Schools spend a lot of time explaining why they do what they do, which, in many ways, is a good thing. The continuous clarification and revisiting of approaches and positions sharpens our thinking and renews our convictions. Last week, in the Senior School newsletter, Deanne King rehearsed the argument for assessments, why we write them, and their diagnostic value for teaching and learning. She also spoke about St Mary’s commitment to maintaining a full co-curricular programme while the girls sit assessments, and the importance of exercise and cultural activities – dare I say, distractions – for the girls’ wellbeing at a time when they are under pressure to perform.

While the desirability of a holistic curriculum might be perfectly obvious to parents in an admissions interview, what it looks like in practice often comes as a surprise. The thrill of reading a long list of activities and descriptors on a website does not always translate into the discipline of sustained participation. The Grade 6 and 7 girls who honour their commitment to playing chess matches over the assessment period are living an ideal, however modestly, that remains of abstract value only to other families – something that adds to the ambience of their time at an independent school without enriching or extending their daughter’s personal experience.

The school looks for balance and proportion in what the girls choose to do, and in what we ask of them. Of course, over time, we adjust our expectations and review what constitutes best practice at different stages and in response to different contextual pressures – Covid, predictably, is the best example of this in recent times. We all recognise how Covid restrictions diluted what we understand to be the full curriculum at an institution like St Mary’s. We mourned the loss of live events, spectatorship at sports matches and concerts, attendance in chapel and assemblies, and onsite community gatherings.

I ask that we remember this feeling of loss over the next few weeks while the girls from Grades 1 to 7 prepare for our end-of-term play. Our inability to stage a production over the last two years has been felt keenly by your daughters who register on a more visceral level the value of participating in the play through acting, singing, instrumental music, visual art, film making and design. Just learning to adjust to changes in the rhythm of their day and accepting the permission to adapt is a valuable life skill for our girls who can become unnecessarily rigid in their approach to school life.

We have deliberately widened the scope of activities for the Grade 7s this time around not only to increase the opportunities for their involvement; it is our intention, also, to distribute esteem among the girls and teachers by paying attention to those vital offstage aspects of production that often go uncelebrated. If you have been keeping up with our newsletters this term, you will remember time spent in assembly speaking about the challenges of collaboration and the kinds of people, not always seen, who make it happen.

My wish for you is that you will find a way to support the play and your daughter’s role in it by taking an interest in it, actively engage with information sent out to you about the play in newsletters and notices, and put up your hand to assist your class reps with costumes and make-up closer to the time.

This is what we’ve been waiting for…

SARAH WARNER
JUNIOR SCHOOL HEADMISTRESS