The February 2021
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February 2021 The THE BRADFIELDIAN FEBRUARY 2021 WWW.BRADFIELDCOLLEGE.ORG.UK FROM THE HEADMASTER Edited by Stephen Wallace Dear reader, Editorial Team Alexandra Acton As this edition of The Bradfieldian goes to press, we are preparing for the return Helen Bebbington of our pupils after the third national lockdown. They have experienced a mixture Roger Keeley of face to face and remote education this year but have risen to the challenges and Alastair MacEwen shown impressive resilience and adaptability. Happily, most of the achievements and events reported in this magazine occurred during a term in which pupils were Photography by on campus. The feature articles focus on the College’s transformative approach to Stephen Wallace teaching and learning and the role it will play in the years to come. Designed by Neil Burch, Deputy Head (Academic), discusses how the adoption of education Hyperbole Design & Marketing technology has enabled our teachers not only to move their teaching online when Printing and Distribution by required but also to offer blended learning. This gives pupils more autonomy The Lavenham Press over the pace of their learning and digital fluency of teacher and learner offers the opportunity for ‘anytime, anywhere’ learning for life. Published by Bradfield College Enabling Bradfieldians to develop an inclusive open-mindedness that values diversity Bradfield, Berkshire, RG7 6AU and encouraging them to make a positive contribution to society are essential elements of our Education for Life. As our pupils enter the changing world of higher education Website and work, the International Baccalaureate provides a chance for them to differentiate www.bradfieldcollege.org.uk themselves. Our new Director of the Diploma Programme outlines how the IB encourages our pupils to become global citizens and to look upwards and outwards. Instagram bradfield_college Positive contributions to society are very evident in the wider Bradfield community. Twitter An interview in these pages with Orthopaedic Surgeon, Rob Pollock reveals the @BradfieldCol collaborative experiences at Bradfield which set him on the path to helping others through the NHS. Being a force for good is something of a mission statement for Facebook Misan Harriman, one of two OB photographers featured in this edition. He made /BradfieldCollege history last year by becoming the first black male to take the cover photograph for British Vogue magazine. The focus of Misan’s photography, and indeed his career, Contact Editor has been on showing empathy towards others. When he writes, ‘all I do is lead [email protected] people down this road where they will feel something’ he captures a key concept of both of photography and of education. Bradfield Society [email protected] Bradfield Society Website www.bradfieldsociety.org.uk Dr Christopher Stevens, Headmaster FEATURES 04 14 20 28 04 14 24 36 BLENDED LEARNING KEZIAH (M) CLASSICAL LANGUAGES... TONY BROWN Neil Burch, Deputy Head Dr Gray Scholar Keziah shares …Modern benefits. How Gas masks, phoneboxes (Academic), examines the her Bradfield journey, revealing studying Latin and Greek and grey skies; Commercial positive opportunities presented why no two Bradfieldian helps pupils to see the world Photographer Tony Brown on by the shift to remote teaching experiences are the same as it really is London life in lockdown 07 16 28 40 SCHOLARS’ DEBATE NATIONAL POETRY DAY UNLOCKING EMPATHY TRUCIAL OMAN SCOUTS Two of our Scholars debate Pupils were challenged to Misan Harriman discusses David Stewart recalls his the merits and impact of ‘See it like a poet’ for this going viral, making history and global adventure as a Junior Arts subjects and the Sciences year’s National Poetry why Art is the ultimate weapon Officer in the Army during on education Day competition to unlock empathy the Jebel War 10 20 32 44 IBDP TOM (G) COLLABORATIVE CAREER BRADFIELD REMEMBERS Colin Irvine, Director of IBDP, Upper Sixth Music Scholar Orthopaedic Surgeon Rob Assistant Master Major Thomas explores the global significance Tom discusses his experiences Pollock on how Bradfield Barnard Sills, Commander of of the IBDP qualification in a in Bradfield’s diverse and provides the skills you need for the Bradfield OTC who died post-COVID world inclusive environment a Medical career during WWI 3 NEIL BURCH, DEPUTY HEAD (ACADEMIC) THE THREE DIMENSIONS OF BLENDED LEARNING echnology is at it again. ALLOWING THE shift to remote teaching. At Bradfield, Love it or loathe it, we are “ like so many schools across the globe, in the midst of another LIVE DEBATE pupils and teachers have embraced the T paradigm shift because of AND DISCUSSION technology available to them. Here at the power of ‘digital’. Education the College the Microsoft 365 suite may have thought it had done all it TO CONTINUE – particularly Teams and OneNote needed to do to avoid the attraction WHILST PROVIDING – have