Download - 2 March 2011
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