online at independentschoolparent.com/win

Competition closes at 11.59pm on 31st December 2012. See entry page and chelseamagazines.com/terms-and-conditions for full terms.

11196 hamper prize draw portrait v2.indd 1

05/11/2012 13:14

Visit independentschoolparent.com/win to receive either of these books FREE The first 10 readers to visit our website will receive a free copy of Dr Malcolm Tozer’s excellent book

Physical Education and Sport in Independent Schools (Paperback, John Catt, £15.99) ✱ With a foreword by

HRH the Princess Royal, this collection of essays comprises chapters from Sir Clive Woodward, Baroness GreyThompson, Roger Black and Jonathan Edwards.

The first 5 readers to visit our website will receive a free copy of

How Rude!

Modern Manners Defined (Hardback, Waitrose, £8.99) ✱ A please or thank you

goes a long way and this humorous take on a modern dilemma includes contributions from Alexander McCall Smith, Richard Hammond and John Humphrys.

For your chance to claim one of these fantastic free books, please visit www.independentschoolparent.com/win

80 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL PARENT WINTER 2012

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NEWS

Websites of the month...

STATISTIC OF THE MONTH

61%

of parents believe that an all inclusive university accommodation package (including high speed broadband, utility bills, contents insurance and 24-hour gym) is a necessity, while

Unistats.direct.gov.uk A new university comparison website called Unistats is set to help sixth formers choose courses this year. This format aims to make the job of selecting a university and course simpler, with information including the cost of housing and student satisfaction ratings (with figures from the National Student Survey). The website is published by the Higher Education Funding Council.

Bestcourse4me.com The Telegraph has launched an interactive graphic that reveals which A levels are most commonly held by undergraduates studying each subject. The data, compiled by bestcourse4me, shows that the top A levels for some courses are not what you would expect. Pupils can explore the graphic by chosen career, subject areas or university choice.

Portfolio-oomph.com This new online service equips art students with the skills needed to showcase their talents and win a place at art college. Founder Jean Read based the website on her experience as an art lecturer.

Jean insists that a creative portfolio is the most important tool to cross the threshold of art college. The site includes easy-to-follow e-books and free downloads.

Gap year top tip

Store copies

of on a secure travel documents data website.

See fco.gov.uk/travel

1in5 teenage boys expect a flat screen TV to be included in their accommodation package!

(Pure Student Living).

For more information visit... www.independentschoolparent.com

Yunnan province is considered to be one of the most beautiful in China

“Know

Before You campaign Go�

SELL, SELL, SELL! Students at Queen’s University, Belfast, can practice their trading skills in a new financial trading room in the management school.

The 12 trading stations allow dealings in real-time equities, bonds and foreign exchange in a simulated environment. In the competitive job market this resource gives undergraduates valuable experience.

Top 10 companies students follow 1. Burberry 2. ITV 3. ASOS 4. Facebook 5. Boston Consulting Group 6. ARUP 7. Harrods 8. Bain & Company 9. PA Consulting Group 10. Net-A-Porter (LinkedIn, UK)

12 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL PARENT

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BRIDGING THE GAP

University friends Mark Scicluna and Mark Cottenham, of Harrow and Eton respectively, set up Bridging the Gap China to offer a unique combination of classroom-taught Mandarin with sightseeing and travelling, on one and two-month courses. Based on their own experiences, the pair wanted to create a gap year that gave students a firm grounding in Mandarin and the Chinese culture. The course is situated in the beautiful Yunnan province. Mark Cottenham lives in China and is studying for level 6 in his HSK exams (top level), which is considered to be proof of fluency in Mandarin, bridgingthegapchina.co.uk www.independentschoolparent.com

7/11/12 15:11:19

Learning for life Boarding and day school for girls and boys 10 - 18 offering A Levels and the IB

oakham.rutland.sch.uk 01572 758758

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winter 2012 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL ParENT 81

SCHOOL MEMORIES

Pedal to the metal Westminster pushed your limits – with a dose of liberation, says Harry Mount Below, Westminster School, London

W

henever I see Westminster School at the top of an academic table or school fees list – it’s invariably near the top of both – it always seems odd. The school never felt that academic when I was there 25 years ago and my parents never felt that rich.

But that is what makes for real privilege; all the things that felt so run-of-the-mill were anything but. Latin prayers on a Monday morning, services in Westminster Abbey three times a week, Oxbridge-educated teachers.

Children are self-centred little monsters – me included. So none of this

seemed odd at the time, but all of it is, compared with the vast majority of schools in Britain, independent schools, too. When I languidly told a girl in my Remove Greek set that Westminster wasn’t much good, she got really angry.

The private London girls’ day school she’d been at before joining Westminster in the sixth form had elderly, uninspirational Hyacinth Buckets in tweed suits sticking doggedly to the exam set books. To have ultra-confident teachers teaching a subject for the pure joy of it, had been utterly liberating for her. For us lucky boys, who’d always had that freedom, we’d never had the need to

torture of prospective love – however minimal those prospects – or the torture of a broken relationship, with the small hope that it might be fixed. So it was easy for me: no hope – no torture.

I’m still good friends with several girls from school. Because I could talk to them with none of the attempts to impress that go with seduction, I had a more normal friendship than I’d have had if sex had entered the equation. As it was, I spent infinitely more time on equations than on sex.

I had been a worried, obsessive swot at prep school, and that continued for my first two years at Westminster.

❝ I started changing from a

be liberated or the delight in liberation.

That academic freedom was accompanied by an undercurrent of competitiveness – unspoken but pretty extreme all the same. In those days, Westminster had an “acceleration” system – you took an exam in Transitus A, the name of my first-year set. If you passed the exam, you were accelerated, jumping a year and would do O levels in two years, instead of three.

It saved my parents a year of school fees, but it also meant I did my O levels at 14, and left school at 16 – a smug little fact I like to drop into conversation when people say how unfair it is that so many state-educated children leave school so young. It made perfect academic sense – I did as well in my exams as I would have done with an extra year. But it did have an effect on my emotional development.

The sudden arrival of girls in the sixth form wasn’t then much of a joy – or a disappointment, either. It’s just that, at 14, with some of them two years older than me, I didn’t think for a moment that I might do something as ludicrous as kiss one of them, let alone go out with them. It’s hope that creates torture: the 82 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL PARENT WINTER 2012

Forgive the showing-off, but it meant perfect results: a scholarship in the Challenge, Westminster’s exam for prospective scholars; 11 A grades at O level. I was like a little, bookdevouring, homework-crunching machine. It didn’t matter what the subject was: physics, English, history.

They just told me what to do and I did it.

As my anxieties declined in my second two years, I dropped out of the top five in my class for the first time in my life. It was disappointing then. But now I see it was the moment that I started changing from fact-digesting miniautomaton to a free-thinking grown-up who could take pleasure in choosing what to read and write about – which is now what I do for a living.

Westminster catered for the robotic child and the more liberated teenager. It is a rare school that does both, and I now realise how spoilt I was to take that rarity for granted.

Journalist Harry Mount’s How England Made the English is out now (Hardback, Viking, £20).

For more information visit... www.independentschoolparent.com

www.independentschoolparent.com

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fact-digesting mini-automaton to a free-thinking grown-up❞

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