Weve gone to this retro-traditional view of education where coursework is out because Conservative education ministers dont trust teachers, and its now gone back to heavily cliffedge assessment. considers the national curriculum and associated qualification regime to be prescriptive, dull, narrow and inadequate, and points to the. If the government were to follow his lead, he says, we could still prevent a grading disaster next year . Samirah "Sam" al-Abbas is Magnus Chase's Valkyrie and the Muslim demigod daughter of Loki. By Magnus Bashaarat, Head of Bedales In a recent article by Haroon Siddique in The Guardian, Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner expressed concern that Tory education reforms are putting state school pupils at a disadvantage compared to those educated in independent schools. StickyAdvice,International,Advice,Prep,Senior,Advice, StickyLifestyle,Lifestyle,Lifestyle,Lifestyle, StickySEN,Prep,Pre-Prep,SEN,Advice,SEN,Senior,Advice,Advice, StickyInsight,Prep,SEN,Pre-Prep,SEN,Insight, Insight,Pre-Prep,Insight,Prep,Senior,Insight. Bedales has been innovating with its own wider range of assessments since 2006 when it introduced Bedales Assessed Courses. Whilst assessment is important it should not mean an exclusive reliance on terminal exams. Reputation management expert reveals why it doesn't just happen to 'This is the most ridiculous thing I've seen!' Credible vocational routes are as important at GCSE as they are later. Private schools have been so far restrained in their criticism of the motion, choosing to focus on the work they do to justify their charitable status through offering bursaries to poorer pupils and collaborating with state schools. He has also worked at Stowe as Deputy Head, Eton as a Housemaster and Sherbourne as a Teacher of English and Drama. Here at William Clarence, we haveunparalleledexperience supporting students and their familiesfrom all over the worldin their independent school applications, and helping students achieve their desired placement. After a one-year teaching sabbatical at Sydney Grammar School he returned to Eton to become a Housemaster before moving to Stowe School as Deputy Head in 2009 and then Milton Abbey School as Headmaster, in January 2014. Last week the Governor's accepted Magnus' resignation after he spent time reflecting over the summer. Writing in The Times, he said he liked the idea of a national education system without the dichotomy between state and independent schools but that the UK had an awfully long way to go before it was ready to integrate the two systems without sacrificing everything good that we do. This website uses cookies to improve user experience. 'Mr Bashaarat is highly experienced and joins us having been Headmaster of Milton Abbey School and, most recently, Bedales. The subjects are diverse science students might want to act or draw; alternatively they may want to deepen their major disciplinary interest through an extended project. The course has been developed in collaboration with senior figures in business and was launched partly in response to comments from the industry that university graduates were not fully prepared for the workplace. GU32 2DG, Reception The best seat in the house! She became a Valkyrie, a chooser of the slain, at fourteen when she saved her school from an attacking frost giant. Magnus is enthusiastic about some of the possibilities revealed by schools migration to online learning for example the shared real-time editing of written work using SharePoint. Sara can see across the Bekaa Valley to the mountains, beyond which is Syria and the distant memories of the old life they had, Sara is keen to leave the tent, which leaks water from the roof when it rains and in the freezing cold winter months the snow drifts in. We encourage our staff and students to be enterprising in all they do and we maintain close ties with regional employers. School should be a preparation for life, rather than a job, Mr Bashaarat insisted. education secretaries Damian Hinds, Baroness Morris and Lord Blunkett. T: 01730 300100 By Magnus Bashaarat, Head of Bedales On Monday evening, historian Tim Bouverie came to Bedales for our second 'real live' Civics of the term. At least now within our own school campus, re-imagined as a self-governed city state, we have the opportunity to return to that sacred exchange of teaching and learning that seeks to link 'head, hand and heart.' By Magnus Bashaarat, Head of Bedales The full Bedales response to the Pearson consultation can be read here. He MUST seize it, starting with the Budget, writes ANDREW NEIL. Whatever government decides to do next will require energy, and it would be a waste to expend that energy on heading back to where we were a place that fewer and fewer people were happy being. Bedales is the first school to be recognised by UCAS as offering its own GCSE-replacement qualification. They laugh together and have forgotten about their struggle for now, At 11 years old, Sara could never have imagined becoming a refugee. We are currently looking at precisely these issues as we seek to expand our Benenden Diploma, our highly successful curriculum for pupils in Year 7 and 8. GCSEs have passed their sell-by-date. After a year when he worked in newspapers (the Observer and The London Evening Standard) he completed a PGCE in English and