We chat to Laura Whitwood, Head of Junior School at St Dunstan’s College, about the new Junior School building and the School’s co-curricular opportunities…
This is my seventh year at St Dunstan’s College, having spent three years as Deputy Head Pastoral, before my appointment as Head of Junior School. It has been a great privilege to see the College develop so significantly over the last few years, not least due to the move to our new building in April 2021. To now be able to steer the Junior School ship forward during this next chapter is incredibly exciting. Due to the College’s location, we are hugely fortunate to benefit from diversity in every sense, alongside staff and parents who are fully signed up to the forward-thinking and ambitious approach to education that we offer here. It is therefore a pleasure to work within a community that is so determined to offer a broad, balanced dynamic education driven by inclusivity, liberalism and an offering that prepares pupils for the unknown of tomorrow’s world.
From the earliest stages in school, St Dunstan’s creates a learning culture whereby staff model learning as being an essential skill to carry forward in life. We see that we are on that learning journey together, relishing finding out more about the world around us, clear that the acquisition of knowledge does not simply take place in the classroom setting, but in any place, at any time. We introduce Learning Scores from Year 1 onwards to emphasise the importance of learning behaviours: response to feedback, collaboration, organisation, engagement and independence. Our pupils understand the attitude that one must have to embrace every learning opportunity afforded to us, unafraid of making mistakes and happy to ask insightful questions to deepen their understanding and develop their curiosity further. Our pupils are discontent with simply repeating facts, but are driven by a desire to ask why and how.
I think that I possibly underestimated what a difference the building makes until we moved into our new building almost two years ago. With the new building leading on from the old Headmaster’s House, our building now complements our approach to learning - celebrating our rich history, but always seeking to ensure that our curriculum is research-driven and forward-thinking, supporting our young people to acquire the skills that they will need in the modern world. With bright, open spaces, dedicated outdoor areas for every Junior School year group, modern furnishings and in-built learning walls with state-of-the-art technology, our pupils benefit from a first-class education in every sense and relish their exposure to excellent resources, facilities, as well as the rich expertise we have across the College in the delivery of our curriculum.
Our curriculum is a child-centred inspirational learning process, offering a breadth of experiences and opportunities for our pupils to develop their confidence via practical, hands-on memorable moments outdoors. Children in Nursery and Reception enjoy a whole day in the Woodland Classroom each week, with pupils from Year 1 planning sessions when they complement their in-class topics. Pupils enjoy taking risks, challenging themselves in new ways, exploring and embarking upon structured play within a beautiful natural setting. These sessions see our pupils develop their independence, confidence, resilience, and co-operative play through projects such as creating shelters and going on minibeast hunts. Our pupils take great delight in learning about nature and being taught key Forest School skills such as whittling, helping to build fires and creating artwork from nature. The aim being that we create confident city children who are also countryside adventurers.
The Forder Programme is named after Reverend Frank Forder, one of our former visionary Headmasters, appointed in 1922, who believed passionately that pupils at St Dunstan’s should have a curriculum that prepared them for their life beyond school, experiencing ‘wider views and a fuller culture’. In the Junior School pupils are able reap the rewards of a curriculum in its fullest sense, with co-curricular activities taking place before school, during lunch time and after school, as well as two timetabled co-curricular sessions within the school week. This ensures that every pupil can develop new skills, try different experiences, make memories, challenge themselves and add more to their St Dunstan’s shield. The white shield that serves as three quarters of our College crest is a blank canvas onto which is emblazoned the as-yet-unwritten story of each St Dunstan’s pupil. With around eighty activities taking place across the Junior School every week, and changing on a termly basis, there really is something for everyone – from debating, chess, every sport you can imagine, mindfulness, music tech and composition, botanical drawing to critical thinking. Seeing a school curriculum in the broadest sense and embracing opportunities outside of the taught curriculum is essential in creating well-rounded, grounded and curious young people. Their exposure to an extraordinary co-curricular programme helps them understand who they are, what they can achieve and who they may wish to become in the future.
It is my view that the environment that pupils are educated in should accurately represent not just the local area where they are living currently, but the world in which they will one day become professionals. It is important that as citizens, they have a strong desire to contribute positively towards the society of which they are a part. If their school setting only reflects a very narrow section of society, it sets children up for an inaccurate outlook of what their future will hold, potentially leaving them unprepared for the life awaiting them. All young people should feel supported to develop their identity, discover who they are and embrace their individual differences, relishing any opportunity they have to learn more from those around them. We therefore make sure that we celebrate the diversity within our community, be that on Languages Day where some forty parents tell us more about countries where they grew up, invite parents in on particular days of celebration to share their traditions or the way in which internationalism is embedded in our curriculum via the International Primary Curriculum. This is a fully immersive, topical approach to teaching humanities, religion, philosophy and ethics and science, leaving children understanding their place in society and widening their perspectives beyond the safety net of simply a school environment.
Definitely to visit several schools and then to go with your gut instinct! The truth is, no one knows your child better than you. Yes, looking at results, facilities, the curriculum and pastoral care by reading the prospectus, visiting the website and looking on social media channels can be helpful in understanding what the values are of a school. However, nothing beats seeing what the school is like in action. I would recommend visiting during an Open Day, but also any opportunities to visit during a normal school day. It is only when you are able to see the children in their setting, meet the staff and feel the energy along the corridors on a normal school day that you will know whether it just feels right for you, for your child and for your family. If your instinct tells you that a particular school stands out, trust it and try not to second guess yourself.
As we begin to settle into our new building, the next stage is to grow into it to ensure that we make best use of this wonderful new facility and begin to make it feel like home. Our pupils will be integral to this process, feeding into the next stages through our College-wide Pupil Parliament, deciding how they wish to use the outside spaces. They will be designing these areas alongside the staff and making sure we utilise them in the best possible ways, including trim trails, garden areas, quiet reading spaces and outside performance areas – there is even talk of a St Dunstan’s farmyard! Clearly a great deal to get excited about.