LD: Thank you for inviting me to More House School. Before we start, please tell me how More House girls did in their GCSE’s this summer?
AL: In terms of More House girls, they performed well above what baseline prediction tests said they were going to, so our value added is fantastic at GCSE, probably on par with A Level. The biggest reason why I think we are hitting the grades is because we prepared well for the reforms, and we put a lot of time and effort into the teaching side of it and preparing the girls to be ready for the changes of the new style examinations.
What about helping parents understand the new GCSE grades?
I think it’s about keeping parents informed along the way. At the beginning of the academic year we always have a week of information evenings when we explain to parents what will be happening the year ahead including the new grading system at GCSE and what it means for the girls. We also put up information so that it’s clear and can be accessed easily.
There have also been huge changes to the Consortium 11+ exams. Are parents concerned about these changes and do they have many more questions on how to prepare their daughters?
Not really, they are coming to More House because it’s selective, but they also know that we are not a hot house and not just looking at the academic results of the 11+. Yes, they ask me questions about the new exam (http://london11plus.co.uk), and I answer as honestly as I can, that it’s a cognitive ability test, we want a little bit more creativity coming out in the interviews, but other than that they have not been that worried about it. I hope that we’ve reassured them that these tests are what their daughters have had plenty of practice in their prep schools and that they are probably more used to them than we are. I feel sure they will take it in their stride and be less anxious about the whole process than was the case with the old style of 11+ exam.
I see the consortium exam date has been set for 11th January, but that they all have different dates for the interviews. Has this been an issue for any of your prospective girls? When will More House interviews be?
Yes, that’s true. Each school in the Consortium can interview when convenient for the school. For More House, it will be sometime in the last few weeks of November or early December. We can arrange for international students to do theirs via Skype if necessary at any stage.
What kind of girls are you looking for?
Someone who is committed, with that “can do” attitude who will stick at it, someone who shows compassion and integrity. When you look at a More House girl, they are confident, but not arrogant, extremely loyal and kind.
Visitors to our school comment on the girls’ enthusiasm for learning, both in and out of the classroom. It is our job as teachers to inspire them and teach responsively, by adapting our teaching to every girl’s need. Whilst we recognise that our girls have a lot in common, we value their unique and diverse qualities.
What facilities to you have and where do you go for sports?
Predominantly we down to Battersea Park for sports lessons, and they will do netball this term, hockey spring term and then athletics and rounders in the summer term.
We go to Fulham Reach for rowing, we use Imperial College for climbing, badminton, gymnastics; we also use their gyms at Imperial for circuit training and step and fitness for the older girls. We’ve just lost our pool at Paddington because of cutbacks, but we’re hoping to get a swimming lane at Pimlico. We have Hyde Park, which is within walking distance, and we have a running club there every week. We’ve got facilities onsite for dance in our studio, and we run boot camps, yoga and fitness fusion in our courtyard or in the gardens over the road, so we’re very lucky really.
And music?
Year 7s all learn an instrument, either clarinet, violin or trumpet. Extracurricular activities include singing lessons, acapella group, senior choir, junior choir, senior chamber choir, junior chamber choir, bands, and string and brass ensembles; just like with any other school we want that extensive range of music going on.
For drama, every other year we hire a little theatre locally, so we can do a large scale school musical, and a smaller production in school the other year, this year we’re doing Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’.
Are the male roles performed by your girls or do you work with local boys’ schools?
No, usually when we get down to it, the girls end up wanting to play the male role anyway! I think they’d like it for the social aspect!
Pastoral care is often in the press, normally about how children need that extra attention, and obviously it’s highly beneficial if school and home work together. Have you incorporated any new structures with in your pastoral care to take that into consideration?
I think the most important thing is knowing every one of the girls. It would be wrong of me if I didn’t know 210 girls, each one, their name, their background, what they are struggling with, what’s going well in their lives; I wouldn’t be doing my job properly if I didn’t know this information. I think that knowledge and knowing the girls very much means the girls can come and knock on anyone’s door because everyone knows them here and they are not just a number. We do wellbeing weeks, wellbeing talks, and we have peer mentors in Yr 10, 11 & 12 that Childline train, so it’s not just us the girls can come to. We are lucky to have a school counsellor who comes into school 3 days a week available any time. What you want is the whole community working together as a “family”. The girls also hand over their phones in the morning, so there’s not that pressure to be on it throughout the day, which also helps.
It’s very difficult, mainly due to the progress in technology it’s a very different world to what we were used to.
I totally agree, and what we are trying to teach the girls is that technology is a fantastic resource, but it has to be used in a conscious way. I would love them to stop comparing themselves to others and celebrities’ lives and use it in a more productive way. We would be elated if they were always using their phones for something productive like product design, designing a dress for textiles; focusing on the designs and looking at it in that aspect and not, what that celebrity is wearing, how the celebrity looks. It would be great to be able to shift the mindset altogether.
How do you guide girls when deciding on universities and their courses?
We’ve got a great sixth form structure and have what we call PPT (Personal Progress Tutors) who meet with their tutees every week throughout their sixth form years here, so by the time they are at the stage of writing UCAS personal statements, we know them pretty well and where their strengths and weakness are, and therefore look really closely at courses that are perfect for them in terms of meeting their needs; both academically and pastorally.
What about America, are you finding a lot more girls interested in moving to the USA for their undergrad course?
We will have a handful every few years, but it’s not big at More House, they are still quite traditional here.
It will be interesting to see over the next few years if interest in apprenticeships rise, just because people don’t want the debt coming out of university and want value for money.
Yes, I hope universities amend their current system to enable children to condense their three year degree into one or two years, partly due to costs but also because it is hard to keep young adults motivated when they are only at uni a few days a week.
Yes, I agree they have far too much free time. It will be interesting to see how it changes, for example the need for keeping languages in schools, especially with Brexit on the horizon.
Thank you for your time, Amanda.
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