Issue - meetings

Including a presentation from Julian Thomas, Master at Wellington College.

Wellington College

The Mayor welcomed Julian Thomas, Master at Wellington College to speak about his role at Wellington College.

The Master stated that it was an incredible time to be running a school, given the pace of change since the 1980’s, the Internet age and the growing number of jobs that had been taken over by automation (30%) all these things made education at this time an exciting prospect. However against this pace of change, stood education systems in the UK which had changed very little since Wellington College had been founded in 1859. The Master felt strongly that the over reliance on a system that focussed on exam and exam results did not inspire children to learn. This had been the basis of the Master’s decision last year to withdraw from league tables despite the Colleges’ good performance. This system based on examinations was originally designed for middle class, predominantly boys to equip them to run businesses. 

The Master stated that Wellington College aimed to provide their pupils with a skill set that would equip them to do a range of things as well as inspire them to learn. The video clip of the Master’s entrance to Speech day demonstrated this as this had been designed and produced by the pupils themselves.

The Master stated that social media often created pressure on children, leading children to believe they needed to craft a lifestyle to portray on social media. It was therefore important to develop an atmosphere that allowed children to be individuals and encouraged individuality and equipped them to be independent and resilient.

Finally, the Master stated that he wanted his school to be inclusive and not seen as elitist. Wellington College sponsored three academy schools and had opened seven international schools and was keen to foster cross sector collaboration. He was pleased to have worked with several Bracknell Forest head teachers and was keen to work with the Council also.

In response to Members’ queries, the Master made the following points:

·         The Master had been head hunted by Wellington College, following his involvement in turning round a failing school.

·         Political discourse was encouraged amongst pupils, although it could be difficult it was important that pupils could debate confidently.

·         The Master did not believe that standards of education were falling behind other parts of the world, he stated that children today generally worked harder, were assessed much more and felt greater pressure. He stated that children in the UK were good at taking exams however this did not mean that they were educated well.

·         Happiness lessons had been delivered at Wellington College and at the time they were introduced they were much derided. Going forward every school now delivered some kind of mental health and wellbeing learning to their pupils.

Gavin McMinn, Deputy Head Boy, Garth Hill College

The Mayor welcomed Gavin McMinn, Deputy Head Boy from Garth Hill College who was accompanied by Nick Huskinson, Assistant Principal to speak about young people and building the bridge of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35