Headmaster's Welcome
Dear parents,
Do you remember your primary years? Who taught you to read? How did you learn to write? When did you first realise that plants make food from air and sunshine? How proud were you of being able to say 'bread' in French or perform your first somersault?
Education is always about the future and this is, in many ways, why we are a prep school: we prepare boys, not only for a successful career in their secondary phase of education, but also to face the challenges of life. The first years of life are inevitably a learning experience and our wish is not merely to open heads and pour in information (oh. that it were so simple!) but to engage with the natural learning process and guide it. We aim to:
- develop skills by giving boys the opportunity to experience as many different areas of learning as possible, whether academic with logic and languages, artistic and musical, or physical. Within all of these are those essential life skills (ability to study successfully, communication skills, cooperation skills, thinking skills) which allow an all-round capability to form,
- build a solid foundation of knowledge and understanding through carefully designed learning opportunities within lessons. We are rigorous in reviewing the syllabus we use, whatever the subject area. We then assess using tests, exams or professional observation, in a meaningful and useful way to enable further teaching to target areas for further learning,; and
- create a firm conceptual grasp: so that each boy moves on feeling competent in all the areas of learning and is able to take their learning further.
We enjoy creating a nurturing environment, a community which will be safe and enjoyable. It is a rapidly changing world and so we readily consider new ways of preparing your sons to cope with its many demands and we seek to do this by educating the whole child, by making sure we show by example, as well as by word, how ethical living matters, what it means to live with a sense of purpose and how vital it is to relate well to others.
In many ways this is a tall order, yet by way of our own community, with the support of yourselves as parents, the full engagement of the boys and a fine and motivated staff team, we know we can achieve the very best for the Rokeby boy: high standards of learning, excellent preparation for the future and a sense of happiness and pride in themselves as well as concern for others.
A Rokeby boy cares.
Headmaster
