Cokethorpe School

Headmaster's Letter

July 2010

Dear Parents

It was a great pleasure to see so many of you at Prize Giving and it was truly an inspiration to hear Sister Frances Dominica speak about the invaluable work done by Helen and Douglas House. It just reminds us how lucky we are to know there are such selfless and dedicated people when we need them the most. My thanks to her, and my renewed congratulations to all the very deserving prize winners. It was also lovely to see so many of our Upper Sixth at their Leavers’ Ball, and with nostalgia in the air I’ve been thinking back to the television programmes I would have enjoyed in that long hot summer before university.

The Generation Game

I am sure the story of King Canute and his futile attempt to repel the waves is well known. It is an object lesson for us all in the futility of resisting entirely the march of progress. I well recall the incoming wave of mobile phones and how schools first tried to ignore them, only to swing to the equally impossible ambition of trying to ban them completely. We would have saved a good few headaches if we could have arrived at a sensible and workable approach from the start. Perhaps in respect of the incoming tide of the Internet, and the very real problems and dangers it poses for children, there is still time to arrive at a sensible and workable plan. I have had an opportunity to discuss the matter with quite a few of you, and I have also begun a dialogue with fellow Heads, to share our collective experience and views.

I suppose our fears are two-fold. First, that children are at risk – most seriously, of course, at risk of making contact with people who are undesirable. But also there is the whole ‘Facebook’ generation with their apparently endless need to communicate with friends about what they had for breakfast, who and what they like and dislike, who said what to whom. Of course I do remember my sisters spending hours on the phone, sitting on the staircase, having similar conversations. So it is not a new phenomenon, just a much more high tech one. But also, I suspect, rather more addictive. Also, conversations conducted on the staircase, with a disapproving father hovering, as well as an irritating younger brother, provided little opportunity for dangerous secrets or remote bullying!

There is also an academic risk posed by the Internet, though one that must be put in context. The Internet is potentially a fabulous tool for teaching and learning. But it can also encourage the taking of short cuts, plagiarism and superficiality. It really is essential that, at school, children learn the value of their own endeavour and of producing honest work of which they can feel proud. I have a friend who helps to correct PhD dissertations and, from what he tells me, it is clear that such bad habits, once they take a hold, can persist even at the highest levels of learning.

Clearly both schools and parents have a common interest in guiding children to the best use of modern technology and I think it is important that at Cokethorpe we continue to work together on this. I will pursue my dialogue with fellow Heads. But I would also want to flag up here my hope that, in the new academic year, we as teachers and parents can get together to share ideas and perhaps draw up some appropriate protocols.

Superstars

The Annual Fund was launched last October, seeking small donations towards six small projects of immediate benefit to our pupils. The fund for 2009–2010 comes to a close at the end of this month. It is with great pleasure that I can announce that all these projects have now been completed, or items purchased, with our anticipated target of £10,000 having been far exceeded. I look forward to reporting in more detail about this, and outlining the new projects for the Annual Fund 2010–2011, next term.

Countdown… a vowel and two consonants please, Carol

Lest anyone should interpret any part of this letter as evidence of technophobia, may I say how delighted I am at the launch of the new Cokethorpe ‘App’, which took place on the last day of term. Over 60 people have already downloaded it. It is a natural extension to our website for those with iPhones, and Version 2 is already being planned. So the question is: do we now want a version for the BlackBerry and Android users out there... answers on a postcard, please!

I hope you all have a wonderful summer. Nice to see you, to see you… in September.

Yours sincerely

Damian Ettinger
Headmaster