From the Head

Next in this newsletter Senior School parents will read about a small number of routine changes being introduced in the Senior School from Monday. Dr O’Reilly’s article expertly explains the educational rationale for these additions to the organisation of our school day for Year 7-9 students.

We have a common uniform, creating a physical connection with school whilst allowing personality to be our defining factor.  School itself provides routine, with regular lessons, the same teachers every day and a known weekly pattern of classes and assemblies.  Rather than restrict, routines can put our mind at ease, and settle anxiety when we predictably know ‘what’s next’.

In the course of the research I undertook that led to my Doctorate, I learnt about Lev Vygotsky – an early educational researcher whose work has come to be recognised as both relevant and important in the 21st century.

As classroom teaching trends come and go, Vygotsky explored the extent to which the social side of learning intersected with the cognitive, or intellectual, aspect.  In Senior School, concepts are increasingly abstract and complex, and this conceptual difficulty requires the brain to channel all its attention to the task of integrating the new information.  This process, known as cognitive dissonance, requires that a student focus their brain power to the task of ‘making sense’ of new knowledge in the scheme of their existing understanding.

Being a teacher, leading a class of up to twenty-five students on their learning journey is ably assisted by routine.  With attention solely focussed on the concept, routines ensure everyone knows how the lesson or discussion will take place, giving the mind the space to process the new information.  Structure, routines and predictability – these are the foundation stones upon which high level understanding is built.

Dr Clayton Massey

HEAD