Father Creates New Booklet to Help Daughter Make Good Choices

Timothy Melchior, a concerned parent, created a booklet called How to Make Good Choices (http://howtomakegoodchoices.org) to help his daughter cope with difficult social situations and is now sharing this booklet with other parents.

Los Angeles, California  November 02, 2011.

Film and video producer, Timothy Melchior, recently created a booklet to help his daughter, Chelsea, make her way in an increasingly complex social environment. Entitled “How to Make Good Choices” (http://howtomakegoodchoices.org), the booklet offers practical advice to youngsters on how to make their own decisions as they go through life.

How to Make Good Choices Booklet

“Anyone who has kids wants them to be happy above all else,” Melchior says, “and this happiness comes as a direct result of making good decisions in life. Yet these kids are being bombarded with negative, confusing and conflicting messages as to what they should do. The only solution is to give them practical guidelines they can use to make up their own minds.”

Based on the International Best Seller, “The Way to Happiness”, by L. Ron Hubbard, How to Make Good Choices offers kids an opportunity to examine their actions and determine if they will lead to happiness or unhappiness. “The Way to Happiness” is a very wise book”, Melchior says,” it explains how leading a moral and ethical life is necessary if one wants to be happy. But that book was written for adults. These days, kids are even more desperately in need of positive direction. This has traditionally been the province of Churches and Schools, but these institutions have left the playing field. It’s now up to the parents, and they have to compete with a constant barrage of negative and conflicting messages from the mass media. I’d like to think that my booklet will help them level the field.”

How to Make Good Choices gives kids guidelines like “Take Care of Yourself”, “Set a Good Example” and “Be Worthy of Trust.” Like “The Way to Happiness” on which it is based, How to Make Good Choices is entirely non-religious and based solely on common sense. “These are principles which everyone can agree upon, regardless of their religious beliefs”, says home school parent, Chel Stith, “In fact, one chapter is entitled “Respect the Religious Beliefs of Others.” The booklet is also not political. “The only remotely political statement in the booklet”, Chel says is “Support a Government Run for All the People.”

It is this non-religious and non-political nature of How to Make Good Choices that make it appropriate for both public and private schools as well as after-school groups. Indeed, the booklet has been used as part of several different programs teaching values to kids from six years old to eighteen and older. Jenny Gaynor, an Elementary School Teacher who used the booklet with her class says, ”This book is a godsend. To have such a booklet that the child can have as his own, can read, can relate to and can comprehend is a lifesaver the likes of which I can hardly describe. Right now they are wading through a morass of unethical behavior in the society, on the Internet, in music, on their cell phones, TV, movies, not to mention on the street. To give them this priceless tool and arm them "against a sea of trouble" is a must.”

Mark McQuade, Deputy Principal of Greenfields school in England, says, “We settle just about all our upsets and disputes with the Good Choices Booklet. The kids get it, and like it to be applied to themselves.”

So, how does Mr. Melchior feel about the reception of his booklet so far? “Overwhelming,” is the word he uses. “I had no idea how many people were in the same situation that I was. Apparently this is a huge problem and people are very concerned about it. Everyone wants his or her own children to be happy, but achieving that in this society has become increasingly difficult. Hopefully the Good Choices booklet will help.”

Two versions of the booklet exist, one for younger kids from six to twelve and another for tweens and teens. Samples of the booklets can be seen at http://www.howtomakegoodchoices.org

A brochure explaining the best way to use the booklet and some creative suggestions on implementing the principles is also offered with every order.

via PRweb

School Christmas Fair - Forest Row, East Sussex

GREENFIELDS CHRISTMAS FAIR

Saturday 3rd December 12pm to 4pm

Stalls for craft/food/gifts etc - cost £10 - BOOK NOW!

• Raffle
• Father Christmas
• Festive Food
• Creative Activities
• Stalls and Crafts
• Carol Singing by School Choir

FREE ENTRANCE - ALL WELCOME!!!

