For our latest View from the Top, we've handed over to Ben Evans, head of Windlesham House. Common Entrance has long been the mainstay of Year 8 in prep schools – but is it still fit for purpose?
Since 1904, Common Entrance exams have provided a structured syllabus and varied programmes of study for the two final years of prep school, together with a full range of examinations being the main form of assessment. However, with the change in focus for senior school entrance now shifting to pre-testing in Year 6, children are facing the prospect of assessment and exam preparation – in some cases from as early as Year 5 – until they sit their final A-level papers in Year 13.
We must never allow an entrenched assessment system to dictate how we teach children, and for it to be focused solely on passing exams. As schools, it should be our aim to achieve more than education for education’s sake, if we are to give our children the best possible experience. Schools are committed to helping children to build the foundations of academic success, whilst acquiring the skills necessary to develop their character, social skills and to ensure they become successful and accomplished adults in the future.
In order to remain relevant and forward thinking as a sector, we must constantly evaluate our teaching and learning to ensure it is still valid for the 21st Century. We are preparing children for a very different world today than we were twenty or thirty years ago, yet the two-year programme of Common Entrance with terminal exams has, in reality, changed very little. We now understand that skill acquisition and creative forms of assessment are as valuable as memorising and regurgitating large volumes of information. This is especially the case when in many schools, pupils are starting their GCSE studies in Year 9. And so, it continues.
It is essential to have a solid and rigorous curriculum in place for Years 7 and 8. In many ways, the current programmes of study for Common Entrance are exactly what we need. However, there must be greater flexibility to incorporate different learning habits; greater independence, communication skills, risk-taking, oracy, creativity and critical thinking. In turn, this will provide increased academic rigour and ensure children become more successful and accomplished learners.
We all know that the majority of senior schools no longer view Common Entrance as a necessary element of entry to their schools, nor do they value it as a form of assessment. Fewer and fewer schools either require it or are willing to mark the papers. If we are serious about providing our pupils with the best possible education, we need greater continuity and progression from Year 8 to Year 9, and more joined up thinking. Rather than working in isolation, prep and senior schools need to work together to produce an academically rigorous curriculum for Years 7 and 8 and that will allow pupils to transition seamlessly to Year 9, building on their knowledge, understanding and skill acquisition.
Many prep schools are now looking at alternatives or have already made the move away from CE. The pre-senior baccalaureate and the IB primary and middle years programmes are all popular choices. However, at Windlesham House we have decided to build our own bespoke programme incorporating our learning habits, the futures (careers) programme and implement a curriculum which allows us to make the best use of our outstanding facilities and wonderful location in the South Downs National Park. The Windlesham Diploma & Futures programme is now in full swing and providing a rich, exciting, creative and academically rigorous programme of study for our pupils.