Brandon Learning Centre: British Education - process, preparation and practicalities

  What fun it is to sit down with a jigsaw. You become completely immersed within minutes.  I was given this Dickens jigsaw for Christmas and won't pretend to have recognised all the characters but I definitely sharpened my spatial skills.  The ISEB CPT and CAT4 tests rely on quick spatial and non-verbal reasoning. What better than having to grap a jigsaw piece, identifying where it fits into a pattern and experimenting with orientation for honing these tasks?   As a family:  Choose an accessible jigsaw for the group. Have a look below before settling on an image.  Try a map, a historial event, a famous piece of artwork or learn about an author.   Find a space which won't need to be swept away. Or, if you don't have anywhere, use a big tray. I use a Mahjong table!  Choose your strategy: edges first? Centre. Your call.  As you work, ponder outloud about the image you are building. For this one, I thought about: how grim the air of Vi...

  If you ever have the opportunity to visit the Bronte Parsonage in Haworth, you will see a collection of mini-magazines and  journals created by the Bronte sisters and their brother, Branwell. The isolated house is a treasure trove of creativity. Like the Bronte sisters, your child may well go on to be an inspirational writer but even if they only dip into writing as a distraction from their day job, the writing bug is worthwhile catching! One way of inspiring your child to write is to start a holiday journal which can be gifted to an older relative when the family returns from a trip. The journal itself doesn't have to be expensive, an exercise book will do. Decorate the cover - be creative! One of my students used a cheap copy book to describe her recent trip visiting schools (as far North as Fettes College in Edinburgh, and West as Canford!) and decorated the cover with train tickets from the various journeys she took. The journal itself should be a colle...

  The quickest way to kill interest in a book for many students is to make it into a study topic! I had one teacher who managed to drag out Steinbeck's 'The Red Pony ' over two terms. No mean feat given that my copy has only 95 pages. It is a brilliant work and incredibly moving but, for years to come, most of my classmates would groan every time a pony was mentioned.   Reading a book with your child can be used to build bonds and develop topics of conversation between generations. You don't have to make this exercise into another chore, try to approach it with a sense of wonder at what decisions and thoughts your child might reveal.  Explain to your child that you will be reading the same work simultaneously and creating a family book club.  Decide who will be the book club manager and generate discussion questions. Draw lots if necessary!   Steps:     1: Your child (or any age!) choses a book for you both to read. They are in control but tr...

Why are so many Catholics attracted to the Latin mass? For me, I am drawn towards the silence and reverence of the Tridentine mass.  In Hong Kong, we are fortunate to have permission to celebrate mass in the Traditional Form at Our Lady Help of Christians which is situated inside Tang King Po , a Salesian Boys' school in Ma Tau Wai. Go inside the main gates and keep straight on. Once you go through the main school lobby, you'll come out into a courtyard and the chapel is to your right. There is parking.    On the first Sunday of every month, there is Benediction. We have a mainly local congregation so the sermon and readings may be in Cantonese only depending on who is celebrating.    Mass booklets can be downloaded via a QR code or you can bring your own missal. Mantillas (chapel veils) are on sale.  There are hymn books available and a fantastic choir.   12.30 every Sunday, come and bask in the Real Presence.  https://gcatholic.org/churches...

 The days of standalone prep schools are numbered in the UK...  Winchester College and Pilgrims' Radley College and Cothill Charterhouse and Windlesham  Who's next? I can take a wild guess. The fact is that running small schools in the UK has become increasingly challenging in the face of increased National Insurance, Teachers' Pension Scheme contributions, energy costs and general inflation. And that isn't before you think of falling rolls once VAT really kicks in. So the solution is joining forces with a larger entity.  Prep schools feed a range of senior schools; anyone wanting a solid prep for Eton, Winchester or Harrow picked from a wide pool. These days, the pool is shrinking whilst the group of boys entering from UK state schools is increasing as parents turn away from boarding and economise.  How does all this affect your choices?  There are still some standalones who haven't mentioned mergers yet and some which are clearly in strong positions and m...

You get through the ISEB CPT, fly through the interviews... only to get a waiting list offer.  Don't despair!  A waiting list place is NOT a rejection. You are still in the picture. In a record year, five of my boys moved from reserve to general places at Winchester. This year, one of my boys moved from the Eton waiting list and one of my girls has just moved off the waiting list at Downe House to the delight of her parents.  Be patient: it is now May and another of my boys in Y8 has just moved off the Waiting List at Eton. Why do schools have waiting lists?  It is no secret that families apply to multiple schools. If a school makes 10 offers, they can assume that a proportion of the candidates will not accept, or may drop our later. Hence the waiting list.  Why do students move from the waiting list? Some students may have a couple of options to consider. Once they give up their places, the schools will go to the waiting list to fill the gaps.  Other plac...