The Compass

So here we are, the end of the first half of term is upon us and how quickly we seem to have arrived at this point. The term has been busy and diverse. As is the case, over the last two weeks we hosted a series of events for the Sixth Form and the school as a whole. We welcomed families familiar with Embley and a host of those for whom this was their first visit. I enjoy these visits very much. I always begin by asking the assembled parents what it is they want for their child? What are they looking for? A question worth digging into a bit.

As a prospective parent, you attend a school event with a purpose - finding the right school for your child. But what does that school look like? Is it similar to the one you attended all those years ago, OK maybe not ‘all those years ago’, but you know what I mean. Do you have fond memories of your school days and want them for your child? Or maybe you have a clear view that you don’t want a repeat of your childhood experience of school and are looking for something different, but what should that look like? Do you have some sense of what your child wants or needs, two very different things although they don’t have to be.
 
It is bewildering and likely to be a combination of all the points I have just tabled. Having gone to school doesn’t make you a school expert and you are now making one of the most important decisions you will make as a parent with few resources and almost certainly no training. Sounds daunting doesn’t it.
 
Driven to it, most parents will say they want their child to be happy, to learn well and leave as a rounded individual. OK, we are making progress. Where do we find a school that does all these things and what should we look for in the school that supports this position? What evidence or clues tell you what a school is about? How do you see beyond the marketing – ‘All that glitters is not gold’?
 
The evidence of academic achievement is fairly easy to find. Every school must have it on their website but what sense should you make of the numbers? ‘Raw’ grades (the A*s or 9s) will tell you what a child achieved but not how they achieved them nor the quality of education the school exercised in getting them to that point. An exclusively academically selective school will see an intake where, with little input, students will achieve incredible results. I have worked in such schools and to be fair, the schools didn’t add much value to candidates who were really driven and selected for their academic ability alone. Little credit that they all got good raw grades.
 
Or do you look to a school where they demonstrate significant improvement in a child’s baseline expectation? This is where the quality of teaching at the school supports and challenges a child to go beyond their expectation, the school adds demonstrable value to those children. The grade they achieve is a direct consequence of the technique the school exercises in their progress. But what of the wider piece about their well-roundedness?
 
Look for the evidence of where attitudes and attributes are promoted and developed, where do they feed into careers education and how tutors use the data from co-curricular activities to form children’s character and skill. Is the co-curricular provision elaborate child minding or orchestrated with purpose and used in the process of formation?
 
We take the view that you don’t have to choose in a binary way between getting the grades and being a well-rounded happy person growing and developing into the best version of yourself.
 
I have written previously about Embley’s mission being to make the world a better place through the formation of children who will go out as ambitious and compassionate individuals with a belief in themselves. We scaffold a set of skills and develop quality of character, the better to form ‘navigators’ equipped with a compass that guides their journey. The terrain they cross through life will vary, the map of their progress they set out with will see them driven off course and onto new courses as the tide and choices of life change. But their compass will always direct their journey and afford them a point of reference in a changing world. This compass captures the Embley pupil profile; the qualities that will underpin a good authentic life and one well lived. 
 
As the vicissitudes of life call for response, Embley’s compass guides children to be open minded, to be risk takers and to be compassionate. They form the capacity to collaborate, lead and create; confident in their knowledge and ability to adapt; and thoughtfully solving problems without abandoning their principles.
 
In a world of change and when we can often be befuddled by choice, what we need is not a map but a way; a compass that informs and directs our journey in a challenging and changing world. At Embley our grade profile puts us in the top 5% of schools nationally, our pupil profile creates that authentic compass that allows children to direct their journey and live their best lives.