Tel: 01342 822189

How to Find Us

Greenfields School
Priory Road
Forest Row
East Sussex
RH18 5JD

Directions from Gatwick or London:

• Turn onto M23 South
• Take turn off to East Grinstead
• Follow A22 through East Grinstead
• Take a right at the first roundabout onto Priory
  Road
• Greenfields is 1 mile on the right.

View Larger Map

Greenfields School Pupil, Harry Wood, is joint winner of The Carol Barnes Courageous Child of the Year Award 2011

Saluting our heroes in The Argus newspaper

Harry Wood on stage at the Theatre Royal Brighton

The Argus Achievement Awards ceremony was held on 2 Oct 2011 at Theatre Royal Brighton. The master of ceremonies was newsreader Nick Owen.

Joint winners of The Carol Barnes Courageous Child of the Year Award 2011 were:

Harry Wood (appears in the last few seconds of the video), David Edwards, Rhien Browning, Charlie Allen, Maisie Smith, Millie Davis, Craig Beckett and Stephen Robinson.

And here's the link to the video Harry made to thank the doctors and everyone who wished him well after his accident and during his recovery, that earned him his award: http://grnfldsschool.blogspot.com/2011/02/teenager-praises-hospital-that-rebuilt.html

Each of the 8 winners of the award were given a 'front page'-style framed certificate and a cheque for £100!

Another awardee whom Harry was pretty chuffed to meet was former Chelsea FC footballer, now manager of Brighton and Hove Albion FC, Gus Poyet for his Contribution to Sussex Sport.

Doctor Who Finale "The Wedding of River Song"

Doctor Who: The Wedding of River Song Photograph: Adrian Rogers/BBC Worldwide

I was discussing the latest Doctor Who finale “The Wedding of River Song” with a friend and we agreed that the series was growing a little tiring after a while, constantly focusing on the Doctor and the mystery of him. We wished we could just get in the TARDIS, save the world and get back in the TARDIS. We both loved Stephen Moffat’s “Blink” episode but she wondered if he was being a bit too clever, perhaps.

I had more mixed feelings including a little relief, because I was afraid through the series that Moffat was steering the ship towards the rocks. Some of the earlier episodes were so complex and basically undramatic (for various technical reasons) that I found myself 'switching off' emotionally and I thought this was foreshadowing a series and serious catastrophe. Ratings have dropped since Russell T Davies left and things looked perilous; Davies was good at grounding even the most outlandish moments in real human drama, tragic or comic. Moffat delights in plots so convoluted that fantasy disappears up its own artifice while character and humanity become sideshows.

But this finale provided many cool moments (too many to list, but Amy appearing out of the mist wearing an eye-patch has to rate for something) and backdrops which were engaging on a different level, plus it seemed to handle the central misdirection of the show and thereby open the door to a fresh new era.

By that I mean that for too long now the show has been about the Doctor himself and his ever-growing role in the universe, to the point where the character had become god-like, a living myth, whose shadow fell across every plotline and episode. I hankered after the old days when the Doctor himself was an untouched mystery, when the Tardis simply arrived, had an adventure and then left. For many years we didn't know anything at all about the Doctor- and we didn't need to know. That central unknown lay at the core of the show, lending strength to even the most tepid storyline.

Now it's become 'The Doctor Show' and that has been detrimental, I think.

Yes, I know that there is the question of The Question ('Doctor Who?') and that seems to suggest even more burrowing down into fundamentals that should stay buried, but the hint that the Doctor will 'return to the shadows' gives me hope that the power of the show's original format will re-assert itself and we can look forward to more exciting stuff than of late.

Grant Hudson
Head Teacher
Greenfields School

School Open Day at Greenfields - Wednesday 5th October 2011

Greenfields Independent Day and Boarding School, is a small, friendly caring safe school in a rural location using proven study methods and a strong moral code ensuring happy students, no bullying, no drugs and successful graduates. Students aged 3 to 18 receive an all-round education for life. We provide National Curriculum, Montessori pre-school, junior and senior schooling, 6th form and English Language unit with excellent academic results.

We invite you to tour the school and find out what makes our students so successful.

There is another Open Day on Wednesday, 2nd November. You can see all important school dates for the winter term here. 

