Learning for the 21st Century

In a dynamic (and perhaps uncertain) age, we are conscious that a Cargilfield education needs to prepare our children for the challenges that we can foresee (and for many that we cannot). This is the challenge that the Headmaster has set us in his teaching and learning blog last year:

https://www.cargilfield.com/teaching-and-learning/news/post?s=2021-06-07-educating-our-children-for-the-21st-century

With that in mind, our curriculum leaders (a group of teachers drawn from across the School - both in ages taught and subject specialisms) are in the process of reviewing our curriculum to best equip the next generation of learners.

The pandemic and periods of time where lessons were delivered on screens or at a distance have helped us all to reflect on what we find most effective in the curriculum. For all this, however, we have agreed on certain guiding principles that we want to see in children’s learning:

1. Balance across the Curriculum and preserving what we do well.

2. The importance of : 

a. The extra curricular offering 

b. School trips 

c. Games and sport 

d. Enterprise and life skills 

3. A strong pastoral support system and PSHE/Health and Wellbeing delivery.

4. Developing a culture of growth and change amongst staff and pupils.

5. Promoting equality and celebrating cultural diversity.

6. Developing transferrable skills and cross curricular learning.

7. A strong boarding ethos at the heart of the school.

8. Forging closer links with other partners in learning.

The challenge now is to map our curriculum to spot gaps and repetition and to make sure that the skills and knowledge will best serve our children’s needs.

I look forward to updating you with our findings and, as we implement the proposed changes, bringing in a process of inspection and review. We are determined that the Cargilfield children are given enjoy the very best learning experience that we can give them.

Anjali Dholakia

Academic Deputy Head

January 2022

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Learning for the 21st Century

In a dynamic (and perhaps uncertain) age, we are conscious that a Cargilfield education needs to prepare our children for the challenges that we can foresee (and for many that we cannot). This is the challenge that the Headmaster has set us in his teaching and learning blog last year:

https://www.cargilfield.com/teaching-and-learning/news/post?s=2021-06-07-educating-our-children-for-the-21st-century

With that in mind, our curriculum leaders (a group of teachers drawn from across the School - both in ages taught and subject specialisms) are in the process of reviewing our curriculum to best equip the next generation of learners.

The pandemic and periods of time where lessons were delivered on screens or at a distance have helped us all to reflect on what we find most effective in the curriculum. For all this, however, we have agreed on certain guiding principles that we want to see in children’s learning:

1. Balance across the Curriculum and preserving what we do well.

2. The importance of : 

a. The extra curricular offering 

b. School trips 

c. Games and sport 

d. Enterprise and life skills 

3. A strong pastoral support system and PSHE/Health and Wellbeing delivery.

4. Developing a culture of growth and change amongst staff and pupils.

5. Promoting equality and celebrating cultural diversity.

6. Developing transferrable skills and cross curricular learning.

7. A strong boarding ethos at the heart of the school.

8. Forging closer links with other partners in learning.

The challenge now is to map our curriculum to spot gaps and repetition and to make sure that the skills and knowledge will best serve our children’s needs.

I look forward to updating you with our findings and, as we implement the proposed changes, bringing in a process of inspection and review. We are determined that the Cargilfield children are given enjoy the very best learning experience that we can give them.

Anjali Dholakia

Academic Deputy Head

January 2022

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    [0] => 4
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The advantages of extra curricular activities

At Cargilfield pupils have the opportunity to participate in a vast range of extra curricular activities from sport, music and drama to personal development. There are a whole range of benefits that come from involvement in these activities.

• They can help you build skills outside of the classroom

In addition to building skills within a specific discipline, extracurricular activities are great for developing general academic and soft skills. Think debating for public speaking, academic competitions for exam strategies and sport for teamwork. Balancing a number of commitments can help to improve your time management skills, while finding an area you enjoy or excel at can boost your self-confidence.

• They provide a productive break from regular school work

Weekly activities can offer a welcome break from studies and homework. Depending on your interests, they may provide the chance to get outside and exercise, see friends, pursue a hobby or simply destress and refresh your mind. They also help limit the time you spend in front of a TV or computer screen.

• Open your mind to new interests

While you usually have the opportunity to pursue a wide range of study areas through core subjects, extracurricular activities allow you to explore an interest in more depth than what is covered in class — or maybe even find a completely new interest that you wouldn’t have been exposed to otherwise. They can also provide a great chance for you to broaden your perspective of the world.

