Happy Prep School Days!

Making sure your child is happy is the key to a successful education. Jonathan Wansey, Headmaster of Crosfields Preparatory School, outlines the importance of happy prep school days.
PHOTO: CROSFIELDS SCHOOL

'Oh happy, happy school days, you'll not forget your school days. You'll have them with you always, wherever you may be.'

I hope that most of us can look back at our school days with feelings of great fondness and happiness. Particularly those formative years up to the age of 13 when there was an innocence and exuberance about everything we did. People of my generation (early fifties!) were certainly lucky to have spent their childhood at a time when it was so much safer and easier to do adventurous and exciting things. Society has changed so much of course over the last few decades and sadly children do not have the extended childhood which was once their right. The influence of modern society puts pressures on children which never used to be the case and I believe that it is the responsibility of schools as well as parents to allow children to enjoy the freedom of those early years in order that they will grow up to be contented, well-rounded adults.

I was most fortunate to have attended a prep school myself from the age of 9. I was the youngest of five children and my father, being a clergyman in the north east of England, managed to send us all to Christ's Hospital School in Sussex; a truly unique establishment which was founded in 1553 in order to educate poor children in London. To this day many parents do not pay to send their sons and daughters to Christ's Hospital and I and my twin brother and three sisters all received a first class, free, independent school education, for which I am eternally grateful.

We hear so much today of league tables and examinations that parents might be forgiven for thinking that education is just about passing a series of exams. At Crosfields we take the view that education is about helping children achieve their potential not just academically, but in all aspects of school life. Of course exams are important but they are not the raison d'etre of education. It saddens me that we put children under pressure in schools far earlier than in the past. The Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 SATS exams may be helpful in giving teachers an understanding of children's progress, but it is nonsensical to think that a school should be judged mainly on its performance by children aged 7 & 11 in a very narrow aspect of education.

Good prep schools pride themselves in giving children opportunities to experience a wide range of extra curricular activities. Music, drama and sport all play their part in giving children a full range of the diversity of educational opportunities. We are in danger as a nation of putting our young people under pressure to succeed at an earlier and earlier age, when in fact what they really need is a happy, caring, stimulating and structured environment. There is plenty of time for pressure; let young children have a childhood in which they can feel confident and secure.

I often say to prospective parents that when children leave the school I would hope that they would, at the very least, be both confident and courteous and these two attributes will take them a long way in life. It is often the extra curricular activities which gives a boy or girl a new found confidence in his or her ability, and success in one area of school life frequently encourages success across the board.

At Crosfields we are celebrating our 50th anniversary this year and it has been an opportune time to consider the strategic options for the future. The school has recently announced its intention to become co-educational having been a school only for boys in the past. Much has been written about the advantages and disadvantages of single sex versus mixed education. It is certainly true that boys and girls are different, but that does not mean that they should be segregated. The world is co-educational and co-education is the way of the world. Those arguing in favour of single sex education frequently quote the fact that many of the schools at the top of the school league tables are single sex. Professor Smithers in his highly acclaimed study, reported that there is no evidence to suggest that children perform any better in single sex schools. The single sex schools at the top of the league tables are simply good schools which are highly selective.

So what constitutes a good school? The quality of teaching? The breadth of the curriculum? Good facilities with plenty of space? A caring ethos where children are treated as individuals? Small class sizes and good discipline? All of these are of course very important factors. In the end however, all parents will agree that what they want most is for their children to be happy, and if children are happy they will do well.

'Oh happy, happy school days, you'll not forget your school days. You'll have them with you always, wherever you may be.'

Jonathan Wansey is the Headmaster of Crosfields School.
This article first appeared in the Summer 2007 issue of Attain.