Priory Road, Forest Row, East Sussex, RH18 5JD
www.greenfieldsschool.com
admissions@greenfieldsschool.com
01342 822189

Greenfields School - Welcome to A New Academic Year

Greenfields School, Forest Row, East Sussex, England

Welcome to a new academic year. Below you'll find some important dates on the Greenfields School calendar for the winter term:

• Wed 5th Oct - Open Day
• Thur 20th Oct - Parents' Evening
• Mon 24th Oct - Half Term

• Wed 2nd Nov - Open Day
• Thurs 3rd Nov - PTA Meeting
• Thurs 17th - 24th Nov - Mock Exams

• Mon 5th Dec - Pre-school Nativity Play
• Fri 9th Dec - Junoir Christmas Play
• Wed 14th Dec - Last Day of Term

View a complete school calendar here.

Boarding students must arrive the day before term starts and leave the day after term finishes. School days start at 9:00am and end at 3:30pm for the Pre-school, Infants and Juniors and at 4:30pm for the Senior School, unless noted otherwise.

Comics, comics, comics!

Credit: Ryan Hyde

I have mentioned in an earlier article that I have in my possession a collection of comics dating back to the 1960s, about 5,000 in total. It’s not a fact which has been widely known as some of these are quite valuable. There is an almost complete series of Look & Learn magazine, the children’s encyclopaedic wonder, spanning all kinds of topics over a period of decades; there are whole series of Marvel and DC superhero comics, some of them classic; there are ancient and much sought after issues of such British treasures as TV Century 21, Smash! and Pow! as well as the more common but still highly valued Lion and Valiant and many others.


“Why do you keep them? Surely comics are for children?” I am occasionally asked.

Those are questions which it is hard to answer rationally if you aren’t a comics fan yourself. Comics mean so much more than they are normally given credit for. To really understand their value, you need to look at them differently.

I wrote recently about the balance, in reading, between pages of closely typed text and pictures giving some colour, reality or dynamism to what is being written about. Some children don’t like reading, not because they don’t understand the words but because they find it hard to have any affinity for page after page of text with nothing to really explain or show what the story is about. Give such a child a book with a suitable balance of pictures and words and he or she will normally take it up enthusiastically, and from it will learn in time to bridge over to pages of pure text. This is really what is behind the so-called “addiction” to computers that is moaned about so much today -children like to have words balanced with action or mass, and to many of them, a page of text alone can be dry and uninteresting at first.

But there’s even more to it, really. How do we form our own views of what is going on in the world? What lies at the foundation of our imaginative thinking? A child’s early reading is about more than just teaching a child how to read: it’s about laying in the basics of how they will understand things around them. Developing an affinity for certain books enables them to decide early on what it is they, as individuals, like or don’t like in life; reading books is helping them to determine who they are and how they will deal with the world.

Comics can play a key role in this, especially the comics of the 1960s and 70s. Why? For a number of reasons. Partly because, for complicated social reasons which we don’t have time for right now, comics on both sides of the Atlantic at that time were strongly moral: there were heroes and villains and right always won against might. The world was a bright place: in TV Century 21, the comic based on the Gerry Anderson TV series like Stingray and Thunderbirds, almost every story was set in a glittering, futuristic society which had sensible and working world government and which was full of exciting adventures, space travel and clear-cut conflicts. Designed imaginatively as news headlines, the comic’s covers initially presented to children the image of a future which was essentially wholesome and positive.

This was backed up by American models like Stan Lee’s Marvel Comics, which developed whole new ranges of superhero including Spider Man, Thor, Dr. Strange, Captain America and Daredevil. These were so full of creative energy and a sense of exuberant morality and life that they are still being tapped into today by the movie producers of Hollywood. DC Comics, home of Superman and Batman, also had positive and exciting storylines which were full of colour and action where the hero always won.

Not a bad foundation for a child coming to grips with the large and adult world. In a way, a modern mythology was founded in those years which has been imitated ever since. Comics over the decades became darker and the storylines grittier and more “real” as the generation which grew up with them tried to make them more resonant of the grimmer world around them, but in doing so they lost their strength and comic sales declined as storylines descended the scale.

