‘Can we support the families of Ukraine in some way?’ This was the first matter on the student’s agenda at my weekly meeting with our Heads and Deputy Heads of School on Monday.

It is easier to plug gaps in competence than it is to plug gaps in character. Sixth Form subject teachers are experts in their fields and are highly skilled at imparting the knowledge, understanding and application strategies students need, not just to succeed in exams but also to succeed in life. Integrity, humility, kindness, resilience and generosity are difficult qualities to teach but the Sixth Form Team are adept at engineering situations and opportunities in which students can build these and other essential characteristics.

‘Always remember you matter, you’re important and you are loved, and you bring to this world things no one else can.’ Charlie Mackesey has the knack of conveying deep, profound messages in such simple words and the students are very aware of my affinity to this and other optimistic yet realistic sentiments of his.

Two of our own students, Reni and Ciara, started the year with big ambitions in successfully applying to join the Taking the World Forward Fellowship. They have been handpicked from more than 450 inquisitive, bright young minds from across the world, to identify, brainstorm, and solve some of the biggest challenges of today and tomorrow under the watchful guidance of illustrious Ivy League mentors from Harvard and MIT.

Former Head Girl, Lauren, included many of our Year 12 students in her university research this week. She was looking at whether adolescents have the skills to spot fake and ‘fake-ish' news. Fake news is pervasive and damaging in multiple ways but we are more often confronted with ‘fake-ish' news, i.e. news items that are not intentionally false, but inaccurate, incomplete, and/or oversimplified (e.g. “Red wine is good for you” - which I intend to maintain over the festive period!). Her focus was to investigate how adolescents (16-18yrs) search for evidence on-line to assess the validity of these statements, and link their performance with a number of individual differences measures. She examined whether a short intervention could  improve critical reading of headlines and I await the results of her research. Taking part in this study gave students an opportunity to be involved in university research, which is both useful for their personal statements and CVs . 

Jane Marshall, Independent University Consultant, outlined the overarching features of a successful interview to Y13 this morning in her trademark, highly entertaining style. Thorough preparation, 'name dropping' (authors, researchers, academics, artists, composers etc), 'bigging yourself up' (highlighting academic skills, competencies and talents) as well as checking the logistics of travel means and timings are all essential. Arriving late, stressed and sweaty for such an important meeting should be avoided at all costs!