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

      Everything you need to know about school interviews!  Academic interviews... standard interviews... music scholarship interviews... all you need.  Practical and comprehensive...   This is a workbook for you and your child which will help them to build confidence, understand their own skills and apply their talents to different types of interviews. From academic interviews to music scholarship interviews, you'll learn about what schools are looking for from their candidates.  I designed the book so parents can read the background theory and then work through exercises with children. We're printing in A4 size to give children a bit more room to fill in the various tables.  Although I have included example questions, I have focused more on answering technique. Above all, the golden rule is not to memorise!    Order now! https://brandoncentre.shop/brandon-books/   

  The biggest complaint I hear from UK school returnees is that that the food is a but ropey. Comment of the year from a student has to be 'the best food is their fish and chips and even that isn't very good'!   Face it, school food is never going to be the last word in gourmet but schools do go to great lengths to make sure it that the offerings are wide ranging and can cater to different tastes.   If you are getting constant complaints, rather than shipping over a year's supply of  公仔面, try these steps:  1: See for yourself -  ask to see daily menus. These may be accessible on the school portal or the House parent can send them over. Is there really nothing edible? There is generally fruit available in house and some houses also have mini-kitchens for older students.  2: Ask what your child is eating now. They might tell you and you will have clues based on your knowledge of what they eat and what is being served. If in doubt, speak to the ...

When did you last sit down away from the world to read a book? When life becomes too much, try this to escape: Choose a well-loved book. If you still have your childhood books knocking around, so much the better.  Find a space where you will be alone. In my house, this generally means accompanied by a dog or three. They don't count.  Close your eyes and touch your book. Feel the slightly fuzzy texture of the paper, the sharp or rounded edges, the creases on the spine. Remember all the times you have read it, the comfort it has provided.  Now lift the book up to your face and smell the paper which will have its own distinctive scent. What memories does it bring back? Of whiling away time in bookshops, finishing essays in libraries? And now, open your eyes and read. Touch the pages, feel the words taking root within you again. Reconnect with the child you were. Books made you.  Knocks a Kindle into a cocked hat doesn't it?   

  All change!  What do you do when your school, like Summerfields, announces that the Head is moving on?  The answer is going to depend on your relationship and view of the head but here are a few things to consider.  Is your child going into Year Six?  If so, you need to make sure that whoever is writing 13+ or 11+ school references in the school knows your child. Schools like Dragon have a 'Future Schools' department. Smaller prep schools might rely on the Head with input from Second Masters/Tutors.. find out!  Has the Head got an extremely close relationship with students? What will be the impact of change on your child?  Some smaller schools have Heads who really know their students, others take a more CEO approach and your child will have a stronger relationship with the Second Masters/Deputies/Heads of House. Sadly the former style style is fading as schools merge and become bigger so a change will have less of an immediate impact on your child....

  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...