Partly also, though, it was and is the pure creative energy of comics which gives them value: a teenager bitten by a radioactive spider is suddenly able to climb walls and gains super-strength (Spider Man)? A doctor strikes his walking stick on the ground and in a bolt of lightning is transformed into the Norse God of Thunder (Thor)? A family bombarded by mysterious cosmic rays is imbued with weird powers ranging from superhuman strength to the abilities to stretch, burst into flames or become invisible (the Fantastic Four)? These are crazy, creative, wild ideas which teach a child how the imagination can be used freely and to generate wonder.

On one hand we could read about the adventures of an alien orphan empowered in god-like ways just by being here on Earth (Superman); on the other, we followed the tales of a man haunted so much by the death of his parents that he trained himself to almost superhuman levels to fight crime (Batman). Here in Britain, the less “superheroic” but no less imaginative stories included an escapologist whose bones could bend to fantastic extremes (Janus Stark), a man whose possession of an ancient Aztec treasure (the “Eye of Zoltec”) made him invulnerable to harm (Kelly’s Eye) or a secret agent whose exposure to electricity rendered him completely invisible except for his artificial metal hand (the Steel Claw). These narratives, and thousands like them, captivated the attention, spellbound the imagination and fired up new generations of creative artists and writers, all while balancing words and pictures in such a way that loads of words were being read without even noticing it.

So no, I’m not giving up my collection in a hurry -and if you get a chance, you should seek out such classics yourself and get a better understanding of their power and worth.

Grant Hudson

Grant Hudson

An experienced classroom teacher and tutor and an accomplished editor, Grant Hudson also has a background as a London business consultant and is the founder of the Inner Circle Group, an internet-based club with headquarters in West Sussex but with members all over the world.

Hudson has also produced and directed an amateur whole-school theatre group for almost a decade and has created and managed many individual and group programmes addressing personal and school situations as Head Teacher of the independent Greenfields School, which included organising and managing clubs and group outings and mentoring other teachers through the UK Qualified Teaching Standards requirements, as well as personally tutoring and mentoring university entrants.

He is a published poet, and has established a school Tolkien Society. He has a Certificate of Journalism from the Australian College of Journalism and has held literary workshops and study groups in England, Australia and Canada.

Greenfields School:

 

From the 2011 Independent Schools Inspectorate Report: Greenfields is a non-selective, non-denominational mixed school, welcoming pupils of all faiths, located in Forest Row, near East Grinstead, Sussex. It was founded in 1981 in response to parent demand for a school using the educational philosophy of L Ron Hubbard. The school aims to ensure that all pupils leave feeling enthusiastic about life, being ethical, highly productive and motivated; arm them with basic knowledge and skills for living, with more advanced knowledge and skills in their areas of personal interest; equip them with the study skills to enable them to grasp and apply the data of any subject in the future; enable them to possess a desire to achieve something positive for mankind and civilisation, and to excel and become leaders in their chosen fields. The school is distinctive in that it aims to teach pupils how to study through the use of study technology developed by L Ron Hubbard.

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact us:

• + 44 (0) 1342 822 189
• info@greenfieldsschool.com
• Greenfields School
  Priory Road
  Forest Row
  East Sussex
  RH18 5JD

What to do if your child just doesn't like reading?

Sometimes I’m confronted with a child who doesn’t like to read.

He or she usually knows that reading is supposed to be a good thing, and it’s common too to find children who think that there may be something wrong with them if they can’t “take” to reading for whatever reason. They worry that they are “stupid” in some way, especially if others in their peer group are avid readers and they see that these students race ahead in their work in academic subjects largely because they read so easily.

It is a worry. But it is not usually very difficult to solve if the right materials are on hand.

It’s important to note first that the key to improving reading under normal conditions comes in two parts, in my experience:

1. Making sure that words which are not understood in some way are looked up in an appropriate dictionary and fully cleared so that they can be used easily and retained, and
2. Having a volume of appropriate reading material available.

The combination of volume reading and clearing up misunderstood words as the student goes along works wonders; Reading Age, as measured by many standard tests, tends to skyrocket when these two things work together, with Reading Age often leaping ahead by years in the space of a few weeks or months. Reading a lot and clearing up a lot of words is as close as you can get to a “magic bullet” in the area of reading.

