Figure 1.--The aymosphere we noted over and over in the schools we visited ws informal, and friendly but serious. This little girl can't help but check how her friend who, is engrossed in the assignment, is doing. |
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Most preparatory schools are remarably successful educational institutions, providing the choldren a sound grounding in basis maths, reading, and writing--the classic "Three Rs". The schools insist on high academic standards. Some may argue that thi subjects young children to undue pressure. Here schools vary as to the extent this occurs. The generally small class sizes, however, provide a competent teacher the ability to taylor the program to individual needs. Virtually all of the schools stress that they are preparing the childre for the Common Entrance Examination (CEE). Here cramming is not encouraged. Children of normal academic abilities entering a prep school with reasonable grounding, rarely have difficulties with the CEE and gaining entrance to the chosen public school. Often parents want the children to attend their old school. But many a substantial number of parents did not attend public schools. The prep school staff working with the children help the parents select suitable public schools. Those children with the necessary academic ability are encouraged to attemt scholarship work. One of the principal reasons that middle-class parents choose to assume the substantial costs of a preparatory school is tonensure that their children receive a sound grounding in academic skills. Earlier generatios might have stressed character formation, but increasingly mopdern parents are concerned with academics. This concern with adademics and the declining standards at state schools are the principal driving reasonsthat an increasing number of middle-class parenrs are turnung to the private or independent sector as they prefer to be known. In many cases parents of modest means are willing to make the substantial financuial sacrifices required to send their children to a preparatory school.
Most prep scgools expect the children when they begin at age 7-8 years to have basic reading and numeracy skills. Children arriving from the attached pre-preps comes with those skills. Children coming from other schools begin with more varied backgrounds. One benefit of the preo schools, in part because of the generally low ppupil-teacher ratio is that any defiiencies are more likeky to be identified and addressed at an early stage. Some prep schools dealong with more gifted children might not accept children who do not have the need skills. Other schools are willing to accept children having difficulties. Schools often have entry exams for children not coming from the pre-preps. Often these are more to assess academic preparaion than for actual entrance selection.
The quality of instruction that we noted was impressive. The classrooms with the exception of a few beginning teachers were orderly and serious. There were no disruptive students ans the children were engaged and serious. Prep schools unabashedly focus their classroom time on the academic basics. The school day is longer than in the state schools. This varies somewhat by form level. The prep school teacher does not devote large periods of time to non-academic activities. Many sctate schools have programmed large blovcks of time to non-academic activities. This has diluted the academic program with a range of "fun" or "feel good" activitirs. There is also a greater range of ability levels in the state schools than in the prep schools. Perhaps the greatest advantage that the prep school teacher has is that the behavior and motivation of the children. Some state school teachers have to expend considerable energy on a small number of troubled or disruptive children. The state school academic program is further diluted by the penchant of some educators to use the school to address anything that may be wrong with the society at large; vilence, racial prejudice, drugs, ect. These are areas in whhich few schools have demonstrated the ability to successfully address. A further problem is that many state school teachers are inbuded in left-wing attitudes and have become susspious of rewarding clever or academically talented students or providing special prgrams or streammed approaches. Competition is often avoided in the state schools. The focus at prep schools is quite different. For the most part the parents of prep school children have reasonably disciplined them and made it clear that education is important. Academics is at the core if the orogram and there is no hesitancy in promoting competiotion and rewarding academic excelence. One prep school master insisted with some vehemence,
The irony is that prep schools have traditionally addressed non-academic concerns much more effectively --especially character formation. The prep schools are much more capable of addressing such concerns because of the longer academic dayand the individual attention possible becauyse of the low teacher/student ratio. The boarding schools of course are especially capable of addressing a host of concerns. In addition they can offer awide range of extra-curricular activities after the school day without diluting the academic program.
While difficult to judge on the basis of our brief visits, most prep school children are probably a couple years ahead of their countrparts in state schools. Many prep school children graduating at age 13 have completed a substantial part of their "O" level curriculum taken by 16-17 year old British secondary school leavers. (Only about half of English state school students remained in school after age 16 during the 1960s. The Conservative Government in power decided to end universal benefits for 16-17 year olds in 1988. Either as a result of this change, or the recession, yhe number leaving school after 16 dropped sharply. Nearly 75 percent of teenagers in 1994, for example, decided to continue in schol after 16.) One prep school headmaster told us that his leavers at age 13 complete about half of the "O" level course in physics, chemistry, and biology. We rememmber a story carried widely in the British press about a group of 8 year olds at a prep school who were startled to learn that they could answer many of the questions on a test and students at a comprehensive (state secondary) school could not.