Participation in sport can indicate that you have the ability to work as part of a team, the drive to reach and improve on goals and the commitment to attend regular training sessions.

• Social opportunities

Being part of a group or team provides a sense of belonging, with extracurricular activities offering an opportunity for you to interact with others with similar interests and potentially build friendships outside of their usual circle.

MHS

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    [0] => 4
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The advantages of extra curricular activities

At Cargilfield pupils have the opportunity to participate in a vast range of extra curricular activities from sport, music and drama to personal development. There are a whole range of benefits that come from involvement in these activities.

• They can help you build skills outside of the classroom

In addition to building skills within a specific discipline, extracurricular activities are great for developing general academic and soft skills. Think debating for public speaking, academic competitions for exam strategies and sport for teamwork. Balancing a number of commitments can help to improve your time management skills, while finding an area you enjoy or excel at can boost your self-confidence.

• They provide a productive break from regular school work

Weekly activities can offer a welcome break from studies and homework. Depending on your interests, they may provide the chance to get outside and exercise, see friends, pursue a hobby or simply destress and refresh your mind. They also help limit the time you spend in front of a TV or computer screen.

• Open your mind to new interests

While you usually have the opportunity to pursue a wide range of study areas through core subjects, extracurricular activities allow you to explore an interest in more depth than what is covered in class — or maybe even find a completely new interest that you wouldn’t have been exposed to otherwise. They can also provide a great chance for you to broaden your perspective of the world.

Participation in sport can indicate that you have the ability to work as part of a team, the drive to reach and improve on goals and the commitment to attend regular training sessions.

• Social opportunities

Being part of a group or team provides a sense of belonging, with extracurricular activities offering an opportunity for you to interact with others with similar interests and potentially build friendships outside of their usual circle.

MHS

Array
(
    [0] => 4
)

Getting to Grips with Tricky Spellings

It's definately defnetly has certainly got to be one of the most misspelt words - definitely. However, by the time you've read this you'll definitely never misspell it again!

But how DO you learn those words that refuse to be learnt?

Don't rely on sound alone. Depending on your accent, definitely might sound a bit like "def-nut-lee". In fact, you really can't hear how that vowel between n and t is spelt, so that's not going to help. Going on sound alone it could be a, e, i, o or u. So try more than one way to remember the word. At least one of them will work for you. If you can use more than one of these methods, you can check that you're right. Here are some suggestions to remember the spelling of definitely.

1. Build it up. This is my favourite way (and how I personally learnt to spell definitely).

finite (easy to spell)

de + finite = definite

definite + ly = definitely


2. Think about the error you usually make (people often write this word with an 'a') and drop it!

There's definitely no 'a' in definitely.

3) Look at the pattern and the shape of the vowels in the word.

eiie

definitely

4) How many words can you find within the word definitely? The letters must be consecutive not anagrams. So, fin is fine but fit isn't.

definitely

5) Relate part of the spelling to part of another word that you can spell.

I've definitely finished

_______________

6) Colour your vowels by choosing a colour where the names of the letters sound like the colours.

a - grey

e - green

i - bright red

o - yellow

u - blue

()

Then write the word:

definitely

7) Finally check you've got it. Hide the word, write and check it.

EB

Array
(
    [0] => 4
)

Getting to Grips with Tricky Spellings

It's definately defnetly has certainly got to be one of the most misspelt words - definitely. However, by the time you've read this you'll definitely never misspell it again!

But how DO you learn those words that refuse to be learnt?

Don't rely on sound alone. Depending on your accent, definitely might sound a bit like "def-nut-lee". In fact, you really can't hear how that vowel between n and t is spelt, so that's not going to help. Going on sound alone it could be a, e, i, o or u. So try more than one way to remember the word. At least one of them will work for you. If you can use more than one of these methods, you can check that you're right. Here are some suggestions to remember the spelling of definitely.

1. Build it up. This is my favourite way (and how I personally learnt to spell definitely).

finite (easy to spell)

de + finite = definite

definite + ly = definitely


2. Think about the error you usually make (people often write this word with an 'a') and drop it!

There's definitely no 'a' in definitely.

3) Look at the pattern and the shape of the vowels in the word.

eiie

definitely

4) How many words can you find within the word definitely? The letters must be consecutive not anagrams. So, fin is fine but fit isn't.

definitely

5) Relate part of the spelling to part of another word that you can spell.

