ROBERT LOBATTO
ROBERT LOBATTO - Message from the Head
Robert with student speakers at the ‘Education On The Move’ Conference
Robert Lobatto
Tucked away in a semi-subterranean space, nestled between the Photography Studio and the stationery cupboard is a small, air-conditioned room. Inside, you find treasure consisting of photographs, documents and artefacts that go back to 1897. This is our archive, neatly arranged, with historical papers carefully tucked into protective wallets. As with any good archive, it lives and breathes and
They highlighted a testing regime which automatically
Year 6 have recently been exploring its content. They
condemns a third of all pupils to ‘fail’ due to capping the
have discovered the original school song, have leafed
number of students who can achieve a pass.
through the handwritten school magazine of 1914, and have studied the war years in Royston when our site was commandeered by the army. They explored the idealism of our founders who saw education as an engine improve society. Inspired by what they found, letters have been
analysed the decline of creative subjects and the failure to develop the broader skills of communication, collaboration, and creativity required by employers.
flooding my way requesting more girls cricket, regular
And they focussed on well-being. There are multiple
lessons in the treehouse, and the return of the goat!
causes of mental health challenges, but the Commission
At the very same moment, the Times Education Committee Report also landed on my desk. Its 20 members include luminaries from across the educational and political landscape and they painted a bleak picture of the state of education in England.
found that many students themselves cited the pressure of exams as a driving force. 1 in 6 young people are now seen to suffer from a probable mental health disorder and more than half of adult mental health problems emerge before the age of 15. British children are among the unhappiest in the world. The OECD found that pupils
They described the paltry levels of provision and funding
in the UK suffered the steepest decline in life satisfaction
for early years, with funding well below the European
between 2015 and 2018 and ranked 34th out of 35
average and childcare seen as more of a way to enable
countries for fear of failure.
parents to work than a vital educational experience for young children.
6
Due to the unrelenting focus on exam outcomes, they
The Alfredian Magazine 2022
