Quite the STORY

Looking at the many ways Berkshire's Dolphin School embrace the written and spoken word to create a learning environment like no other

Dolphin School is unique. It is a school where the core values of Freedom, Discovery, Challenge, Confidence and Kindness are lived out each and every day. Whether it is through their extensive and varied trips programme, their subject specialist teaching from nursery upwards, their lack of uniform, or the first name terms between students and teachers, Dolphin is a school that is di erent, and proudly so. Children are encouraged to be curious, volunteer their own insights and ask questions. Debate and discourse are actively encouraged as stimulae for learning. Whenever visitors encounter students in their learning environments, they comment on the genuine enthusiasm shown by Dolphin’s boys and girls, as they vie for the opportunity to tell guests what they are studying and what they have been doing. At the very heart of the school's educational philosophy is the belief that children learn best when they are happy and comfortable in their learning environment, whether in the classroom, outside, or away on a trip. Children flourish in small classes, in an atmosphere filled with warmth and enthusiasm, where individuality is celebrated and relationships between teacher and child are cherished. They are not constrained to the classroom or bound by tradition, and strive to maintain a learning environment where children love coming into school and have the opportunity to learn at their own pace and in their own way.

Teachers here aim to promote a love of English through a range of activities and special events throughout the academic year (and often through the holidays too!). These include Roald Dahl Day, National Poetry Day, Non-Fiction Month, Storytelling Week, World Book Day, Shakespeare Day and too many more to name. They hold ad-hoc celebrations throughout the year, and are attuned to local opportunities, such as Henley Literary Festival. The highlight of the literary calendar, though, has to be the school's annual ‘Book Fest’, which is held on a weekend in May to encourage whole families to come into school to explore a pop-up bookshop, listen to inspirational visiting authors, and enjoy workshops together. This event is really unique to Dolphin and speaks to a core principle of reading for pleasure.

Between trips, visiting speakers and special events, there is no such thing as a ‘normal’ week at Dolphin, so it takes a lot planning and imagination to stand out from the crowd! Most of the children love dressing up, and the chaos of the annual World Book Day catwalk is testament to this, but they also make sure to o er linked activities for those who are not so keen, and to encourage conversations that go beyond outfits! All of their trips and events have a link within the curriculum and act as a springboard for or response to more in-depth and challenging conversations in English and Library lessons.

Standalone events such as World Book Day tend to focus the national conversation, and as a result act as a useful reminder for children, parents and teachers about the importance of books. However, they can only do so much, and as much as days like these are valuable opportunities to highlight the subject, it is equally important that they are not just gimmicks that mask a lack of enrichment elsewhere. At Dolphin, Year 3s rewrote and retold Beowulf as part of National Storytelling Week; Years 7 and 8 spent World Book Day o -timetable being ‘young reporters’; their Years 7 and 8s will be writing and starring in their own ‘reduced Shakespeare’ version of Julius Caesar when that celebration comes round. For the English department, the opportunity to run exciting events is just one part of the everyday job of making their lessons and curriculum rich and engaging. Competing with the more immediate endorphin release o ered by a screen is the modern-day challenge for English teachers across the country, and Dolphin is no exception. It is important not to present reading as a chore – or worse, a punishment! – but rather to encourage at all times the development of an independent and individual relationship with reading. Children read at di erent speeds, and they enjoy di erent books at di erent ages. Sometimes they need a more familiar and accessible book to act as a warm and familiar hug; sometimes they are ready to take on a mental or emotional challenge. Dolphin are lucky enough to have a fantastic and inviting new Library, which o ers panoramic views of the school, comfortable chairs, and the encyclopaedic resource of reading recommendations that is their librarian, Kirsty. This helps to frame reading just as it should be: a privilege and a joy. dolphinschool.com

Dolphin has a tradition of dialogic teaching within the school, so speaking and listening skills are not just an optional extra here, but the lifeblood of teaching and learning across the timetable. Debate is formalised on occasion, but it is also how ideas flow, how perspectives are broadened and assumptions challenged inside and outside of lessons, they aim to encourage articulacy as the bedfellow of literacy, and also as a means of developing self-knowledge and self-confidence. Their Dolphin Project Qualification foregrounds these skills through the use of non-traditional means of assessment: a vlog, a performance, a TED talk, a pitch, a presentation, a lesson.

The students were very lucky to have a real-life journalist visit recently, so Year 6 are currently ‘mopping up’ the journalistic skills on show during World Book Day celebrations with an investigative reporting project; House Public Speaking is round the corner, with debates, radio broadcasts and poetry performances planned. Next term, Years 7 and 8 will be celebrating Shakespeare’s birthday, before turning their attention to their summer exams; Years 3 and 5 will be working across the curriculum on their DPQs; and all year groups from Year 3 upwards will be going out on residential trips.