Dear Parents,
At the Stephen Perse Foundation we believe that young people are entitled to an education which supports their development as global citizens and encourages them to explore and express their own values and opinions. Casting an eye back over Pre-Prep and Junior School tweets during the last two weeks, it is clear that our pupils are making the most of opportunities designed to help them to think about the interdependent nature of our world, both socially and environmentally. It has been exciting to see them share their love of reading, celebrate different cultures and play an active role in caring for our planet.
World Book Day is marked in over 100 countries and there was hardly a corner of the Foundation which did not feature in the worldwide celebration of books and reading on Thursday 7 March. Classrooms, libraries, meeting rooms, offices and even the kitchens were populated with ‘book characters’ of great variety. It did not take long for it to be obvious that there were a lot of foxes around! Not surprising, of course, as our World Book Day visitors were Zeb Soanes and James Mayhew, author and illustrator of ‘Gaspard the Fox’. Pupils in Years 2-4 across our schools were enchanted to hear Zeb talk about the real Gaspard, an urban fox in London, watch James draw Gaspard (starting with his pointy ears), and meet both Zeb and James at the book signing event in the library. No sooner had Gaspard’s creators left for Dame Bradbury’s than Year 3 pupils and Madame Neely set to work bringing this friendly little fox to life in their French lessons. What fun it was for the children to use their vocabulary to great effect, as their annotated drawings took shape and found their way into corridor displays and twitter. You can read more about World Book Day here.
This magical day emphasised the immense importance of the language and communication section of our learning wheel. Competence as readers and communicators is essential in an interconnected world and we are fortunate to be able to offer a range of modern languages, both within and beyond the curriculum, as well as many opportunities to read for pleasure, individually and with others.
We are lucky to have many cultures and religions represented within our schools. Pupils, parents and staff members are happy to share their languages, beliefs and traditions and this, in turn, engenders a sense of global community. While we openly embrace our differences, we also celebrate our similarities and, in the words of Miss Perez, ‘A smile is the same in all languages’.
In sharing languages and customs we enable our pupils to gain an appreciation of life beyond their classroom, beyond the Stephen Perse Foundation, beyond Cambridge and beyond the UK - building their global perspective. We are delighted that Qingqing has been teaching Mandarin to pupils in clubs and lessons across our schools this term, as well as in the Senior School. This photograph of her with some Pre-Prep pupils is a great example of how readily they learn about another part of the world, embracing its language and culture.
It was lovely too to see Year 2 pupils showcasing their knowledge of religious customs by setting up a Sikh langar in their classroom and making Rakhi bracelets, as well as planting withered bulbs which will ‘regenerate’ next spring. We also enjoyed seeing Reception pupils mark International Women’s Day with cards and tulips.
We encourage our pupils to share everything they know about the world in which they live and to be active learners in finding out more beyond their own geographical boundaries. Through experiences, in and out of school, we try to open the eyes of younger children to diversity and variety. Our wander down Mill Road gave them a sense of global food and culture; in turn it was lovely to see how excited the shopkeepers and stall-holders were to meet the children and talk about their wares. We thank the parents who actively contribute to the global awareness of our pupils by running activities or sharing their own language with us at special times of the year and in everyday conversations.
This week we are re-launching our Global Outlook certificate, which will be awarded to Pre-Prep pupils who have been recognised as making a contribution to the community or demonstrating their thinking about the world around and beyond them. We look forward to congratulating pupils with these certificates in the coming weeks!
Junior School pupils’ engagement in ‘It’s Our World’, their 2019 integrated learning project, has surpassed our expectations. We expected them to be interested in the planned activities but, from the launch of the project on 11 March to its close with the ‘Panel of Experts’ on 18 March, it became clear that they are increasingly confident about asking questions, challenging existing practices and seeking answers. They care about their planet and are very keen to solve problems and act as well informed, responsible citizens. Click here to read about our visiting speakers and panel of experts.
Happily, our unpacking of the Thinking Toolkit, coupled with the work done last term on how to be Future Innovators, Changemakers and Leaders etc, has equipped our pupils to approach global concerns with confidence. They have shown themselves to be open to fresh ideas and willing to celebrate small successes. They threw themselves into all that the project offered, from quizzing visiting speakers and tackling challenge type activities at the Eco-Classroom to designing playground games to raise funds for Toilet Twinning and participating in eco-awareness walks and visits. Click here to read about the year group activities.
Computational and critical thinking skills have proved invaluable to our pupils as they have wrestled with how to find ways of making a difference as global citizens. Time and again, they have discovered that small changes of behaviour at a local level can make a difference. This was particularly true during the eco-awareness walks and visits. We often say ‘Cambridge is our campus’ and never was that truer than last Wednesday when Years 3-6, accompanied by 22 members of staff, deserted the Junior School and made their way, questions in hand, to six University Colleges and the Judge Business School. This was a real highlight of the project and we are immensely grateful to the staff and student members of these establishments for welcoming us and allowing to ask quite searching questions about the sustainable and eco-friendly measures they have implemented. Click here to read about these visits.
We are excited to watch our pupils continue to grow as global citizens and look forward to the Foundation’s Festival of Learning in July when they will have more opportunities to voice their opinions and act in accordance with their sense of what needs to be done.
Best wishes,
Katie Milne
Head of Pre-Prep and Junior School
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