I've definitely finished

_______________

6) Colour your vowels by choosing a colour where the names of the letters sound like the colours.

a - grey

e - green

i - bright red

o - yellow

u - blue

()

Then write the word:

definitely

7) Finally check you've got it. Hide the word, write and check it.

EB

Array
(
    [0] => 4
)

They say a change is as good as a rest, I suppose. I write this surrounded by mess and the chaos of crates, boxes, artificial flowers (and I suddenly realise I do actually have an awful lot of these).

When you spend long hours at your place of your work, I am a firm believer that you have to enjoy your surroundings. In my opinion, you have to be able to have an element of ‘home from home’ so that in those moments where you need to pause and catch your breath, you can do so more easily where there is a feeling of warmth and homeliness. And that’s just for me, let alone the children! I have convinced myself that the majority of the children, particularly 6P, welcome my slightly overboard homely feel so that when they come in in the morning, they also feel that they are somewhere their stress and tension can ease just a little and they can also enjoy their surroundings.

In reality of course, I conclude as I packed up my nik-naks and abundance of “stuff” at the end of the half term, that it is just an extension of my house. I could have easily opened up a second-hand book shop with my vast array of crime novels that I couldn’t fit in my bookshelves at home (now making the staff room somewhat homely too!), I have more artificial flowers than Hobbycraft (or at least nearly it seems) and I have batiks on the walls that come from my GAP year in Uganda (crikey – 22 years old!) to a “Mama and Papas” picture from when my first born was born!

In my eyes, I had my Reynolds room looking lovely and I must admit, when broached with the idea of having to move rooms, even though I understood the reasoning, I was suddenly feeling very anxious and what my new room would be like. “I would need one with lots of space as I am head of two departments”, I requested to the powers-that-be. Although true, in reality, it was to accommodate my second home… could I make a new classroom feel homely enough?! Could it fit everything? I’m not a hoarder really – goodness me, I seem endlessly to give old toys from my children to charity, much to their dismay. But having reached my 15^th crate, I’m beginning to think I must be a liar…

But, as the optimist I try to be, they say a change is a good as a rest. And perhaps I can make my new room EVEN BETTER! So that is the challenge I have set myself. I am excited. I always fancied myself as a bit of a Laurence Llewlyn Bowen – or maybe not quite as OTT – but with one day more of sorting ahead of me, I think I may have just won my bet.

I hope 6P and my classes think so too!

Array
(
    [0] => 4
)

They say a change is as good as a rest, I suppose. I write this surrounded by mess and the chaos of crates, boxes, artificial flowers (and I suddenly realise I do actually have an awful lot of these).

When you spend long hours at your place of your work, I am a firm believer that you have to enjoy your surroundings. In my opinion, you have to be able to have an element of ‘home from home’ so that in those moments where you need to pause and catch your breath, you can do so more easily where there is a feeling of warmth and homeliness. And that’s just for me, let alone the children! I have convinced myself that the majority of the children, particularly 6P, welcome my slightly overboard homely feel so that when they come in in the morning, they also feel that they are somewhere their stress and tension can ease just a little and they can also enjoy their surroundings.

In reality of course, I conclude as I packed up my nik-naks and abundance of “stuff” at the end of the half term, that it is just an extension of my house. I could have easily opened up a second-hand book shop with my vast array of crime novels that I couldn’t fit in my bookshelves at home (now making the staff room somewhat homely too!), I have more artificial flowers than Hobbycraft (or at least nearly it seems) and I have batiks on the walls that come from my GAP year in Uganda (crikey – 22 years old!) to a “Mama and Papas” picture from when my first born was born!

In my eyes, I had my Reynolds room looking lovely and I must admit, when broached with the idea of having to move rooms, even though I understood the reasoning, I was suddenly feeling very anxious and what my new room would be like. “I would need one with lots of space as I am head of two departments”, I requested to the powers-that-be. Although true, in reality, it was to accommodate my second home… could I make a new classroom feel homely enough?! Could it fit everything? I’m not a hoarder really – goodness me, I seem endlessly to give old toys from my children to charity, much to their dismay. But having reached my 15^th crate, I’m beginning to think I must be a liar…

But, as the optimist I try to be, they say a change is a good as a rest. And perhaps I can make my new room EVEN BETTER! So that is the challenge I have set myself. I am excited. I always fancied myself as a bit of a Laurence Llewlyn Bowen – or maybe not quite as OTT – but with one day more of sorting ahead of me, I think I may have just won my bet.

I hope 6P and my classes think so too!

Array
(
    [0] => 4
)