Blog posts for ‘Extra curricular’ 
-
Should children do homework in the Christmas holidays?
Monday 19 December 2011
Categories: Education, Extra curricular, Family Relationships, Homework
I’m actually a big fan of homework. I think the school-related work children do at home can be important consolidation or extension of what they have learnt at school. Time spent reviewing work at home can provide the valuable opportunity for reflection and reinforcement. Sometimes if your child’s interest is sparked by something at school, they can find the space to do further reading and research in their own time, including on the internet, which can extend their learning and...
-
Seeking role models for women's sport
Wednesday 14 December 2011
Categories: Extra curricular, Health, Media Influence, Role Models
I am encouraged by the recent press coverage in response to the BBC Sports Personality shortlist, particularly concerning the responsibility the media have for raising the profile of women’s sport.
Last week I turned to the section in a Sunday newspaper laughingly entitled sport. Of the 20 pages dedicated to sport I found no mention of women other than an article in which an American skier in her twenties had accompanied a much younger skier to his high school dance. The point? ...
-
Help - I've got homework!
Wednesday 7 December 2011
Categories: Education, Extra curricular, Family Relationships, Homework
Homework is a bit like riding a bike. You have to practice to get it right but, once you’ve mastered the skill, you never forget how to do it.
Like it or not, homework is part of school life – or should be. Yes, the teaching day ends around mid afternoon and young people need downtime to re-charge their batteries. No, that does not mean lessons should be forgotten until class the following day.
Why? Because children need to get into the habit of thinking for themselves and doing...
-
One sports day a year simply isn't enough!
Thursday 7 July 2011
Categories: Education, Extra curricular, Health
Sports days are as much a part of summer as barbecues and beaching. There is a quintessentially British feel about pupils competing against each other in a variety of sporting challenges whilst relatives watch beside the track, making polite conversation and cheering their support (while sometimes dodging the rain showers).
Parents naturally want their child to win but, as the old adage goes, it’s the taking part that counts. Young people have different talents and whilst some have...
-
Are you a 'serenity parent' or a 'tiger mother'?
Wednesday 25 May 2011
Categories: Education, Extra curricular, Parenting
Dr Bryan Caplan, childcare expert, has apparently decreed that it is a waste of time for parents to over-fill their children’s lives with out of school activities in an attempt to ensure the future success of their offspring. He advocates ‘serenity parenting’, set against the efforts of the ‘tiger mother’ who is pushy and overambitious and whose children are over-committed.
Over a thirty year career, the last ten as a Head, I think I may have encountered parents at all points...
-
Encourage curiosity and watch your children grow
Thursday 17 March 2011
Categories: Education, Extra curricular
Put culture and young children in the same sentence and there will be some who respond with ‘there’s plenty of time for that’. That’s because there’s a tendency to view culture as something serious, worthy and perhaps a little heavy-going – in short not the sort of entertainment that the average primary school child is likely to appreciate.
Culture, though, is about far more than going to the theatre to watch a three hour Shakespeare play, sitting through a ballet or visiting...
-
The importance of music and 'Glee' in schools!
Monday 24 January 2011
Categories: Education, Extra curricular, Role Models
The amazing popularity of the American hit series ‘Glee’ suggests one thing above all – that school music these days can be a far cry from the sometimes painful and often uninspiring lessons of days gone by. Despite the highly unlikely (and definitely lightweight!) plot, Glee showcases vibrant, get-up-and-dance musical numbers which are actually really good, and proof that choral work is much more than Bach and Vivaldi – not that one should underestimate the modern pulling power of...
-
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
Wednesday 5 January 2011
Categories: Extra curricular, Health, Parenting, Personal Safety
In a recent mumsnet survey about pressures on children today, 78% of respondents expressed their concern that children today don’t play outside enough. We all recognise the value of fresh air and exercise, so what do parents do if they see their children spending a vast amount of their leisure time virtually immobile in front of a television, computer screen or games console?
Think about the recent snow, and whether you encouraged your children to take advantage of the opportunity to...
-
Has Education UK lost its way?
Friday 19 November 2010
Categories: Education, Extra curricular, Higher Education, Media Influence, Teenagers
There seems to me to have been a national shift over recent years to a perceived emphasis on examinations rather than education; on structures rather than students; inspection rather than inspiration; on specifications rather than scholarship; compliance rather than common sense; and testing rather than teaching. The result at a national level has been a distortion of purpose and outcomes.
This is not the fault of schools, but of previous Government initiatives. While the new Government...
-
Young people need adventure as well as exam results!
Monday 20 September 2010
Categories: Education, Extra curricular, Letting go, Personal Safety
Education isn’t just about academic achievement. Of course it is important but, in an increasingly competitive world, it is often the other aspects of a young person’s CV that will set them apart and give them extra appeal – either as a potential employee or as a student.
Every pupil has to study the three Rs at school but not everyone chooses to engage in extra curricula activities like learning to play an instrument, taking to the stage, being part of a sports team or doing the...
-
Categories
- Careers (13)
- Drugs and Alcohol (3)
- Education (62)
- Extra curricular (11)
- Family Relationships (21)
- Growing up (20)
- Health (13)
- Higher Education (6)
- Homework (6)
- Letting go (5)
- Literacy (1)
- Media Influence (33)
- Parenting (33)
- Personal Safety (10)
- Role Models (25)
- Self-esteem (9)
- Sexual Relationships (5)
- Technology & the Internet (7)
- Teenagers (17)