A Pull Out Choosing your and Keep Feature New School “The Primary Times 2016 Choosing your New School feature – the helping hand in making that all so important choice with with your child’s education”. Starting to look at secondary schools? We give you the lowdown on what to do Applying for secondary school is one of the Head to the Open Day most important decisions you are going to make Nothing beats going to see the school for yourself, so get the most because it’s likely to have a huge impact on your out of your visit with our tips and ideas. child’s future, way beyond the school gates. The grand tour Most open days will feature a pupil led tour. Ask lot of questions and To help you through the process, follow our tips you’ll hear all sorts of interesting things from your friendly guide that for some forward planning and get the most out don’t feature in the prospectus. Talk to as many pupils and parents as of a school open day. you can manage on the tour for maximum feedback. Don’t forget to take in the atmosphere and environment of the school, to get a feel Make a Shortlist of Schools for whether your child would be happy in these surroundings. Firstly, make a shortlist of the schools that your child could attend by Students in action looking at nearby local authority’s websites or visit www.education. As you’re on the school tour, observe the children in school, as they gov.uk. Make sure you check their admission rules carefully to ensure will often be a great indicator of a school’s ethos. You’ll get to see your child is eligible for a place. You also need to be happy that your how children treat each other and how they interact within the child can travel to school easily and that siblings, if relevant, could go classroom and corridors. Are they happy? Do they seem confident to the same school. Once you’re satisfied with your shortlist, it’s time and animated? Are teachers welcoming and friendly, are you getting to do the most important thing of all and visit the schools. the feeling of a warm, open attitude? Follow us on Twitter - @PT_Sussex 5 Sept - 9 Oct ‘16 11 The Head teacher’s talk Buckswood School Don’t miss out on the Head teacher’s talk, usually given at specified Buckswood, often referred to as the ‘Hogwarts of Hastings’, is a very times on open days/evenings. You’ll find out what priorities and British School with a thoroughly international twist. Set on a beautiful emphasis the Head gives to various aspects of their school, and will English country house estate, Buckswood is a thriving community. It’s be able to see if these aspirations match your family’s own. The Head a global village made up of young ladies and gentlemen from over 48 should come across as genuine, inspiring and bursting with pride for different nations where students are nurtured in their development, both school and pupils, as well as being very clear about the school’s valued for their individuality and their successes celebrated. achievements and goals. The school motto is ‘Ad Vitam Paramus’ or ‘we prepare for life’ and Expectations for behaviour this philosophy is finely woven Make sure you query the levels of discipline that are imposed, such into every aspect of school life. as the consequences for late/absent work, unruly behaviour and the Every student is encouraged to uniform code. Feel free to raise serious disciplinary matters such as push themselves and rise up to bullying and how it is handled. The responses should give you a good any challenge that presents itself. indication of what is tolerated at the school. Through practice and exposure to a wide a varied number of Equal opportunities for all real world experiences, both School should bring out the best in every child. If yours requires inside and out of the classroom, additional help in any areas of learning, ask about the support available Buckswood students develop to enable them to reach their potential. Query how students are into well-rounded individuals, monitored to ensure their learning stays on track and they don’t ‘slip with the self-confidence, skills under the radar’ and fall behind their peers. Ask about communication Choosing your New School and qualifications to stride through any door and stand out from the systems that are in place to ensure teachers and parents can work crowd. together to be a constant support to your child. A Buckswood education is built on the notion of giving young people Life outside the classroom a strong academic grounding combined with skills, aptitudes and Essential learning doesn’t just happen in the classroom. Look out for values that contribute to a sense of personal worth and achievement, interesting extra-curricular activity posters on the noticeboards. If a balance so often lost in the modern world. Small class sizes and the your child likes sports but isn’t an ‘A’ team candidate, will they still get school traditions such as the prefect and house systems are designed to participate? If there are after school clubs, check what they are and to enable every child to thrive. They are learners today and leaders when they take place. tomorrow. Just take a look at their results - 100% University entrance, 100% IB pass rate, 93% A Level pass rate, 87% GCSE & iGCSE pass It’s an open day, so keep an open mind rate. Remember this is about your child, not you. Try not to be influenced With a strong track record of academic success and personal by your own educational experience as it may not be relevant. Find development you might think that a private education is out of your out what your child really thinks and don’t hesitate to take advice reach, but not at Buckswood. A generous scholarship and bursary from trusted teachers who you feel know your child best – you may scheme can see fees supplemented by up to 50%. So take a look at be surprised by what they tell you. In the end, trust your instincts, their website today or visit the next open morning on Saturday 8 find the right environment for them to be happy, then sit back and October to find out what the Buckswood Difference could do for watch them flourish. your child. BUCKSWOOD Where every child is given the chance to succeed Some people are alive to texture and surface, other respond to colour, or to 3 dimensional shapes. Some are full of imagination, others commonsensical, some have inborn taste, some have great powers of observation or of memory, others rely on unexplained perception, intuition and instinct. Some are gifted with physical energy and coordination, or a feeling for rhythm, others are expert in the fi elds of personal relationships and emotional harmony. At Buckwsood, we cast the net of opportunity so wide that any talent gets a chance to develop, and to ensure that many of these talents should be just as highly ranked as academic scholarship. For the concept of the average pupil must give way to the concept of an infi nite variety of youngsters heading for an infi nite variety of success”. Adapted from Logie Bruce Lockhart www.buckswood.co.uk [email protected] 01424 813813 The world of opportunity... is closer than you think with a scholarship or bursary. 12 5 Sept - 9 Oct ‘16 Follow us on Twitter - @PT_Sussex Chailey School A Unique Opportunity Chailey School is a thriving community of approximately 700 students Canterbury Cathedral Choir is looking to award substantial from 11 to 16 years of age. The school believes in traditional scholarships to talented boys who would like to join them in values which underpin day-to-day life for pupils. Staff know students September 2017. Auditions, for a long time referred to as Voice Trials, as individuals, their characters and personalities, and have high will be held on 5 November. expectations both in terms of their work and their behaviour. Don’t wait until then though. Any boy who is 7 or 8 years old and Results are how schools tend to be measured and Chailey’s record who enjoys singing can be considered over many years for and the Cathedral organist, David Flood, the attainment and will be delighted to meet and advise them at any convenient time. It is not progress of its students necessary to have had any musical is excellent. The school’s training at all, it’s just potential that Dr pastoral care is widely Flood is keen to see. He will give lots recognised as outstanding of encouragement and help about how - from the transition to prepare for the audition and he can arrangements for new answer any queries and give all sorts of students through to information. He makes sure that all the individualised care music-making in the Cathedral is fun throughout their life at and the life of a chorister is a wonderful school. and unique experience. Whilst Chailey School The choristers, all 25 of them, enjoy Choosing your New School are naturally proud of their achievements, the true measure of their the excellent facilities of St Edmund’s School, Canterbury and receive very success is seeing a school full of happy, confident and independent substantial scholarships from the young people, fully engaged in their characters and personalities. Cathedral. The Cathedral Choir House has recently enjoyed a £2 Staff understand that a rounded school life is not just about the million renovation.