Sevenoaks School Middle School Diploma Middle School Diploma | Page 2

Introduction
Throughout your time at school you will learn about yourself,
about others and the world in a large variety of ways. Much of this
learning will take place within classrooms; however, a great deal will
also happen outside those walls – through the co-curricular programme,
school trips and excursions, and through day to day encounters with
your peers and members of staff.
In a traditional educational model two assumptions are
frequently made about the nature of learning. The first is
the view that what happens in the classroom is distinct
and detached from what happens outside, and the
second is that academic study is more important than
anything else because that is what leads to success in
the future.
Research shows that these assumptions are false.
A more modern approach takes account of the ways
intellectual, personal and emotional qualities are all
interrelated: what happens outside the classroom is
just as important as what happens inside, because
one influences the other in a very significant way.
Furthermore, successful people are increasingly defined
in terms of things that are not measured by examination
results: your ability to create, to work with others, to
lead, empathise and show commitment will make a
significant difference to how well you do at university
and in the world of work.
the MIDDLE SCHOOL DIPLOMA | AT SEVENOAKS
The Sevenoaks Middle School Diploma is designed to
take account of this way of thinking about the school
curriculum. You are invited to see it as an opportunity to
record many different elements of school life that can
sometimes go unnoticed, to develop personal qualities
and attributes that make you a more fully rounded
person, and to provide you with the means to learn
more effectively.
The Diploma should not be seen as a demand to do
more, but a way to understand the importance of the
activities you engage with, and to reflect on the ways
you learn through them. The end result might be to have
tried things you had not thought of doing before,
to develop a special passion for one thing in particular,
or simply to give more recognition to the things you
do anyway.
We hope you that find the Diploma enjoyable and
fulfilling, and a useful means of support for all elements
of your time in the Middle School.
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