☰ Mr Jowett's Blog

Mr Jowett's Blog

Posted on: February 24th 2017

This week we celebrate some incredible young people; our Form 6 pupils. As many of you will know over the last year many of our Form 6 children have been preparing for the demands of the 11+ admissions process. This has not been purely about improving their exam technique, it goes much deeper, and has required them to be ambitious, reflective and resilient.

It is a very challenging time for children at the age of 10 or 11 and to cope with the pressure, anxiety and potential disappointment has meant they have had to develop great strength of character. I really enjoyed seeing the personal growth that each child made during their interview practices with me and how they took on board the advice given, making significant improvements each time. Both the teacher and parental support was fantastic with the children not just demonstrating an excellent knowledge of current affairs, but having well-informed opinions and being able to clearly articulate these. The feedback about how the children performed during their interviews at their chosen schools was excellent.

For the 15 children applying we received 36 full offers and 5 reserve offers, with every child securing a place at one of their recommended schools, but in the vast majority at least two or more. Our aim is to find the right school for each child; taking into account the academic rigour, ethos and extra-curricular provision of each potential school and matching this to our pupils. With such a wonderful mix of personalities in our Form 6, this is no mean feat. This is reflected in the schools that have offered places to Norfolk House children this year: Belmont, Channing, Highgate, Francis Holland, Queen Elizabeth Boys (grammar), South Hampstead High School, University College School, City of London Boys, Aldenham, North Bridge House, Dwight, St. John's and Queen's College School. In addition, five scholarship offers were received: three academic and two music.

What I find most impressive is the way the children handled the whole process; supporting each other, committing time in their holidays to prepare, being brave after failing and showing humility when successful. As challenging as this process is; there is no growth in comfort. All of them have worked incredibly hard over the past year and, whether or not they applied for selective senior schools, they have all had challenges to face. Spending time with them during their Young Enterprise day and hearing the outstanding feedback from the adults leading the session showed me how much they have grown in such a short period of time.

This was a fantastic team effort and our gratitude must go to Mr. Ashton, Mrs. Osborne and Mrs. Holt for their commitment in this year-long, intense process. I would like to congratulate all the Form 6 children on their success and feel incredibly proud to be a part of this in my first year as Head at Norfolk House.

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