Welcome back to Handcross Park
Dear Parents,
I hope that you all had a relaxing Easter break and that you were able to find something positive and fun to do within the Covid restrictions. I was able to continue my South Downs journey and I will say that the twelve mile leg between Pycombe and Kingston-near-Lewes was particularly beautiful – a recommendation!
As I am sure you will have read and seen in the media the recent news of the death of the Duke of Edinburgh. A lot has been written about his life and I will not add any further comments suffice it to say that his legacy with regard to the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme (https://www.dofe.org/) is an amazing and valuable scheme for young people. When I was a boarding housemaster at Pangbourne College (11-18), I saw first hand the value of this course. For those that are not aware of it, it was set up in 1956 and has become the cornerstone of non-formal education and learning within secondary schools and colleges and has now been incorporated in over 130+ countries around the world and has involved and still involves millions of your people from 14-24 years old. The DofE programme has three progressive levels which, when successfully completed, leads to a Bronze, Silver or Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. They involve helping the community/environment, becoming fitter, developing new skills, planning, training for and completing an expedition and, for Gold only, working with a team on a residential activity. Any young person can do their DofE – regardless of ability, gender, background or location. Achieving an Award isn’t a competition or about being first. It’s all about setting personal challenges and pushing personal boundaries. Through a DofE programme young people have fun, make friends, improve their self-esteem and build confidence. They gain essential skills and attributes for work and life such as resilience, problem-solving, team-working, communication and drive, enhancing their university and job applications. I would highly recommend the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme when your children reach Year 9 and older.
It was this scheme alongside my involvement with World Challenge Expeditions (https://weareworldchallenge.com/uk/ ) and a previous career in the army that Handcross Park introduced the leadership course for Year 3-8 in 2017. Our focus was based on all the same skills that D of E introduced and incorporated in its scheme and an ideal starting point for our children before they moved onto senior school. We should be able to do our Year 5-7 Leadership trips this term – cross fingers!
As you will be aware, Handcross Park has been shortlisted by the TES for ‘best boarding school’ and I wanted to say how proud I am of the boarding staff led by Mr and Mrs Davis. It is a wonderful bespoke environment within the school that encourages a more cosmopolitan community with our international pupils alongside our London and local weekly boarders. The skills of independence and self-reliance, growing in confidence especially social confidence when living in a close knit community are just some of the benefits of boarding at Handcross Park. If anyone is interested in some flexi-boarding (at least two consecutive nights and only in Year 5/6) or would like to visit the boarding house then please contact with the team ([email protected]).
Finally, I want to wish everyone a super summer term where, as Covid restrictions ease, we hope to able to do the majority of events expected at this time of year. I would urge everyone to continue to be vigilant with masks, self-testing and the washing of hands but I am confident that we should have a great term.
Best wishes
Richard
Richard Brown
Headmaster