But what about the child who simply doesn’t like reading?

Is this simply a case of “too many misunderstood words” leading to blankness and then disinterest?

My experience teaching English over the last 14 years suggests not; something else can come into play when a child opens a book and is confronted by a whole page of closely-written text. Even before that child has gotten into the detail of actually looking at the words, he or she has “switched off” -to them, reading equals boredom.

And that’s the key to solving reading for them: if they are bored, what are they lacking is sufficient pictures or action or mass to go with the page of written text.

I usually start to unravel this with a child in this position simply by finding a book which has pictures in it. This doesn’t mean dropping back into earlier years of reading material necessarily, as this can reinforce the child’s mistaken notion that they are somehow “behind” other students of their age; there is normally plenty of appropriate material around which makes use of pictures and even videos in this audio-visual age. It’s a case of following the interests of the child and locating something which has a good balance of pictures and significance.

This can lead into the controversial area of comics.

Look at any comic book from the 1940s to present day and you will normally find that the narrative is being conveyed largely through pictures rather than text. That’s what makes it a comic book. Word bubbles or small boxes containing explanatory notes (like “Meanwhile, back at Headquarters...”) are outweighed by large, often dynamically drawn, often colourful and detailed pictures which provide interest for the reader, young or old. Comics thus tend to engage those readers who find whole pages of text, text, text somewhat daunting.

Is it then damaging in any way to expose children to comics as a reading remedy? I can only answer from my own experience and my answer is most emphatically not: my own childhood reading began with picture books and exploded into the world of comic books, of which I still retain a collection of over 5,000 dating back to the early 1960s. Comics made me into a reader; they excited and interested me and led me into other worlds of literature and adventure and did me no harm whatsoever (though perhaps some colleagues might disagree!)

In short, it is usually the absence of pictures and “mass” associated with pages and pages of text which put some students off reading. Once pictures are supplied, the balance rights itself and reading commences with enjoyment. Given the availability of enough reading material of this kind, children in this position usually swiftly move on to other books where words predominate over pictures, and develop a love for reading at their own pace.

Grant Hudson
Head Teacher, Greenfields School

About Grant Hudson

Grant Hudson

An experienced classroom teacher and tutor and an accomplished editor, Grant Hudson also has a background as a London business consultant and is the founder of the Inner Circle Group, an internet-based club with headquarters in West Sussex but with members all over the world.

Hudson has also produced and directed an amateur whole-school theatre group for almost a decade and has created and managed many individual and group programmes addressing personal and school situations as Head Teacher of the independent Greenfields School, which included organising and managing clubs and group outings and mentoring other teachers through the UK Qualified Teaching Standards requirements, as well as personally tutoring and mentoring university entrants.

He is a published poet, and has established a school Tolkien Society. He has a Certificate of Journalism from the Australian College of Journalism and has held literary workshops and study groups in England, Australia and Canada.

About Greenfields

From the 2011 Independent Schools Inspectorate Report: Greenfields is a non-selective, non-denominational mixed school, welcoming pupils of all faiths, located in Forest Row, near East Grinstead, Sussex. It was founded in 1981 in response to parent demand for a school using the educational philosophy of L Ron Hubbard. The school aims to ensure that all pupils leave feeling enthusiastic about life, being ethical, highly productive and motivated; arm them with basic knowledge and skills for living, with more advanced knowledge and skills in their areas of personal interest; equip them with the study skills to enable them to grasp and apply the data of any subject in the future; enable them to possess a desire to achieve something positive for mankind and civilisation, and to excel and become leaders in their chosen fields. The school is distinctive in that it aims to teach pupils how to study through the use of study technology developed by L Ron Hubbard.


If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact us:

• + 44 (0) 1342 822 189
• info@greenfieldsschool.com
• Greenfields School
  Priory Road
  Forest Row
  East Sussex
  RH18 5JD

Sussex School Presents The 39 Steps School Play

Photo: Alex Gramman as Richard Hannay

I say everyone!

Jolly good news!

