What Is The Swanbourne Spirit?
Sunday 9 May 2021
A guest blog from Jane Thorpe, Head of Swanbourne House, on the Swanbourne Spirit…
First featured in the April 21 edition of Celebrate:MK
“We talk a lot about the Swanbourne Spirit, and it’s quite a difficult thing to define, but an easy thing to see and feel. A broad range of individuals with different passions, interests and characters come to Swanbourne, but we see the Swanbourne Spirit coursing them through all in different ways during their life at the school. The Swanbourne Spirt is about courage, trying new things with energy and not being afraid to fail. Being kind and considerate, with a strength and ambition to rise to challenge and to succeed. It’s about a resilience in picking yourself up, adapting and going again, being a team player and a leader when needed. Being an independent worker, thinking creatively to solve problems and being honest with yourself in reflecting on the job you’ve done. It’s about a passion and excitement for learning and adventure.
At Swanbourne, we’ve recently introduced the Pre-Senior Baccalaureate (PSB) as our Years 7 & 8 assessment framework. The PSB is key to us in supporting the children to identify and develop the many skills and character traits needed for the 21st Century – character traits we believe make up the Swanbourne Spirit. Academic rigour remains at the heart of learning but the focus of the journey is not preparing children to pass outdated tests and exams; it’s about arming them with relevant and broad subject knowledge and the skills required to apply and extend their learning both at and beyond school.
The PSB allows children to learn and be assessed in different ways – how do they perform in leadership roles? Are they able to collaborate effectively as part of a team? Do they show resilience in the face of adversity and put forward creative solutions to overcome problems? We see the PSB as giving us a platform to send children on their journey with a self-esteem boost, hungry and inspired to go out and meet the world, confident in their abilities and fortitude having developed their own individual Swanbourne Spirit. We are extremely proud of our pupils and receive excellent feedback from their Senior Schools.”
Discover more…
Q&A on the PSB from Mrs Mitchell, Deputy Head of Academics at Swanbourne House
More on Enrichment at Swanbourne House
Swanbourne House is an independent day and boarding prep school in Buckinghamshire, near Milton Keynes, Woburn, Leighton Buzzard, Aylesbury and Buckingham. To find out more about our Open Day or to book a private tour, please click here.