The prep schools primary goal is to prepare the children to enter a public school and thus do well in the Common Ectrance Examination (CEE). The schools have, however, more general educational goals. One prep school, Wells House, explained that one of the principal academic aims is to, "... discipline a child in the way he works and thinks, emphasising the essential qualities of care, accuracy, methodical work, concentration, perseverence and the acqquiring of knowledge; and we believe it is possible to develop these qualities while also giving a child interest and satisfaction by using his powers of discovery, imagintion, judgement, originality and self expression." This is a description that most English prep schools would almost certainly endorse.
Specialist instruction varies from school to school. Here both the size of the school and educational approach are factors. Normally there is a gradual increase in specialist teaching as thd children advance through the school. The younger children receive their instruction in form rooms by generalist teachers. Older children recieve instruction from specialist gteachers, but here there is consideable diversity among schools both as to the sibjects taught by specialist teachers and the age the children shift from form room instructioin to specialist teachers. Some ubjects such as foreign language, art, and science are normally taught by specialist teachers. The pattern for other subjects is more varied.
The curriculum varies somewhat by school, but is realitively standard as it is geared toward success on the Common Entrance Examination. The normal prep school curriculum includes maths, English, science, French, history, geography, religious studies, information technology, music, art, physical education, and games. Note that games is considered by most schools to be an important part of the curriculum. The basic curriculum has remained standard for some time. The major change in recent years has been "information technology" and here of course we are talking about the computer. Emphasis on these subjects varies from school to school, especially on the enphasis given to the fine arts. Latin is taught at virtually all the schools. Here there aredifferences from school to school depending on the school's academic focus. Often Latin is introducded to the children in Form Three. Ancient Greek is taught in many schools, for the top set or scholarship group.
Most schools schefdule examinations at the end of each term to assess a child's progress and to serve as the bais for the progress report forwarded to the parents. The schools seek for the children to take examinations in their stride without "undue" preparations. The idea being that that their efforts during the term will yield successful exam results. Most schools seek to help their pupils avoid "exam fright". One school, Widford Lodge, schedules an exam each week on one of the seven major subjects during the Wintervand Spring terms under exam conditions. Thus on one Friday there will be a maths exam, the next Friday a French exam, ans so forth. Once the seven subjects have been covered, the series is repeated. The school believes that this helps most children loose their fear of examinations.
The particularly impressive achievement of the prep schools is that they are achieving their results for the most part with average children. While a few schools like the Dragon School are geared to particularly clever (bright) children, most deal with a broad cross-section of abilities. Most school stress that they deal with children with varied abilities. Josca's indicates that they cater to academically gifted children, but also welcomes "... those whose talents are practical and artistic". Many schools such as Northaw stress that they believe "the not-so-bright boy to be as important as the bright one, and make sympathetic allowances".
The indisputedly high standards achieved by the prepschools can not, in all firness to the many committed educators in the state system, be enyirely attributed to the schools alone. Prep school children, for the most part, are a mixed ability group, but even so they are by definition a select group. Teachers at prep schools have many advantages over their counterparts in the state system.
Schools vary in how they work with the children. Commonly a child is informed every 2-3 weeks about his or her form position. His rogress is carefully monitored. Particular attention is paid to the effort they put into their work as weel as the results achieved. Parents generally receive half-term and end of the term reports, although if a child is having difficulties, most schools will contact the parents beforehand to discuss the matter. There is little effort made to keep the child's academic progress private. At many school class standings are announced openly in the form rooms. Most schools post or publish results so that a child and his friends know just where he sands in the class. Class standings are closely followed and even commented on by the children.
The children can be very impressive. Their grammar and maths skills are generally supperior to comparable children in the state system. Perhaps even more important, they seem to be genuinely enthusiastic about learning. We found during our slide lectures that some children are able to ask sophisticated questions.I always tried to chose at least some of the younger ones from the forst of raised hands after a lecture. Some of their questions were priceless. One of my favorites was a little chap who just couldn't wait to find out which was the "friendliest" wale. Some of the older children can pose quite interesting questions concerning matters such as whale sleep and under water communications which have not yet been thoroughly researched. I remember being approached by a bright-faced 12-year old who asked in a most adult manner, " Sir, a few technical questions ..."
