Educator Training Days
Heritage School is receiving increasing attention in the media and across the sector as a school with a distinctive approach. Drawing on our grounding in the unique philosophy and methodology of Charlotte Mason and a commitment to question the use of digital technology in schools, we are happy to share some elements of our unique curriculum with others in the educational community.
This Training Day has been developed for school leaders, practitioners and those in education generally who want to learn about narration, how to do it, why it is so effective, and how you can apply it to your current learning environment. In addition, you will find out how to implement nature study, walks and painting into your learning environment and how to use ‘high culture’ to enrich learning (such as Picture Study). You will also learn about the underlying principles behind these educational practices. The lesson observations are focussed in the Junior School where these methodologies are mainly used at Heritage.
This is a unique opportunity to gain CPD in a distinctive approach.
Details for the Day
Date: Tuesday 14th May 2024
Timings: 9.45 am – 3.30 pm
Cost: £120 per person
Numbers: We are pleased to offer up to 8 places for the Educator Training Day on a first come, first served basis.
Registration: Please use our booking form if you would like to sign-up for the day. A small amount of pre-reading will be provided. Closing date for registration is Monday 6th May.
Items to bring:
- Please bring walking shoes for the Nature Walk in the afternoon.
- Please bring a coat in case of rain.
- Please bring photographic proof of identity such as a passport or drivers licence.
Directions: Heritage School is located in the centre of Cambridge close to the Fitzwilliam Museum on Trumpington Road, 17-19 Brookside, CB2 1JE.
If you wish to come by public transport, the Cambridge train station is a 15 minute walk from our school, and the Trumpington Park and Ride has a stop just opposite our location (outside the Leys School)
https://cambridgeparkandride.info/trumpington.shtml
There is also long term Pay and Display parking on Trumpington Street across from the Botanic Gardens, and at Lammas Land on Newnham Road
https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/lammas-land-car-park
The Queen Anne Terrace car park is also an option
Schedule for the Day
9.45 am – Arrive and Report to office
10.00 am – Welcome and Introductions in the Meeting Room
10.20 am – Seminar 1 on Narration
11.00 am – Lesson Observation 1 (e.g. History)
11.30 am – Lesson Observation 2 (e.g. Picture Study)
12.00 noon – Lesson Observation 3 (e.g. Natural History)
12.30 pm – Lunch
1.15 pm – Seminar 2 on A Knowledge-Rich Curriculum
2.00 pm – Nature Walk and Nature Painting
3.00 pm – Seminar 3 on The Benefits of Nature Education and concluding discussion/questions
3.30 pm – Depart
What our Visitors Say
‘In adopting many of the principles of a leading female Victorian educationalist The Heritage School is going back to the future. Its educational philosophy provides a brilliant preparation for modern life whilst utilising all that we can learn from the past.’
Martin Stephen – author and former Headmaster of The Perse School Cambridge, High Master of Manchester Grammar School and High Master of St Paul’s School London described as “one of Britain’s highest profile heads.”
‘As a small school, Heritage delivers a personalised education to every child. This is no cookie cutter education but one where all are treated as individuals. It is one of the most authentically values driven schools that I had ever visited or worked in. Kindness and care ripple along every corridor and are present in every classroom and interaction. All are treated with respect and are heard. Driven by a rigorous analysis and application of the work of 19th century educator Charlotte Mason, the school offers a rich, knowledge-based curriculum that develops thinking, memory and oracy skills. Heritage protects its students from the worst ravages of modern life, but at the same time fully prepares them with the skills to face a complex world. It is a rare gem of a school.’
David Mansfield has led four different schools, most recently the Chinese international school in Shanghai, YK Pao School and before that Dulwich School Beijing. He has also been Director of Cambridge Assessment., and is now CEO and Dean of Buckingham International School of Education and the Senior Advisor to Pao School.
‘The Fletchers have created a deeply impressive and thoughtful syllabus for their pupils, richly steeped in art, poetry, Latin, music, God and nature. They teach their pupils to think, appreciate, imagine and wonder in a profound manner. It is the kind of education needed more than ever in this fast and furious world. Somehow they have clothed the intellectual rigour in gentleness so the children are serene, curious and happily stimulated rather than pushed, anxious and stressed. The education offered at the Heritage School seems to me to be the opposite of the shallow, frenetic, tech-heavy fare meted out in so many other schools. The school is a true gem and, when we realise the neurological damage which digital learning is doing to our children, I believe the Heritage methodology will become the norm rather than the outlier. The Fletchers may herald the best of tradition but they are in fact progressives, in the best sense of the word.’
Lady Sophie Windsor/Sophie Winkleman – actress and campaigner for limiting screens for young people in education and more broadly in society.
“The calm and caring atmosphere is apparent the moment you enter the school and see pupils going about their day with focus and passion. I got a real sense of how teachers encourage both intellectual and spiritual development, something that is so important given the world today.’
Mark Lehain – Head of Education at the CPS (Centre for Policy Studies). Prior to this he was a Special Adviser at the Department for Education. He set up and was Principal of Bedford Free School between 2012 and 2017, and since then has run Parents & Teachers for Excellence, the New Schools Network, and the Campaign for Common Sense.