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ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE
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Teddies TV
Tune in for a last blast of summer –
watch our Gaudy Week film,
Summer
at Teddies
, and revisit the uplifting
Readers Make Leaders
film made by our
enterprising pupil media unit, Teddies
on Camera (TOC). Keep an eye on
the website and E News for details of
new films by Teddies TV and TOC
as they appear.
www.stedwardsoxford.orgOne of the joys of working in a school is
the sense of renewal at the start of each
academic year. We all return from our
summer holidays refreshed and ready to
tackle the great business of education once
more – teachers and pupils alike.
The new term sees further steps in our
ongoing programme of development in the
academic life of the School, not least in the
form of the new structure to our day. The
Shell Curriculum was introduced two years
ago, providing a refreshing alternative to a
top-down, syllabus-led approach. Focusing
on five key skills – research, communication,
thinking, collaboration and organisation – the
curriculum is designed to teach the aptitudes
necessary for successful study; the emphasis
is on learning, not teaching. A new focus
on effective coaching – as you will read in
the article on P10 – requires pupils and
Word from theWarden
teachers to have meaningful, productive
conversations. There are many strands to a
successful coaching strategy, but there is one
essential ingredient: time. Creating enough
space to allow pupils to reflect on what and
how they are learning, and to allow teachers
to guide them according to their individual
needs, is the impetus behind the new
timetable.
The headline change to the shape of the
day, therefore, is that lessons have been
extended from 40 to 55 minutes – time to
become fully-immersed in the subject, and
time for reflection and discussion. Other
changes include earlier prep twice a week
(three times a week for the Shells) to avoid
pupils working too late into the night and
staggered games slots to allow a better
spread of elite coaching, and to enable Sixth
Form pupils to coach younger years – good
for community cohesion and for developing
leadership skills in older pupils. The timetable
is printed in full on the inside back cover for
reference.
Elsewhere, there is much to celebrate from
the exam season. We are awaiting final details
of re-marks and some university destinations –
particularly from pupils who applied overseas
– but results and university destinations
confirmed so far are truly impressive, as you
will read in Matthew Albrighton’s report
opposite. We are immensely proud of our
pupils’ achievements and wish those busy
preparing for their university courses every
success.
This new Chronicle is a great way to launch
the academic year and an excellent start to
what promises to be another outstanding and
busy term at Teddies.
Stephen Jones