As you can see from the above poster, Southport Quakers will be running a Peace Essay Competition for young people studying at key stage 4 and 5 (4th form to upper 6th). They hope to encourage students to look into alternatives to violence for resolving disputes, and they believe that ideas and solutions can come from all of us, regardless of academic preference and specialism. Every subject contributes to our thinking about peace.
Please click here to their website for further information, and please do see ARB for further information or support if you would like to consider entering. Why are we doing this? In preparing an explanation of the rationale behind "The Fothergill Society" for staff, the answer to the question "Why are we doing this?" is arguably the most theoretically interesting. There are two major drives, for me, that formulated the programme as it is at the moment, and for those interested, here are different sources for further reading, watching and listening that hopefully provides you with context and something interesting for you think about in relation to what "The Fothergill Society" is and what it aspires to do. The first is the work on Mindset by Carol S. Dweck. Please click on the images for further information.
The second influence came much more recently: from the BBC Radio 4 programme, The Educators. In it, Tony Little, the headmaster of Eton College, came to summarise a great number of the thoughts and feelings I had when trying to formulate the purpose and rationale of The Fothergill Society.
"I think [our examinations system] is fundamentally a Victorian model. We ask young people to sit on their own at desks, to work assiduously and silently and hand in a piece of paper at the end of it, and as soon as you get into your world of work, you’re asked to go and work as part of a team and come up with some joint project. The two things just don’t connect. We over-examine... We over-educate? Rather, we over-school and perhaps we under-educate as a consequence... [We have to be] consciously aware at all times, that [examinations and grades are] just one part of an education.”
Perhaps these are easy beliefs to have, given the highly rigorous academic selection that goes into being accepted into such a public school as Eton. However, despite this, there are so many facets to what Tony Little says that I not only agree with, but also see "The Fothergill Society" as playing an an integral role in integrating into an Ackworth student's education - from the realisation of the insight and potential of one's peers, to the outward-looking drive, that awareness of the richness of the world around us; from the interconnected, interpersonal, socialised, communication-rich mode of working, to the urgency of the call to think broadly, to think immensely and to fight against a narrowness of thinking and focus that can be seen to characterise our educational system. Click on the image below to listen to Tony Little's interview in full. The Timothy Corsellis Prize is a poetry competition that asks you to write a poem in response to the life and work of six selected WW2 poets. This poetry competition is of particular interest to Quaker Schools as it is specially designed to, among other things, encourage pupils to think through their own views on war and peace and service in the army, by studying the life and poetry these WW2 poets, two of whom (Alun Lewis and Timothy Corsellis) were pacifists when the war started and only reluctantly enlisted or volunteered. Please click on the image above to visit the Young Poets Network website for further information about the poets, the competition rules and entry criteria. Be particularly aware of the request to submit a reflection of your research and writing processes in addition to the poem itself. The competition is open for all students between 14-25. The deadline is September 15th, 2014. Inter-disciplinary essay competitions, sites of interest, and different opportunities for you to develop and extend your learning will be posted here. A brief introduction will be given, together with the external link to the site for further information. Key details, particularly deadlines, will be posted, so make sure you plan your time carefully! Please can students use the contact form to let Mr Boucher know of any competitions that you have entered as submissions and results will also be posted on this site. |