Nothing replaces a great teacher: this is the premise which stands behind the recent comments by Dr John Vallance, Head of Sydney Grammar School, that computers in schools are a waste of money and have done nothing to improve grades. Teaching, he says, is about “interaction between people, about discussion, about conversation … If you’re …
Tag: Sydney Grammar School
Feb 10
We have work to do …
I read a potentially rather depressing report recently about a survey of British teenagers post-GCSE (aged around 16), who were looking ahead to their futures and commenting on what was important to them, what they envisaged doing with their lives and what skills they thought they would need. The main takeouts of the survey, as …
Aug 30
Protecting our young people from alcohol-related violence
UPDATED June 2020 – I received an email this week from Rehab 4 Addiction, with a link to their website. While not wishing to endorse the organisation directly, because I can’t speak for exactly what they do, I did think that the wealth of resources on their website was impressive, and – especially in this …
Jul 19
Online or offline – preparing girls to manage social media
At Ascham this past week we held an excellent CyberSafety Forum, led by Susan McLean, well-known for her no-nonsense approach to how we protect children from the dangers on online activity. Her presentation and the subsequent discussion, while looking at all the possibilities for online engagement which lie in wait for young people, had a …
May 25
The academic benefits of team sport
The results of a fascinating US study into 9,700 high-school students aged 14-18 are reported in this week’s Times Educational Supplement in the UK: according to research conducted by academics from the University of South Carolina and Pennsylvania State University, participation in team sports during adolescence makes a “significant and consistent difference to students’ academic grades”. …
Nov 20
Why being in the ‘cool’ group is far from ‘cool’
This week I have been attending the annual Girls’ Schools Association Heads’ conference, which this year is in Liverpool, and – as ever – it has been a great opportunity to reflect on wider issues concerning the education and development of girls. The speakers have been stimulating, and none more so than Professor Carrie Paechter, …
Nov 17
Violent video games DO make teenagers more aggressive
A recent study by researchers at Brock University in Canada, reported in The Telegraph, found that teenagers who play violent video games over an extended period of years do in fact become more aggressive themselves. The longtitudinal study involved 1,492 adolescents from eight High Schools in Ontario, with the participants 14 or 15 at the …
Oct 05
Why teacher-pupil relationships are never right
In the aftermath of the Jeremy Forrest affair – not that there can ever really be an end point, given the huge fractures which have cut across the lives not just of the girl involved and her teachers, but of their respective families and communities – it has been instructive to watch and read how …
May 08
Decoding Your 21st Century Daughter: An Anxious Parent’s Guide To Bringing Up Your Teenage Daughter.
As you may have seen in this Sunday’s Mail on Sunday – (which led to a follow up commentary in Melanie Phillips’ column in Monday’s Daily Mail, and interviews on Radio 5 Live Breakfast and BBC Radio London’s Vanessa Show on Monday, as well as an article in today’s Daily Mirror) – I have written a book …