allowed live debate and of the ‘online’ revolution, allowing it OPPORTUNITIES discussion to continue whilst providing to sit back and watch the hotel, taxi opportunities for pupils to collaborate and television industries with curious FOR PUPILS TO in real time. Indeed, although some interest. Education may have naively COLLABORATE IN of the informal group discussion and (or arrogantly?) assumed there’d be sharing of ideas has needed a little no Airbnb, Uber or Netflix equivalent REAL TIME. more thought, OneNote offers a to turn it on its head. If any element shared, live platform for collaboration of this is true, then Education Rather than focus on the problems in its true sense: the iteration of an should try to rent a VHS movie from however, I believe it is healthier and idea with input from multiple Blockbuster or hail a taxi and pay the more interesting to hone in on the sources, and now more than ever with fare in cash. opportunity presented by a forced multimedia contributions. 5 SOMETHING MORE at it, too. Fundamentally though, Dimension three focuses on what “ pupils’ access to information and pupils will study. To extend the PERSONALISED, ideas is dependent on their age i.e. metaphor above, pupils will have MORE PRECISE AND their school year, a consequence of the more opportunity than ever to travel MORE EXCITING. industrial revolution’s influence on on different highways, and highways our education system. Two hundred that link and intersect too. And the years on however, and it is becoming teachers in all this…? As ever, they Often, this type of experience is increasingly clear that this no longer are crucial. They will inspire and referred to as blended learning. At has to be the case. How exciting! enthuse, guide and facilitate but as Bradfield however, we see this as the Future generations of pupils will be Bradfield looks to harness the power of first dimension of blended learning, drivers and not passengers, caressing IT, the idea that courses or aspects of perhaps better referred to as hybrid the accelerator as and when they – courses are delivered by others outside learning. This applies to pupils’ current as opposed to the system – see fit, the organisation, across the globe or experience of the classroom because by artificial intelligence is no longer consolidating their journey on the of social distancing: the teacher is the stuff of science fiction. Indeed, inside lane or consciously gliding into present in the classroom – introducing regardless of whether or not we can the outside lane in order to get further, material, facilitating discussion, picture Winston Churchill ‘working faster. Again, how exciting! feeding back – whilst pupils work from home’, AirPods in, his words online using various digital platforms remain visionary and perfectly capture because of restrictions that prevent AND THE TEACHERS where Education is on its own digital movement around the classroom. “ journey: “…this is not the end. It is not Sometimes this is referred to “online- IN ALL THIS…? AS even the beginning of the end. But it is, merge-offline teaching”. Blended EVER, THEY ARE perhaps, the end of the beginning.”. learning can, however, mean so much How exciting! more; something more personalised, CRUCIAL. more precise and more exciting. The second and third dimensions give pupils more autonomy over the pace of their learning and portfolio of courses they study. FUTURE “ GENERATIONS OF PUPILS WILL BE DRIVERS AND NOT PASSENGERS. Pupils learning at the pace most appropriate to their ability can be seen as the second dimension of blended learning. This is what we largely refer to as differentiation. And we are good 6 SCHOLARS DEBATE THE SCIENCES VS THE ARTS Now, at the age of 92, Gillian THE VALUE Lynne, having established a long career in ballet, dance and choreography, OF ARTISTIC with some of her most successful performances in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats SUBJECTS: and The Phantom of the Opera, had been all but written off by her school as a student with SHOULD behavioural and learning problems as opposed to being recognised for her extraordinary talent and BRADFIELD dancing skills. OFFER MORE This common misconception associated with the Arts subjects, inferring their minor OF THESE? importance, has resulted in a significant decline in the role of Arts subjects in the Maryam (I) curriculum in recent years. According to some major studies carried out by The Tate and BBC, Gillian Lynne, viewed as a problem student GCSE and A Level entries for Music and from a very early age with a potential learning Drama between 2010 and 2018 have declined difficulty due to her inability to sit still and by 15% and 38%, respectively, while a concentrate, caused her troubled mother to seek significant nine out of ten secondary schools a medical explanation for Gillian’s constant have cut back on staff, facilities or lesson time fidgeting and lack of focus. The doctor, for Creative Arts subjects.