2 March 2011

Parents’ Forum

Welcome• Mr Patrick Lee-Browne Headmaster• Ms Kathy Baines Director of Finance• Mr Tim Cashell Deputy Head• Mr Julian Noad Deputy Head

(Academic)• Mrs Alison Hind Deputy Head of Prep

School

Parents’ Forum

• Welcome• Finance• Development proposals

– Whole School– Prep School– Senior School Curriculum– Extra-curriculum and Pastoral

• Refreshments and Questions

Finance - a strong financial position

• Buildings - worth over £30 million• Only £550,000 bank loan & £1

million bank overdraft facility• Currently net cash in the bank circa

£1 million• Full support of our bank

Finance - short term profitability issue

• Annual accounts• Charitable status• Short term issue - reduced pupil

numbers so reduced income• Financial loss in Academic Year

2010-11

Finance - what are we doing?

• Reducing costs to match the reduced income

• Planned programme of redundancies and cost savings

• Proactive approach

Finance - a strong financial future

• Time• Forecast loss for this year

significantly reduced• Small loss Academic Year 2011-12• Surplus Academic Year 2012-13• Strong financial foundations for the

future of Rydal Penrhos School

The whole school• Development of identity as one school 3 -18• Day numbers have remained largely constant• Boarding numbers: have fluctuated. • Offering an education for the spectrum of

academic ability• Best results for ten years• Two choices at Sixth form• Core values: driving academic performance,

all-round education, sense of community

We are aiming for a schoolWhere…

It only goes quiet at lights outThe choir sings once a week, not once a termTaking part is all very well, but achievement matters moreMaking do won’t doTo contribute outside the classroom is taken for grantedParents are part of the picture, not outside the frameEveryone wants to be, all of the time

We are aiming for a schoolWhich…

Takes advantage of its amazing locationLives its founding traditionTurns children into aware, considerate, articulate young adultsGets its pupils into the best universitiesEngenders a real sense of passion in its pupils Competes and wins

The Prep school - the way ahead

Constant Improvement

Development ideas:• Meeting Individual Needs• Developing the Whole Child• Forest School – Taking Learning Outdoors

Meeting individual needs

• Planning for and evaluating learning• Assessment and tracking

The Prep school - Music

• To develop further fine voices• To develop further practical musicianship and

performance• To review music in the Foundation Phase

Development Goals

The Lyndon Library

• To create an environment that:

– Supports children’s reading– Encourages children to cross the threshold

• To renew the library stock

This year’s objectives

Forest School

Forest School focuses on providing a safe, outdoor environment where children and young people are freely allowed to explore, discover, take suitable risks and learn in a secure area of woodland, which acts as an outdoor classroom.

Forest School

• Increased self-esteem • Increased self-confidence• Team work• Motivation• Skills and knowledge• Pride in, and understanding of, their local surroundings

‘Offers an alternative to our over-reliance on digital and electronic sources for

recreation, learning, socialising’

We

Senior School CurriculumBackground• 18 months observation and discussion• Estyn inspection report• Strategic Review• Parent Forums• Annual process of re-evaluation• Improved academic performance is at

the heart of curriculum changes• Good, but want to be better…

Strategic Review & Parent ForumRecommendations to:• Review weekly routine and timetable to ensure proper

balance of academic/extra-curricular programmes and sufficient teaching time to ensure best possible results.

• Reduce the divisions between levels of the school• Increase quantity and quality of data gathering• Encourage a more holistic approach to teaching in the

school• Develop integrated whole school curriculum, with

languages policy review a priority• Reduce number of different subjects in Years 7 & 8• Increase teaching time for GCSE pupils: reduce

number of GCSEs

Strategic Review & Parent ForumA balance:

driving academic performance vs ensuring an all-round education

‘Bring out the best whatever their strengths and abilities’

‘Not an academic hothouse’

‘The School will get the best from anyone’

Curriculum PolicyCurriculum Policy is available on our website: www.RydalPenrhos.com

Curriculum SummaryCurriculum Summary is available on our website: www.RydalPenrhos.com

Curriculum 2011 proposalsChange weekly routine

a. Distinguish between academic and extra-curricular:• Academic curriculum

» Classroom-taught academic lessons• Extra-curriculum

» Tutor meetings» Enrichment» Games» Clubs and societies

b. More academic lessons in the prime morning time (25 vs 18)

