The Arrowsmith Program 

Arrowsmith staff have been delighted with the start of the 2022 school year despite the disruptions caused by the virus. Term 1 has seen current plus new students participate in the Arrowsmith Program and their respective cognitive exercises.

When the exercises become difficult, or students are not meeting their benchmarks or goals and challenge the purpose of the work, we remind them of the program’s intention; to change the structure and function of their brain and assist them in becoming better learners.

More than ever, our world requires us to adapt and change, to be open to new learning. So, how do we ensure our students are equipped for a complex and ever-changing reality?

One of the key assets required is our brain. Neuroscience has taught us that our brain filters our perceptions and understanding of ourselves, of others, of our world, and of our relationship to that world. And our brain is capable of physiological and functional change across our lifespan – it is neuroplastic. Our brain is designed for life-long learning, to flexibly adapt and meet novel challenges.

Every student should have the right to develop and enhance this asset. Let’s put the brain into the Education Equation by harnessing its ability to change. If you change the brain, you change cognition, you change learning, you change social-emotional wellbeing, and you transform one’s future.

Wayne Stagg

Head of the Arrowsmith Program