Greenfields Theatre Company is dashed pleased to announce that this summer we will be producing a bally exciting adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock’s classic spy thriller, based on John Buchan’s gripping whodunnit, The 39 Steps.

The show follows the incredible adventures of our handsome hero Richard Hannay, complete with stiff-upper-lip, British gung-ho and pencil moustache as he encounters dastardly murders, double-crossing secret agents, and, of course, devastatingly beautiful women in a bid to clear his name and solve a murder he did not commit.

This wonderfully inventive and gripping comedy thriller promises to be full of fast-paced fun and thrilling action.

Directed once again by our talented Head of Drama, Maria Bird using Patrick Barlow’s award winning comedy script, this will be a show you will not want to miss!

Fun for all the family !

(Every year senior students at Greenfields School become a theatre company for the last three weeks of the school year and put on three public performances.)

The performance will be on Thursday 14th July – 7:30pm, Friday 15th July – 7:30pm and Saturday 16th July – 7:30pm.

To book your seats please contact Greenfields School on 01342 822189 and ask for the wonderful box office!

School Play: Greenfields Theatre Company 2011 Presents 'The 39 Steps'

GTC (Greenfield Theatre Company) is dashed pleased to announce that this summer we will producing a bally exciting adaption of Alfred Hitchcock’s classic spy thriller, based on John Buchan’s gripping whodunnit, The 39 Steps.

The show follows the incredible adventures of our handsome hero, complete with stiff upper lip, British gung-ho and pencil moustache as he encounters dastardly murders, double-crossing secret agents, and of course, devastatingly beautiful women in a bid to clear his name and solve a murder he did not commit.

Production for this fast-paced and thrilling comedy is now well underway with costumes being made, sets designed, computer animations and of course, actors' rehearsals – all organised by the children themselves in liaison with the teachers.

Costume making in full swing

The pictures show Richard Hanny (the star) played by Alex Gramman, and various other actors along with Mrs Bird, Head of Drama, during a read through.

 

Alex Gramman rehersing the lead role, Richard Hanny

Directions from Mrs Maria Bird, Head of Drama

Actors running through the scenes

Stay tuned for updates soon….

TICKETS ARE NOW AVAILABLE!

Call 01342 822189 or 07905 189165 or email: gfboxoffice@gmail.com

Sussex School: Out Now - Issue 13 of the Greenfields School Magazine

Issue 13 of the Greenfields School Magazine

This issue of the Greenfields School magazine inlcudes:

• Welcome from Head Teacher Grant Hudson
• Greenfields Theatre Company
• 2010 Christmas Show: Doctor When
• 2011 Summer Show: The 39 Steps
  
• Reception and Juniors
• Cultural News
• Red Nose Day
• The Royal Wedding
• Extra Curricular
• Ski trip
• Model flying
• Sports and the Arts
• Meet the gold medalists and our creative superstars
• School Inspection Results 2011
• Read excerpts of the report
• Music
• Find out about Rock School
• Plus much, much more ...

Please contact us if you would like your free copy of the magazine. Alternatively, you can view and download our online PDF version of the magazine here:

http://www.greenfieldsschool.com/GF_MAG_JUNE2011_WEB.pdf

Sussex Private School Gets a Good Inspection Report from the ISI

Greenfields is far more than just a school.

The Independent Schools Inspectorate -the legal authority in the UK responsible for inspecting independent schools and assessing them in relation to national standards- recently found that at Greenfields “pupils’ personal development is good, supported by effective arrangements to ensure their welfare, health and safety. They benefit from very good relationships with staff, and all new pupils are made to feel welcome.”

Their report went on to say, “Behaviour and moral standards are high. Pupils achieve a good level of self-confidence and learn, in varying degrees, to be socially and culturally aware.”

Furthermore, “the overall quality of the pupils’ achievements throughout the school is good, showing that pupils are well educated in accordance with the school’s aim that they should acquire basic knowledge and skills for living... Pupils are very articulate, listen carefully and contribute well when asked. They are motivated, and work independently and with enthusiasm.”

