This term – with grateful thanks to Mrs Howard for her excellent creative thinking! – our assembly theme is Widening Horizons. I kicked the programme off last week in my first assembly on the theme by bringing to the boys’ attention in the Prep a terrible affliction, which some of them sometimes suffer from, poor things. It does not happen all the time, but every now and then one or two boys here find themselves badly affected from a most invasive and debilitating condition easily recognised by teachers and widely known as ‘not-joining-in-itis’. I can tell when someone is not joining in: their eyes glaze over, their heads droop to one side and, a bit like a lost puppy, sometimes their little tongues roll out. There are two sides to this affliction. Usually boys have stopped joining in because they are drifting off and thinking about something rather wonderful (to them) and they are clearly having a lovely time doing so. The trouble is, they are not thinking about nor indeed taking part in the lesson! No one here can make the progress we expect of them if they are not making the most of every moment in every lesson, all the time. Our expectations are very high in this regard. Staying focused, remaining mindful and paying attention to what’s going on is critically important if horizons are to be widened no matter what the lesson, in my opinion.
6Ba’s assembly focussed on the ways in which tech has influenced human development over the millennia – very impressive to round up such a broad topic in such an excellent way in 20 minutes or so!
Mr Ford was much better than me at conveying the subtlety and nuance of our assembly theme this week. He highlighted to the boys how important it is to remain curious, so that they can take responsibility for widening their own horizons. His top tips are:
+ Ask great questions
+ Make connections
+ Explore
+ Be uncomfortable
+ Challenge your own bias
+ Reflect
Do please think of even more ways this term in which you might wish to engage your children in widening their horizons at home, and do also please discuss Mr Ford’s top tips above with your children. There will be plenty more from us on what will likely be a fascinating theme to explore, as the term rolls on.
