The Chronicle, No. 668, September 2015

2 ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE

Word from theWarden teachers to have meaningful, productive conversations. There are many strands to a successful coaching strategy, but there is one essential ingredient: time. Creating enough space to allow pupils to reflect on what and how they are learning, and to allow teachers to guide them according to their individual needs, is the impetus behind the new timetable.

One of the joys of working in a school is the sense of renewal at the start of each academic year. We all return from our summer holidays refreshed and ready to tackle the great business of education once more – teachers and pupils alike. The new term sees further steps in our ongoing programme of development in the academic life of the School, not least in the form of the new structure to our day. The Shell Curriculum was introduced two years ago, providing a refreshing alternative to a top-down, syllabus-led approach. Focusing on five key skills – research, communication, thinking, collaboration and organisation – the curriculum is designed to teach the aptitudes necessary for successful study; the emphasis is on learning, not teaching. A new focus on effective coaching – as you will read in the article on P10 – requires pupils and

for community cohesion and for developing leadership skills in older pupils. The timetable is printed in full on the inside back cover for reference. Elsewhere, there is much to celebrate from the exam season. We are awaiting final details of re-marks and some university destinations – particularly from pupils who applied overseas – but results and university destinations confirmed so far are truly impressive, as you will read in Matthew Albrighton’s report opposite. We are immensely proud of our pupils’ achievements and wish those busy preparing for their university courses every success. This new Chronicle is a great way to launch the academic year and an excellent start to what promises to be another outstanding and busy term at Teddies. Stephen Jones

The headline change to the shape of the day, therefore, is that lessons have been extended from 40 to 55 minutes – time to become fully-immersed in the subject, and time for reflection and discussion. Other changes include earlier prep twice a week (three times a week for the Shells) to avoid pupils working too late into the night and staggered games slots to allow a better spread of elite coaching, and to enable Sixth Form pupils to coach younger years – good

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Teddies TV Tune in for a last blast of summer – watch our Gaudy Week film, Summer at Teddies , and revisit the uplifting Readers Make Leaders film made by our enterprising pupil media unit, Teddies on Camera (TOC). Keep an eye on the website and E News for details of new films by Teddies TV and TOC as they appear. www.stedwardsoxford.org