So as a school, Greenfields is doing well. This extends into other areas of life, as the report found: “The school provides a range of opportunities through which its pupils develop a system of spiritual beliefs. The pupils develop a good sense of identity, self-worth and self-confidence, demonstrated by their demeanour around the school, and in many of their activities... Relationships are based on mutual trust and respect, which is palpable throughout the school... Pupils accept responsibility readily and happily share the various tasks that fall to them.”

The full report of the Inspectorate is available through the school’s website, and should be read by anyone interested as it really confirms and validates our credentials as one of the premier Applied Scholastics schools on the planet.

Which is great -but Greenfields is far more than that.

Speak to anyone who has attended the school and they will usually embellish the points made above: its special atmosphere, the unique relationship between teachers and pupils, the advanced approach to learning which means that the aim is a proper and full understanding of what is studied rather than just enough knowledge to pass an exam.

But there’s more.

Grant Hudson,Head Teacher
at Greenfields School

“We encourage students to see that education is more than learning useful material for the future,” says Head Teacher Grant Hudson. “It is a multi-level game to do with themselves and others and at Greenfields they can experience tremendous change in relation to themselves, others and groups. Additionally, with every lesson, they can learn more than just data but attitudes which will help them to better conditions around them -and that their help personally is needed. Some people don’t realize how important education is to the world at large.”

At Greenfields, students are not just lumped together in classes or year groups and allowed to get on with it, they are treated as individuals. Often they have individual study programmes written to pilot each one towards their goals.

“Treated in this way, all of a sudden they find out who they really are and begin to push themselves to get the sub-products needed to make it in life,” explains Mr. Hudson. “Everything seems doable when you break life down this way. Monitoring this on a weekly basis helps the teaching staff to keep control in and use resources wisely.

“At Greenfields we really care about our students and they know that. We get them willing to be a part of the big picture of what is needed in life and they love to play that game.”

GMFA - Greenfields Model Flying Association make the local newspaper

The relaunch of the Greenfields Model Flying Association was featured in the East Grinstead Courier and Observer.

Photo:  Jeff Smith with Greenfields students. Aaron Murray, Kieren Soames, Dylan Gramman and  Jordan North As a young(er) man Jeff Smith, the director of studies at Greenfields School, was a british model aircraft  champion

Jeff says:

The Greenfields Model Flying Association (G.M.F.A.) was founded in the Autumn of 1995 following the strong interest shown by students on the practical section of a course that I wrote called “Fluids and Flight”, where students were required to design and build their own model aircraft that would actually fly. As their enthusiasm grew, I decided that I would use my experience as a former British Champion with powered free flight contest aircraft to prepare them to compete in the British National Championships in May 2006. Eighteen students came with me and we took the first four junior places in the Hand-launched Glider Contest.

The following year, thirty-four students attended the championships! A Greenfields Team attended the Championships every year through to May 2000. The subsequent sale of the Coombe Hall site where the GMFA was based and the many changes that took place led to the GMFA going into storage.

Here we are, over a decade later, and the GMFA is making a come-back – in a big way. With work shop facilities and a considerable armoury of high- tech materials which I recently acquired (courtesy of my father and brother – fellow B.Ae. Team Members in days gone by) – not to mention a selection of national and international class contest aircraft to look at, Greenfields Students will once again have the opportunity to develop the skills necessary to compete and succeed at National Championship level. Only, this time, they have access to materials that can help take them to the very top!

What are the benefits of such an activity? Considerable! For a start, it can be an exhilarating game to compete at national level and beyond! The standards demanded are obviously very high. It develops an individual’s knowledge and skills in the fields of design, materials, craftsmanship, engineering, physics, chemistry, aesthetics, tracking (you have to get your aircraft back) and, for that matter biology!

I was competing at National Level during my own school days and found it to be an invaluable educational experience – and it was a LOT of fun!! Amazingly, I still have some of the aircraft that I competed with over twenty five years ago. Even more amazing is the fact that they are still in working order! After routine checks on one of them today, I started up the engine on 65% nitromethane and it promptly ran at full tilt – about 25,000 revs per minute as if it had last run yesterday. Wonderful!

