Head's Blog: Food For Thought
Dear Parents,
It has been an excellent start to the term and I am so pleased to see the new Pre-Prep play area in full use. I do believe that the Handcross Park Pre-Prep must be the best setting in the county, with the walled garden, Forest School, inspirational classrooms and now the new outdoor space – wow! I also know that the Prep pupils have really enjoyed the new Science Lab: a hands-on approach to Science as well as being full of amazing animals like the veiled chameleon called Sir Gerald Bruminster the Third!
During my first assembly of the term, I felt strongly that the children should be thinking ‘outside the box’, as their senior school interviews usually involve some questions that require a little thought. So I have introduced the Oxbridge Cup – as you know, the interviews for Oxford and Cambridge applicants are notoriously difficult, e.g. ‘If you could save either the rainforests or the coral reefs, which would you choose?’ or ‘If you could invent a new musical instrument, what kind of sound would it make?’ or‘Is someone who risks their own life in extreme sports or endurance activities a hero or a fool?’ Anyway, we started with the question, "If you were Prime Minister for a day, what would you do?" I had lots of answers on my desk from, ‘reversing Brexit, starting the weekend on a Friday, giving children the vote, making things right if people are sad, banning video games, getting rid of regional governments’. The runner-up this week was Mia White (Year 8) with the creation of a ‘National People Day’ when wealthy countries would raise money for charity. The winner was Louis Moseley Davis(Year 3) who wanted to ban guns (in America) – well done!
The questions this week are twofold:
1. Is it more important to focus on poverty at home or abroad – why?
2. You have a 3 litre jug and a 5 litre jug – make 4 litres.
This is all a bit of fun for the pupils (plus a bar of chocolate for the winner and runner-up!) but it will also allow them to explore different ways of thinking and also to be aware of different points of view.
