After writing my newsletter piece that featured this pair of cutesome mini-cats two weeks ago, I have to say that I have never had so many comments from readers afterwards. It seemed that including some inspiration from these endearing critters was the author’s equivalent of – well – catnip for cats. I started to gain some insight into why those ever-present cat videos on YouTube get so many watches…` 

For those of you who, on the other hand, cannot really be doing with something as frivolous as junior jellicles forming some sort of tenuous link to an otherwise valid educational point, you will be relieved to hear that the rest of this week’s piece is not, in fact, going to be focused on kittens at all. 

This year, we are undertaking a cycle of engagement as staff to review and revise the principles that underpin our planning and lesson delivery. Four areas, or ‘pillars’, identified by cognitive psychologist and neuroscientist Stanislas Dehaene are providing the structure for this. None, in themselves, is ‘new’ in the revelatory sense, but understanding how the latest neuroscience informs and validates each pillar’s function in the learning process is refreshing and compelling. The first ‘pillar’ for this term so far has been ‘Attention’. It is self-evident that this is essential for learning. Clearly, without attention, learning cannot occur. In determining what it is going to pay attention to, the brain acts as a filter, allowing us to focus on relevant information while ignoring distractions. Understanding that relevance – why something is important to learn – is a selective process vital for encoding information into memory.?How we as teachers can ensure and enhance attention using a variety of techniques is the first building block for everything else, and for our year of discussions and idea sharing. 

Oftentimes, deciding what we should not pay attention to is as important to positive outcomes as deciding what we should pay attention to. This was a principle well demonstrated indeed by the 1st XI football team this week, who enjoyed an excellent victory in their ISFA Shield match against Kingston Grammar School with an extraordinary 6-5 scoreline. The team found themselves on the wrong end of a reportedly rather mysterious penalty decision by the independent referee. Paying it little heed, and with no protestation, the boys did themselves proud by shaking it off, pressing on resolute, and coming away with the win. Congratulations to those boys, and also to those in at least two teams who in their matches against Elstree last Saturday also learned valuable lessons in ‘attention’ after conceding goals early on due to a lack of it, and then pulling things around significantly to produce a much, much better performance in the second half. Such moments are invaluable in the learning and development of any team, whether on the playing field or in the classroom. 

Returning to what I wrote near the start of this piece, it won’t have escaped you that I have, of course, done exactly as before in bringing kittens in at the beginning as a tenuous link.  

Got your attention though, didn’t it?... 

Tim Butcher
Headmaster