“You Can’t Change the Beginning…”
Clemmie Stewart, Director of Learning and Teaching, Chatsworth Schools and Blenheim Schools and incoming Executive Principal, Beech Hall School Riyadh
One of my favourite quotes is that of C. S. Lewis: “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are, and change the ending”. This can, of course, be applied to so much, but it seemed to ring particularly true as we navigated our way through the pandemic. As a Head across two schools at the time of COVID-19, change was most certainly the case: change by the day, by the week and in some cases by the hour. Whilst it was a desperately challenging time, within those challenges lay many opportunities: to build on the rapidly growing access to technology; to unite our communities from afar and to revisit the purpose of education and how we provide it.
As life started to return to some semblance of normality, I started a new role and my new boss, Anita Gleave, Founder and CEO of Chatsworth Schools and Blenheim Schools, asked me a question – a seemingly rhetorical one at the time! If you could rewrite education from scratch, on a blank piece of paper, where would you start? What might have been a bonding icebreaker as I began my new role, was actually a serious and strategic question, that would ultimately lead us towards launching our own bespoke, unique and inclusive educational framework, that is now in operation in the UK, as well as in schools abroad.
It was a dream question and task! What an opportunity to think again, to reimagine the purpose, the approach and the outcomes of a truly forward-thinking and innovative educational approach. One which married tried and tested pedagogy that we know works, alongside the rapidly growing field of educational research on technology and developing skills, knowledge and behaviour around learning and learners.
The first step in establishing this was to write an educational framework that truly prepared our children for that brave new world, pre-meditated by those statements we have all heard about the number of jobs that don’t yet exist using technology that is yet to be invented! None of us know the extent of those points, and the research is speculative at best, but what we do know is that our young people will need to be open-minded, quick to adapt, resilient and creative in their thinking, and kind and compassionate of heart. So, we need to expose them to a myriad of opportunities to learn and develop those skills. Our response to that challenge is the Chatsworth Schools and Blenheim Schools Tapestry – six strands of focus which, when skilfully interwoven in a locally contextualised way, best prepare our young people for the world ahead of them.
This unique learning framework ensures every School in our family can deliver a truly bespoke education tailored to every child’s needs. Each of our Schools is weaving these strands differently to adapt their learning to their children’s unique talents and needs.
Our Tapestry consists of six individual strands and encompasses all the skills that children need to flourish in the 21st century.
- Mindset: Developing a life-long learning mindset is central to the Tapestry. We ensure our students are open-minded, inquisitive, and able to make the most of their choices and talents.
- Global: Every one of our students will feel at one with the world in which they live and develop a deep understanding and empathy for all cultures and societies.
- Health and Wellbeing: Our learning approach equips our students with the toolkit to develop their minds, their passions, and their resilience – preparing them for a fulfilling life.
- Digital Literacy: Our students will be able to access and engage with the digital world at their fingertips. They will learn how to consume, understand, and produce digital work to compete in and contribute to a digital world.
- Sustainability: We help our students to develop a deep understanding of issues that face mankind today and to be responsible stewards of our planet.
- Entrepreneurship: The Tapestry integrates future-focused learning and transferable skills in entrepreneurship and innovation in collaboration with 8Billionideas.
At the heart of the Tapestry is inclusion and the firm and confident promise to deliver education that is entirely inclusive, placing every learner at the centre of every decision. We all work and thrive in a wonderfully diverse world, yet so many of our children have yet to experience that in their schooling. As a group, we are placing inclusion at the front and centre of all of our non-selective schools. We do this through working with leaders who pride themselves on their commitment to growing and nurturing diverse communities. We also appoint staff who fully embrace the concept of inclusion, and who are willing to learn about their children and to develop the skills and expertise to bring out the best in every child. As a group, we are able to move best practice around our colleagues, to learn from one another, celebrate each other’s successes and use this knowledge to provide a truly world-class approach to inclusion.
We have made great strides in terms of moving education forward since the start of COVID-19 – with a greater focus on mental health and wellbeing, a better understanding of the power of technology, more tailored learning and a greater emphasis on the home-school relationship. As we continue to navigate unknown waters, we feel confident that this forward-facing approach to curriculum and inclusion is the best way in which we can prepare our young to grow and thrive through their lives: both in the present and in the years to come as they start to look towards their exciting futures.
Source
Clemmie Stewart, Executive Principal, Beech Hall School Riyadh
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