Drama at King's College, London, and then started his teaching career at Sherborne School in 1992. Magnus concludes: As we consider a world no longer dominated by the threat of COVID, we must aim higher than simply returning to what we knew. By using our website, you consent to all cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy. We must recognise that it is possible to design a creative and challenging programme for young people around the current exams. I think theyre terribly past their sell-by-date.. Magnus Bashaarat told i that retro-traditional GCSEs were terribly past their sell-by-date. 894646. Magnus Bashaarat 20 August 2020 2:00pm . UK Registered Company, Reg. Bedales is the first school to be recognised by UCAS as offering its own GCSE-replacement qualification. Established in 1893, Bedales was Read more . E: admin@bedales.org.uk, Accessibility | Terms & Conditions | Sitemap | Cookies Policy | Privacy | Contact Us, Bedales Schools | Website Design by Oyster. Ultimately, government must trust teachers with the business of education.. It really is the moment to rethink assessment and overhaul the outdated national curriculum.. Hampshire Learn more about how many nights of the week students stay at the school, and what happens during the weekends if students dont go home. In most senior schools, pupils of this age will have many unrelated lessons across a week, where the content within each subject is not linked to other subjects. 'Our students are naturally ambitious and competitive, and build strong relationships with each other and their teachers based on mutual respect; everyone, staff and students, is on first name terms. This needs to be supported by a rigorous enrichment programme which is explicitly delivered in a way that nurtures soft skills. E: admin@bedales.org.uk, Accessibility | Terms & Conditions | Sitemap | Cookies Policy | Privacy | Contact Us, Bedales Schools | Website Design by Oyster. The head of a private school has said he would rather close down than see it become part of the state system. In an article for The Week Independent Schools Guide (Autumn/Winter 2021), Head of Bedales Magnus Bashaarat discusses educating in the time of COVID and his conviction that face-to-face contact between teachers and students is crucial, and makes the case for assessment reform. The problem is that secondary level education has failed to keep pace with the vision and ambition of universities such as these. He concludes: This year has taught us that many students have fared better when the high-stakes terminal assessments have been replaced by evidence of achievement spread over a much longer time. Appointed August 2021 Committee Finance and Resources Bedales comprises three schools situated near Petersfield, Hampshire: Bedales Pre prep, Dunannie (ages 3-8); Bedales Prep, Dunhurst (ages 8-13); and Bedales itself (ages 13-18). number: 07222273 At last months party conference, Labour voted to scrap private schools, redistribute their assets among state schools and end their charitable status and tax privileges. I can understand why some commentators are advocating the abolition of GCSEs but I feel their focus is misplaced. Magnus explains that the school considers the national curriculum and associated qualification regime to be prescriptive, dull, narrow and inadequate, and points to the growing dissatisfaction with GCSEs, increasingly considered redundant given the raising of the school leaving age to 18, and governments fixation with exams. I support the ongoing reforms: the overriding effort to further raise standards is a laudable one. The school,founded in 1893, advertises itself as being 'different' from the schools of its time. Magnus Bashaarat, headmaster, Bedales School Alistair McConville, director of learning and innovation, Bedales School Will Goldsmith, director of teaching and learning, Latymer Upper School, London Dame Alison Peacock, chief executive, Chartered College of Teaching Leanne Forde-Nassey, headteacher, The Key Education Centre, Gosport and Havant GU32 2DG, Reception Steep As a country, the challenge is to ensure appropriate vocational routes have equal respect from employers and higher education providers so that the large percentage of 16-year-olds for whom the new GCSEs are still inappropriate or too difficult have something worthwhile to show for their time in school. He said: Were I to be given the ultimatum, tomorrow, that Bedales be made a state school, and that it should follow the national curriculum and policymakers preoccupations with the transfer of knowledge and disregard for humanities and the arts, I would decline. . A large number of students change school at 16, and to proceed without any qualifications would not be helpful for the next establishment they enter, whether this is a school, a Sixth Form college or a further education college. Bedales Senior, Pupils at Bedales Prep, Dunhurst took part in the Royal Society for the, The Spring term may have only started a few weeks ago, but children at Bedales, In a piece published by School Management Plus, Head of Bedales Will Goldsmith, U10/U11 Girls' Hockey v Ripley Court (A), U13 Basketball v Frensham and St Edmunds (H), Bedales Head Magnus Basharaat has responded to a major consultation conducted by exam board Pearson . 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