Many parents put their children down for specific Public Schools. Often the parents have selected a Public School the father or other relative went there as a boy. Sometimes they have not carefully accessed thair child's academic capabilities and whether that school was suitable in other ways. A prep school headmaster is responsible to make sure that the parents and boy are selecting a suitable school and that the child passess the CEE to a standard required by the chosen school. Quite often the headmaster has the delicate task of telling parents that a desired school is not suitable for their child. Most parents give great credence to a headmaster advise, but some are insistent on specific schools. As a result, the vast majority of prep school boys succeeded in gaining entrance to the desired school. This sometimes has distressing consequences. When the results are announced and a child is rejected, the headmaster is left with a very disappointed boy and the job of trying to find a Public School which will take him.
The basic measure of a school's academic success is its effectiveness in preparing children for the Common Entrance Examination (CEE) for public school entry. Many schools emphasize their success in helping their leavers win scholarships, but CEE passes are more indicative of the overall school program as only a few children actually earn scholarships. Schools could obtain more scholarship awards if there entry was limited to the most acacademically talented children. But as Moor Park explains, "... the school would become a hot house for forcing the growth of only glamerous academic flowers". Most schools accept children with a ride range of abilities. Even so, the schools are generally able to get all of their leavers successfully through the CEE each year. This is partially due to the quality of the academic program, but also care in guiding the parents in selecting an appropriate public school. One headmaster explains that in 15 years with 25-30 pupils passing on to their senior school each year , only four boys failed to get to the school for which they sat an exam. Another headmaster over an even longer period remembered only three boys that failed to gain admission tothe chosen public school. These are impressive results, but most prep schools report comparable results. Some schools counsel parents with less academically gifted children to enter their child at about age 11 for which concentrate on "O" levelwork rather than "A" levels. For our non-British readrs, "A" and "O" levels are tests children completing their secondary schools take. Here the students can choose what subjects they want to be tested on. "O" levels means an ordinary test. "A" levels mean advance or university entrance level tests.
Many schools have a special class doing scholarship work. This is composed of the most academically advanced children who are preparing for the scholarship examinations at the public scgoll they are planning to attend. At some schools they may be referred to as the upper VIth. Scholarship work often reaches an academic level roughly comparable to "O" level results for older secondary-level students. One headmaster estimated that scholarship work would require about 2 years of study beyond normal CEE standard. Often the headmaster at the prep schools takes a special interest in the scholar ship group, commonly teaching some of the classes. Because many girls leave their prep schools at age 11, these sccholarship groups are mostly boys.
Public schools offer a certain number of scholarships which areopen for annual competitions. These scholarships are much sought after, not only because of the substanial amount of money involved, but also because of the academic honor involved. Winning one of the scholarships is a prestigious achievement. The scholarships won by the pupils is a matter of some prestige to the prep schools involved. They are used by the schools as a reflection of the teaching standards at ththe school. The public school scholarship papers, unlike the standard CEE, are prepared separately by each school and differ so widely that no generalization can be made. The examinations are highly competitive and demand a much higher standard of workthan that of the ordinary CEE. At most schools, the children are taken out of the normal CEE preparation forms at about age 11 so that they can begin to prepare for the scholarship examination, although this varies somewhat depending on the school's streaming policy. Often the scholarship class is form VI, although the form structure is not unifirm at all prep schools. Many schools warn that the standards for scholarship papers are very difficult and it is not beneficial to force children of average ability to attempt such a rigorous undertaking. Most schools may, however, encourage some academically talented chikldren capable of the more rigorouus preparation to do scholarship work even if it is unlikely that they will actually win a scholarship award.
Assessing the program at a prep school is a complicated undertaking. The facilities are the easiest aspect to evaluate. The academic program is much more complivated. There are some easily obtainable indicators. Britain publishes the composite results achieved at each school on a standardized test. The results are known as the School League test results. Of course the results here are not a perfect indicator of the overall program or the suitability of a school to any given child. These academic results, however, are a useful indicator and it is helpful to have some objective (non-subjective) indicators as a beginning point in assessing a school. There are two other easily obtainable indicators that should be considered. Most prep schools have a favorable student to staff ratio. This may well be the most important single indicator setermining the quality of the program. This will generally mean that there are small average class sizes. It is important to obtain both indicators when assessing the school program. These objective indicators should be just the beginning point in assessing the academic programs, but they are very important indicators to obtain.
