No.129
There is not a hint of what lies round
the corner, not least around the
corner of our astonishingly serene
buildings, erected in 1382 to launch a
new form of education in the wake of
the unprecedented global catastrophe
of the Black Death. Out of that
pestilence, historian George Holmes
argued, came the flowering of the
Renaissance.
Those who have the outstanding
resources of an outstanding school
at their disposal, courtesy of their
parents and the Foundation, let them
use them. Let them never say in the
future that, educated in a privileged
context, they failed to see the
Founder’s time-honoured messages
of hard work and attention to detail
clear on the ancient mediaeval walls.
Rhetoric ends. Provision continues.
The disciplined work has already
commenced.
From the remote-learning guide by the
Director of Studies and the Undermaster:
High expectations will be maintained.
The ‘remote’ in ‘remote learning’
signifies the distance from the
teaching environment, not the
distance by which the exercise falls
short of the achievement of proper
learning. Remote learning must be
approached with seriousness if it
is to be successful. In many ways
remote learning provides an excellent
opportunity for further development
of the habits of self-motivation
and self-discipline so requisite in
undergraduate life.
Summary of remote-learning
arrangements:
Face-to-face contact (at least of the
digital sort) is maintained through
daily registrations with pupils’ div
don and live lessons on Skype. Your
editor taught a JP Beginners’ Latin
lesson to pupils in USA (where it was
early morning), India, Thailand and
Hong Kong (where it was evening).
Work is set, resourced, submitted,
marked and reviewed through
The Trusty Servant
OneNote. The div task remains at
the weekend. Tech-savvy dons are
able to share video clips and links to
a variety of other internet resources.
Pupils in V Book and VI Book 1 will
receive calculated grades for their
external exams, with the option to sit
the papers in the autumn.
From the Second Master’s guide for pupils
to extra-curricular provision:
There is an exciting, refreshing
opportunity for us all to think
critically about our working practices.
Under normal circumstances we
encourage you to take the direction
or technical method of your enquiry
to unexpected or unfamiliar places.
Challenges, which can appear to
present restrictions or barriers, may
actually encourage fluid thinking,
problem solving and a focus on what
lies at the heart of the enquiry.
Isolation only has to be physical; we
are all connected, and we will all be
increasingly reliant on our online
connection to provide ourselves
with the human contact we all need.
We are all on hand to provide the
pastoral support that you are used
to at school, albeit via a different
delivery.
The Music Department will also be
sharing inspiration via Twitter
(@WinCollMusic) with a new
piece of music every day, including
throughout the holidays, for you to
listen to. Mr Thomas promises that it
won’t just be Classical!
The Art School team plans to curate
and run a small digital exhibition
program celebrating pupils’
achievements, so there will continue
to be opportunities to share your
work with a wider audience.
The staff at the PE Centre have
uploaded video demonstrations of
multiple exercises, many of which
you can do with bodyweight if you
do not have access to dumbbells and
barbells. There are also numerous
circuit-style exercise routines to
2
try out and links to practice drills
across different sports, as well as
relevant sports documents which will
hopefully be of interest. This will be
updated regularly over the coming
weeks. You might want to challenge
your peers to perform some of the
workouts at the same time as you, or
undertake a skill/technical exercise
and share your performance.
The Drama team has compiled a list
of famous monologues that every
actor/literature student will want
to learn. Feel free to have a go at
mastering any of them. There will be
an opportunity to perform these (or
any other piece of your choosing) at
our online monologue evening. Pupils
can also sign up for tuition in writing
a play and public speaking and take
part in an online radio play and a
virtual meeting of SROGUS.
Dons are also sending out a Thought
for the Day (first three on Henley’s
‘Invictus’, Larkin’s ‘Trees’ and
Uccello’s St Paul and the Dragon). The
Head of English is recommending
a Book of the Week (Robinson’s
Housekeeping and Wordsworth’s
Lyrical Ballads first up). And Nick
MacKinnon is setting a puzzle of
the week, beginning with a guide to
solving cryptic crosswords.
We hope that through all these endeavours
the collegiate life which William of
Wykeham instituted will continue to
flourish.