IAPS Autumn News

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A round-up of the latest news from the Independent Association of Prep Schools, including new research, conference, sporting events and a brand-new website.

Male teachers flock to prep schools
New research into the value of a prep education has revealed some surprising results.  The research, conducted by IAPS and the Independent Schools Council (ISC), found that 29% of teaching hours in prep schools are worked by men, compared with just 12% at maintained primary schools.

David Hanson, Chief Executive of IAPS believes this is great news.  He says: ‘The Department of Schools recently published the results of its national tests, which show boys in state education are falling behind their female classmates in areas such as literacy and numeracy.  Diana Johnson, the Schools Minister, has pinned her hopes on schemes to encourage boys to read more, but it seems prep schools already have their own secret weapon – a higher proportion of male teachers.’

‘When the teaching workforce becomes dominated by one gender, as it has done in the state sector, there is potential for a problem.  It’s important to recognise that male teachers can be great role models for children, especially boys.  They demonstrate that learning is an acceptable masculine activity.’

So why do male teachers flock to the independent sector?  Hanson suggests a few incentives: ‘Our schools are fantastic places to work for both male and female teachers, but I would suggest that men in particular are attracted to the sector by the chance to work as a specialist in a particular subject.  It’s common for a prep school teacher to say they teach history or maths, rather than in the maintained sector where they would be a general class teacher.’

For more details, or to download the full report, visit the news section of the IAPS website: www.iaps.org.uk

Conference 2009
The importance of strong leadership, the future of private education worldwide and sustainable education are just a few of the topics Heads will be meeting to discuss at this year’s Annual IAPS Conference.

The event will take place in late September and offers Heads an invaluable opportunity to meet and discuss common issues, before returning to school motivated and full of fresh ideas.

New website gets IAPS all of a twitter
Exciting new developments are taking place at IAPS headquarters, as the Association’s website gets set for an overhaul.

The current website has been in place for a number of years, and although it provides functional information for parents or prospective parents, the content and design is in need of a refresh.

Look out in early 2010 for a brand-new site that will really promote prep education and deliver up-to-date news and information to parents.  If you have any comments about the current website, please feel free to email IAPS Press and Communications Officer Lucy Rose at ljr@iaps.org.uk

In the meantime, if you have a twitter account, you can access regular updates from IAPS.  Follow us on
www.twitter.com/iapscomms

Schools that pupils love to attend
The old adage of schooldays being the best of your lives looks like it might be true, according to the opinions of pupils at IAPS prep schools.  In a recent survey, 92% of pupils rated their school as excellent, very good or good.

Smaller schools and class sizes, low pupil:teacher ratios, more specialist teaching and a varied and exciting curriculum seem to please our children.  What’s more, 88% of pupils thought the behaviour of their classmates was good all, or most, of the time.

IAPS Tournaments & Activities
IAPS organises a comprehensive programme of activities, fixtures and tournaments throughout the year for prep school children.

IAPS Squash Tournament
The 41st Tournament was held at Martlesham Heath Sports Club, near Ipswich, Suffolk.  There were boys and girls from 21 schools, with 79 competitors overall.  There was no girls’ tournament this year.  HSBC Insurance Services again sponsored the competition.  The overall number of competitors was down on last year; there were fewer in the Open competition but there was an increase in numbers in the Under 11 competition.  Prizes were given away by Nick Yelland, the Chairman of the IAPS Sports Committee.
During the four days over 600 matches were played and the competitors played 7 or 8 matches, depending on the age group, in a ‘Round Robin’ tournament, before the more successful qualified for the knock-out stages of the competitions.  Next year we are hoping to introduce a plate competition in the Doubles, Open and Under 11 sections, to be run concurrently with the knock-out stages of the tournament.  The overall standard in the group stages was quite high, as the emphasis in many schools is to bring children to experience two busy days of squash.  In the knock-out stages of the tournament there were some excellent quality matches in all the sections.  There were county and nationally ranked players participating and this ensured that the knock-out stages in particular were blessed with some high standard matches.  Next year’s tournament will again be held at Martlesham Squash Club from March 29th – April 1st.

This year’s winners were:- Girls’ Singles Competition for the Gent Cup: No competition held this year.  Under 11 Singles for the Holmwoods Cup: 1st, Robbie Keefe (Stroud School); 2nd, Peter Berkley (Dorset House); 3rd, Jamie Telford (St Peter’s).  Senior Singles for the Hill Cup:
1st, Lyell Fuller (Wycliffe Prep); 2nd, Alex Noakes (Ashfold); 3rd, Kyran Young (Wycliffe Prep).  Schools’ Doubles for the Chafyn Grove Cup: 1st, Wycliffe Prep; 2nd, St. Peter’s; 3rd, Holmewood House, Kent.

Steven Hallam, Chairman, IAPS Squash Committee

IAPS Golf Championship 2009
Friday June 5th was the date and once again the venue for the IAPS golf championship was Royal Lytham & St Annes.  The competition as usual was played over two rounds on the 9-hole course to a Stableford format, with three points for a par, so that two shots over par could still earn a point.

Charlie Coleman from Shrewsbury House was the proud winner of the Royal Lytham Trophy, with a score of 52 points, which matched 2007’s record score and was two points better than the runner-up Joshua Fletcher from Millfield.  Joshua Davenport from King Henry VIII was third with 48 points, which was a remarkable achievement for an under 10 year old and also won him the top prize in his age group.  Helen Stickler from St John’s-on-the-Hill was the winner of the Girl’s Trophy, returning a score of 47 points, which was a record score for a girl and put her fourth overall.  She is still eligible to return in 2010 to attempt to beat her own record.

The event was attended by 90 children (which is now the limit for this competition) from 28 schools and supported by parents and teachers, some of whom acted as scorers for the 30 matches that were played throughout the day. For the third consecutive year, the Top Team Trophy went to Millfield and the Under-12 Team Trophy winners were Warwick.  For the fourth consecutive year, the Girl Team Trophy went to Cranleigh.  The Under-12 age group was won by Harry Hall from Millfield and the Under-11 age group was won by Tom Robinson from Bromsgrove. There were also prizes awarded in the Under-14 and Under-13 age categories.

This championship dates from 1992 and so this was its 18th year.  It was the brainchild of Paddy Molloy, who had been organising it since its inception and who sadly called it a day after the 2007 tournament.  However, he bequeathed a trophy to be given each year to the youngest competitor and this year’s winner of the Molloy Trophy was Hemma Alhuwalia from Farlington, who at aged 8 years and 3 months is the youngest ever competitor in this event and she was in no way the weakest golfer.

Stan Jenkinson

Sporting Diary Dates

‘The Times’ Spelling Bee
A highly entertaining competition for Year 7 pupils, ‘The Times’ Spelling Bee, had about 800 schools around the UK taking part.  The winners were IAPS members, St. Martin’s School, Northwood.  Head of English, Linda Crook commented:  ‘The Final was nerve wracking and closely fought with excellent teams from all ten schools.  Even though the St. Martin’s boys challenged the lexicographers to keep up, we were still overwhelmed at winning.  The whole school took pride in the team’s achievement and there was a celebratory mood at the school.’  The boys even made an appearance on the BBC’s One Show.

For more information about IAPS, please visit: www.iaps.org.uk

Download PDF version | Print this page | Email this to a friend | Read Digital Edition of Issue 10