Whole Person Whole Point

The Whole Person is the Whole Point when it comes to Boarding Schools.

I have recently set up a seminar season in my Boarding House with the idea of helping the boys to develop the 'well rounded' idea that so many schools strive for.

The parents have offered their expertise and (most importantly) their time, to come in and hosy hour long seminar sessions.

I have had a GSK coaching course, we have a seminar on 'the cult of the brand' and 'how to brand yourself' and the boys can attend top level sessions without even having to take off their slippers!


The second new initiative that I have brought in is the 6th Form Diploma. In an area where there are a good number of top 6th Form Colleges, it has been more important than ever for the boarding school to illustrate the extras. This goes back to the 3 Rs of the first blog entry but we also looked at trying to make the 'extras' more tangible. So that is when the 6th Form diploma was invented.

This is co-run by myself and the matrons (a huge positive to any boarding House and invaluable in every facet of pastoral and boarding life) and the boys have to complete criteria. Once the criteria has been done, it is signed off and the final diploma is awarded once all criteria have been achieved.

The tasks include:

  • ironing
  • sewing
  • c.v. writing
  • academic article writing
  • cooking (3 levels from eggs to full meals for a year group in House)
  • attending seminar sessions
  • etc
The initial take up has been excellent and the first boy that cooked for his entire year group has really helped to drive this idea on. The c.v. writing will also be helped by another parental seminar course on this exact skill. We will also be running professional interview practice sessions as well as part of the seminar season.

In short, this has been a huge drive towards the whole person whole point idea but will parents working as part of the system as well as being the main target of the overall result. I will update as the sessions progress and the blog will also have some pupil inputs of overviews and feedback from the sessions and seminars.



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