Perse Girls Junior School

THE riots that swept the country last summer were heralded by many – including the Prime Minister - as a sign of the country’s moral collapse.

David Cameron recently told Church of England clergy that a return to Christian values could counter a “passive tolerance” of immoral behaviour which culminated in the widespread violence, vandalism and looting witnessed in cities - including Cambridge - in August.

The principal of the Stephen Perse Foundation Tricia Kelleher, however, disagrees and says it is human character which now defines the nation’s framework and not religion.

With youngsters at the Stephen Perse Foundation reflecting Cambridge’s rich tapestry of nationalities and faiths, Miss Kelleher has challenged the Government to turn its back on league tables and, instead, concentrate on creating well-rounded individuals with a strong moral compass and reasoning skills.

While the Stephen Perse Foundation - made up of the Perse Girls Junior and Perse Girls Senior schools as well as a mixed sixth form and pre-prep - was ranked third in Cambridgeshire in the newly-published league tables with 98 per cent of pupils achieving five GCSEs grades A* to C including maths and English, Miss Kelleher says the accolade is meaningless.

Tricia Kelleher, principal of the Stephen Perse Foundation, Cambridge.

She said: “They are not a true reflection of what a school is about. It is not just about academic achievement and reporting on league tables is a distraction.

“Christianity is not everyone’s framework.

“Faith is not what holds us together as a community – it is character.”

And with the Perse Girls Junior school creating its own curriculum to encourage learning by developing desirable character traits, Miss Kelleher is passionate about sharing its findings with the state sector.

Youngsters in the junior school currently study all their subjects through seven designated ‘thinking skills’ – which include creative thinking and decision making – and 20 learning habits, among them empathy, curiosity, precision and risk taking.

This means they take a skill such as ‘critical thinking’ and apply it to a carefully picked scenario to incorporate a spectrum of ‘curriculum’ subjects including maths, English, geography, history and information technology.

And while the curriculum needs to be a little more restrictive at the Perse Girls Senior School in order for pupils to follow GCSE courses, each girl is ‘given’ an iPad through which they channel their learning with Miss Kelleher harbouring an ambition to create desk-free ‘21st century’ classrooms.

She said: “Because we are in a privileged position we can afford to experiment with these things.

“But the frustration is we aren’t able to share enough of it outside the school with the policy makers.

“I think it’s really important that we can step outside our little community and help shape ideas and innovation in education without it being seen as us blowing our own trumpet.

“We would like to look at what the state sector is doing and add our best practices.”

Miss Kelleher said it would be easy, as academically selective schools with few behavioural problems, for the foundation to rest on its laurels and simply prepare the girls to achieve top marks in exams.

She said, however, this would not benefit the students on arrival in the workplace where skills such as teamwork, flexibility and negotiating skills are called for.

This is why those applying to enter the Perse Girls Senior School aged 11 undertake a group challenge as part of the selection procedure.

“Some of the girls shining are not necessarily the most academic ones and it gives the staff a much more rounded view of individuals,” said Miss Kelleher.

Admiring the work carried out in the early academies established by the previous Government in an attempt to turn around failing schools, Miss Kelleher said encouraging students to become curious learners is the key to success.

“I think we’re all born wanting to learn,” she said.

“Some young people have become detached from the world around us but inside them is a curious learner.

“Part of the problem some schools have is that it’s boring and that’s why the pupils behave badly and don’t want to go there.”

Miss Kelleher said the Stephen Perse Foundation is establishing greater links with the state sector in Cambridge – mainly by sharing practices with teachers at inset days.

It was recently awarded funding to run a digital art project with the feeder schools to Manor Community College in Arbury.

Deputy headteacher of the Perse Girls Junior School Susan Roberts said children are rewarded in terms of house points for developing qualities including curiosity and self-belief as they would be for academic success.

“It varies for every individual but for some children putting their hand up in class to ask a question demonstrates their ability to deal with uncertainties as does talking to a pupil who is new who they don’t know they can be friends with,” she said.

“In the past perhaps these things were assumed a given and it might not be until someone enters the world of work that they might think ‘I thought I was flexible and now I realise I’m not’.”

JOIN THE DEBATE: Email your thoughts on Miss Kelleher’s views to CambridgeFirst@archant.co.uk