Ben Thomas, Headmaster at Thomas’s Battersea, Prince George’s £6,000-a-term private preparatory school, where he discusses the importance of a broad curriculum…
Words: Madeleine Howell
This interview first appeared in SW Resident in October 2016
As our children return to school, it’s important to foster a love of learning that reaches beyond exam results and league tables. For Ben Thomas, who has been the Headmaster at Thomas’s in Battersea for 17 years, it’s ‘a drum that [he] has to bang harder and harder, because of the surge in competition to achieve results’.
Thomas has concerns over the pressures of the 11+, and suggests that too much focus on box-ticking can be counter-productive: ‘The exam reduces everything to English, Maths and reasoning, at an age where children’s minds ought to be being opened to the wonders of the world, and to the fascinating possibilities of science,’ he explains. ‘I’m not a huge fan of the 11+ process at all, and I wish we could find a better way.’
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here