Principal's Pen

This week in College I have had the great pleasure of helping to judge the annual Dragon’s Den competition for pupils in Year 9. The competition is one of the highlights of the academic calendar as groups of pupils work together to ‘pitch’ their business ideas and their associated branding and marketing strategies.

The World Economic Forum has highlighted six skills that will become increasingly important for young people to master moving forward. It is interesting to note how many of these skills are developed through activities of this nature, and I am always fascinated and inspired to see how well our pupils do when they are put in situations which challenge them in new and exciting ways.

The six skills are:

1. Analytical thinking - using and understanding data to solve complex problems;

2. Creative thinking - developing new ideas and solutions in an environment with increasing automation;

3. Resilience, flexibility and agility - the capacity to adapt to change and handle unexpected challenges;

4. Leadership and social influence - the ability to guide and inspire others;

5. Curiosity and lifelong learning - a proactive approach to acquiring new knowledge and skills; and,

6. Motivation and self awareness - understanding one’s emotions and drive.

It is also interesting to note how many of these skills are incorporated into the College’s new learner profile (see here) which is being embedded throughout our curriculum and which maps the skills beyond the curriculum that we are working to ensure that all of our pupils are mastering.

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

David Tongue
Principal