It has been a terrific year for our students in so many ways; thank you for your support in entrusting your loved ones to us. I am hoping that your child is as enthusiastic about his or her education when at home as most of them are when here with us at school. The students are a delight and we we feel privileged to have them with us, and the aim of today’s message is to offer some thoughts on the long vacation ahead.
We all want our children to have a varied, healthy life – and part of that means schooling and a great holiday. We also want them to be well-prepared for the next academic year and not to slip back over the eight weeks. We can combine the two, and the happy message here is that we can distinguish between stimulating their minds and filling them with ‘stuff’. The former is far more important than the latter, especially in the holidays, and in the long term is far better preparation for academic success.
There are several reasons for this. Firstly, it’s better that they return refreshed and ready – perhaps even ever so slightly bored by the holiday – rather than come back to repeat work they already covered to ‘get ahead’; that will damage their schooling and – trust me – likely end up with a shallower appreciation of the ideas.
Secondly, the cognitive machinery of the brain can be engaged in so many ways, and to far better effect than simply filling it up with school work. Outside of term-time, to focus narrowly on academic curriculum matters is to miss the vast opportunities offered by travel, visiting museums, galleries, reading great books, playing games, and simply by talking about things. There is also the opportunity, impossible in term time, for a students to immerse themselves in something they love – whether sports, a hobby, reading – and it’s important that the choice in this is at least partly with them. Perhaps the most important reason, though, is that a forced narrow academic focus may mean our children miss out on an important element of childhood that may not ever be present again in their lives – good stretches of time away from short-term pressures and requirements to just be.
That’s not to say that holidays should be thought-free zones! Far from it; for some, a small amount of review in areas of difficulty can do no harm; and if a student’s passion is for chemistry, for example, then reading broadly and deeply, and discussing with an expert can be wonderful. I fully support this as long as it is enrichment, and not repetition, or cramming. In this respect, there’s also a wonderful new opportunity arising; the ability to sit online courses from Universities around the world. These are specialist courses into possible areas of fascination – sometimes not for the faint hearted, but potentially lighting a fire in a young mind (which, unlike cramming, does not lead to burn-out). If this appeals, check out, for example, How to learn Maths (for Students and for Parents) or dozens of other courses at Coursera or Stanford Online to see some amazing possibilities. These would be terrifically exciting and rewarding ways to stretch the mind over the vacation.
I wish you a simultaneously peaceful and exciting vacation, and look forward to see you and your children again next academic year.
