Formal meetings are held regularly to discuss and monitor the boys’ work and progress but the school also encourages informal discussion on a regular basis. We recognise, in particular, the major influence exerted by parents in forming a child’s general attitudes, organisation and self-discipline. Parents are encouraged to maintain contact with the teaching staff, especially at the end of the school day and through the parents’ meetings so that an effective partnership between school and home is forged. There are written reports twice a year.
From an early age, whilst being given sufficient opportunity to enjoy their childhood, the boys are encouraged to adopt a responsible approach to their studies. Their motivation is of great importance, especially as major exams approach. Homework is used to support learning in school. An appropriate, age-related, amount of formal work is set for the younger boys with an emphasis placed, at first, on reading and early number skills.
Homework increases gradually throughout the school. In the Senior House, boys are set a daily assignment lasting up to forty minutes a night. This increases considerably in the final years as Common Entrance approaches. Parents are asked to supervise this work but the ideal is that boys take responsibility for their own studies. Where a child experiences specific difficulties with an area of the curriculum, part-time learning support staff provide assistance, sometimes individually but more often in small groups.