insideKENT Magazine Issue 30 - September 2014 | Page 152

EDUCATION IN ASSOCIATION WITH Bromley High School GDST Creativity in the Classroom “Knowledge”, Einstein observed, “is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” In order to be ready for a professional life where their knowledge will need to be constantly updated, expanded and refreshed, pupils, like Theoretical Physicists, need to learn to look to the future and to dream. So, whilst inspirational teachers will always make the acquisition of knowledge an exhilarating experience, the best education will also nurture a capacity for creative imagination in young people. In my school, every topic explored in our bespoke Junior School Creative Curriculum has a mindopening, eye-opening and imagination-opening function. Freed from the shackles of the National Curriculum, by Key Stage One girls take an exploratory, experimental approach to the investigation of topics like ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ where they encounter every kind of animal – extinct, mythical, imaginary and endangered – finding wiggly worms in our Forest School, searching for evidence of dinosaurs with Professor Bones, creating our own dinosaur habitats, writing about their own mythical creatures. Birla Girls’ School in India encourages girls to reflect deeply on issues of sustainability – ‘to act local and think global.’ Every long suffering modern parent who has unwittingly failed to recycle a newspaper or switch off a light, will know how zealous youngsters are to implement the new 4 Rs at home: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Repair! Crucially, the cultivation of creative energy and imagination fuels aspiration far beyond the confines of the curriculum. Those who have enjoyed the privilege of an excellent education should always be properly ambitious: both to make the most of their talents and to change their world for the better. Great teachers have always known that it makes learning fun to set the textbooks to one side from time to time but there is also a greater moral purpose in the cultivation of imagination because imagination is a key component in empathy. New technologies are giving pupils across Britain an inspirational window onto a wider world. Skyping, sharing letters, images and emails give today’s pupils an insight into the thoughts and concerns of children living lives very different from their own. Our link with Sushila Angela Drew, Headmistress, Bromley High School 152 Please contact the school via our website: www.bromleyhigh.gdst.net or our admissions office on [email protected] or Tel [phone] to arrange a visit. We look forward to meeting your daughter. Bromley High School GDST Blackbrook Lane Bickley Bromley BR1 2TW Open Morning: Saturday 4th October 2014, 9.30 am – 1.00 pm Sixth Form Open Evening: Tuesday 7th October 2014, 6.45 pm