25 Oct 2022
Unlocking boys’ education
In choosing a school for their sons, we know that parents invest great effort and time to research and consider the options available to them. Head of Preparatory School Mark Wyer writes about his answer to a question often asked by parents about Churchie.
As an independent school offering primary education for boys, our Prep School invites parents to consider the benefits of a boys’ education in the primary years, whether that be at our Reception, Year 3 or Year 5 entry cohorts.
As you would expect, one of the questions often asked by prospective parents and visitors to Churchie’s Prep School is ‘How do we go about educating boys?’
I answer this question by discussing five key areas. These sum up our philosophy and approach across the Prep School, whose teachers have dedicated their professional life to the education and developmental needs of boys. I am proud to note these five key areas in which we excel at Churchie Prep.
1. Relationships
Building relationships is the first step as boys are relational learners—boys will learn their teachers before they learn the curriculum. Our staff are skilled at building positive and productive relationships with boys, and this is the medium through which successful teaching and learning can occur.
2. Rigour
Churchie is proudly a grammar school, and therefore academic achievement is prized and reinforced. There is a strong focus on literacy and numeracy with evidence-based and research-driven programmes to support our boys. We emphasise our social, emotional and pastoral curriculum with the ever-evolving use of technology embedded in our units of inquiry.
3. Challenge
Placing boys in the stretch zone is the third aspect we do well. We ensure learning is not too easy or, conversely, too difficult. Stretching and challenging our boys in all their academic, sporting, cultural, service and spiritual endeavours is where optimal learning takes place.
4. Understanding
Boys need teachers who understand how boys learn. It takes a very special person to work in an all-boys school, and our teachers are dedicated and committed to boys’ education. Research shows that, generally speaking, boys and girls learn differently. Boys require movement, space, action and rest, and for some, that is all in the space of one lesson. Having the ability to craft a curriculum, design classroom learning environments and choose furniture design that has a positive impact on boys’ learning is something that is at the heart of what we do.
5. Acceptance and celebration
Accepting and celebrating boys is an important aspect of educating them. Each student is unique, and we celebrate and acknowledge effort and achievement across all four tenets of the school: academic excellence, spiritual awareness, personal growth and service. Our diversity is our strength and what makes Churchie such an open and welcoming community.
Our teachers love working with boys—their humour, their unbridled energy, their passion and their relationships provide us with an opportunity to create a school that engages each boy in the way he learns best.
When you put all these elements together—relationships, rigour, challenge, understanding, acceptance and celebration— the outcome is a boy with unlimited potential. Our ‘boy responsive’ curriculum ensures an intellectually challenging learning experience, with students emerging from their preparatory years as articulate, confident and independent learners who increasingly take responsibility for their own learning.
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