Curriculum 2011 proposalsLanguagesFeedback from parents of pupils in Year 7 indicates that

programme of 18 different subjects, is probably too broad, particularly in the area of languages, so we are revising the curriculum to provide better coherence and connection with the curriculum in the Prep school

Welsh is taught in the Prep School. Welsh and Welsh Culture will be addressed in accordance with Cwricwlwm Cymraeg, in all of school life. As an academic subject, Welsh continues to be offered in the Senior School extra curriculum for general interest or pursuit of qualifications

Latin will no longer within the academic curriculum but opportunities to study Classics will exist in the extra-curriculum for Years 9 and above

Curriculum 2011 proposalsMusicIntention to develop further music in the extra-curriculumLow historical take up at Sixth FormGCSE options reduced, fewer would choose as one of top

twoMusic remains at the heart of Rydal Penrhos; its value

cannot be over-estimatedDelivery in the academic curriculum is not the only or

best way of developing musicianship or musical appreciation.

Music will be taught as an academic subject to Year 7 only

Curriculum 2011 proposalsICT• is best delivered in context, through other

subject areas• should be utilised to support the curriculum,

used whenever appropriate in all teaching at Rydal Penrhos.

• will earn a qualification in Year 9

Curriculum 2011 proposalsYears 7 – 9 will focus on preparation and bridging the gap; Prep school to GCSEs.

• Simplified Year 7 (18 different subjects reduced to 14)

• Core of Maths, English, and Humanities (inc. RS)• Creative and Practical subjects in Years 7 – 9 as

carousels to give opportunities for all• Science at Year 7 becomes specialist-taught

Physics/Chemistry/Biology in Year 8 and above• Languages: French only in Year 7; German

introduced in Year 8; and Choice (French/German) in Year 9

• Latin and Welsh in extra curriculum

Curriculum 2011 proposals

GCSE• Fewer subjects studied in total

– 11 becomes 10*– 3 options rather than 4

• More time allocated to subjects– Each option receives 33% increased teaching time– Mathematics teaching time increased by 25%

– core curriculum of 8 GCSEs plus ECDL

– extension delivers 10+ GCSEs plus ECDL

– top universities want only 7 A/A* GCSEs

Curriculum 2011 proposals

SIXTH FORM• Two different academic curriculums offered:

IB and A-level • Both give opportunity to work independently

as they prepare for university and beyond.

Curriculum 2011 proposalsA-LEVELA-level options will be reduced from 5 blocks to

4.• Some restriction of choice• Benefit up to 33% increased contact time

Each option subject receives one extra ‘plus one’ lesson.

• ‘plus one’ is a lesson for reinforcement or extension

Curriculum 2011 proposalsA-LEVEL • ‘Enrichment’ block for non-examined or

broadening subjects is an opportunity to do something ‘extra’:– An extra qualification? GCSE Geology/Astronomy– An interest? Politics/Law– A new skill? A new foreign language?– A space for other study? EFL/Rugby

Academy/Extended Project?

Curriculum 2011 proposalsA-LEVEL• Drama and ICT offered to AS-level only• Modern Foreign Language study at Sixth

Form will appear only in the IB programme.

Curriculum 2011 proposals

Summary• A Whole School curriculum, with a coherent

languages policy• Quality preferred to quantity• Other options in the extra curriculum (e.g.

Welsh, Classics, Music)• Sixth form choice (IB or A-level) and

increased teaching time• Academic focus to mornings

Extra Curriculum and Pastoral

A draft Weekly Routine proposal for 2011 is also on our website: www.RydalPenrhos.com

Extra Curriculum• Building on strong foundation and tradition• But….throughput and range?• Clubs and societies• Academic lessons in morning, reduced

lunchtime• Improved blocks of time to deliver extra-

curriculum• Involving all teachers’ expertise in extra-

curriculum• Blurring the end of the day : ‘24 hours a day

school’• Aligning experience: boarders and day• Continued weekend activities development

Pastoral• Review ongoing

Academic monitoring – systems and personnel Pupil welfare – school counsellor, wellbeing centre Boarding – numbers, fabric, academic house tutors, weekend

programme

• Single point of contact based on vertical, competitive houses

• Vertical boarding houses• House Bases

The Way Forward

The extra curriculum is:

‘not just Sport, Music and Drama but Sport, Music, Drama, Outdoor Education, Trips, Community involvement, Chess……….. inclusivity, enthusiasm and excellence’

Refreshments and Questions

2 March 2011

Parents’ Forum