Obviously, things have moved forward technologically in the past two decades and Greenfields students will now not only have the opportunity to build aircraft with modern materials, but will also have the opportunity to participate in a project to build a State of the Art Contest Aircraft capable of screaming up to an altitude of over 1000 feet in under 10 seconds – with a nice vapour trail too!

I hope that the students have as much fun with all of this as I did when I was their age. It will give them moments of a lifetime!

“Having recently had a very successful inspection by the Independent Schools Inspectorate, we are looking at building on our strengths and adding more diversity to the curriculum. I am also starting a project to raise funds to build an observatory for the school’s telescopes. There are exciting times ahead for the education at Greenfields.”

Doctor Who Headmaster Invigorated by Gaiman Who Episode

A Head Teacher in Sussex decides to review
episodes of Doctor Who on his school's blog

Mr. Hudson is Head Teacher at Greenfields School which is bigger inside than it is outside...

In the light of an article a couple of years ago which placed David Tennant as the top of a poll on who would be the ideal headmaster (http://www.metro.co.uk/showbiz/738913-david-tennant-is-dream-headmaster), it might be interesting for some to know that one school has its very own "Doctor" -Grant Hudson, Head Teacher at Greenfields School in Forest Row, East Sussex, has been a mad fan of the series since it began and happily writes about the recent Neil Gaiman episode here:

Grant Hudson,Head Teacher
at Greenfields School

Having just watched the Doctor Who episode written by Neil Gaiman "The Doctor's Wife" for the second time, I note that viewer response has been overwhelmingly positive. But as a fan of the show since 1963, that worries me a little. See below.

I was able to extract one negative comment: that the whole "junkyard in space" motif and the non-descript rubbish in it was a bit... well, rubbish.

For a fan boy like me though, there were references throughout this episode to the classic series and a kind of homage to Doctor Who as a whole which swung it over to positive in my estimation. Things like the fact that we first met the Tardis in 1963 in a junkyard, the psychic message boxes (last seen at a very pivotal moment in 1969), the cloister bell ringing in the Tardis, the fact that the "junk" console was actually designed by a child on Blue Peter, the shaving mirror reminiscent of "The Masque of Mandragora" in which we first see an alternative control room (which has a shaving mirror on the console), the reference to the Doctor stealing the Tardis (or the Tardis stealing the Doctor), the "deleting" of rooms to give the Tardis extra power (last used in the early '80s) and so on. It all showed that Gaiman is a real fan, and therefore that we were in safe hands.

I also enjoyed some of the lines and their delivery: like when Matt says "Just admiring your collection of Time Lord psychic distress signals..." in that slightly menacing way; or when he says to Idris "I've got nothing" and she replies "You've got everything you've always had: you've got Me" and touches her finger to the console, sparking the take-off. Goosebump stuff for me.

“The Doctor’s Wife” Season 6, Episode 4

But the most stand-alone dramatically effective pieces were the scenes with Rory and Amy inside -the switching of viewpoints, the psychological tension, the use of collapsed spaces and times, the claustrophobia (as well as the wonderful resurrection of the earlier control room). Like that episode on board that ship ("Midnight") with David Tennant.

It's interesting to read Neil Gaiman's feedback on the Guardian website on 16th May 2011.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2011/may/16/neil-gaiman-doctor-who-doctors-wife

I think the one disapproving comment reveals an important weakness in the show, though: it is highly vulnerable to being too self-referential (and even self-reverential) -it can effectively disappear up its own Rift by depending for its emotional impact on its own past history. Unless it can reach out effectively to non-fans it will begin to die. This was one of Russell T Davies great strengths: he could do the wacky Dr. Who stuff and still drop in a real moment of real human drama. In fact, he inserted quite a few in each episode and this served to make the show more universal and more real. I think of Rose confronting Donna who says "I'm not important -I'm just a temp from Chiswick" -beautifully written, beautifully acted by Tate who almost broke my heart at that point. Moffat runs the big risk of introverting the show too much, making it "too clever" and cutting it off from the wider public. It will disappear into its own bubble universe if it's not careful.

But it's still one of the loves of my life and I still felt re-invigorated about my relationships with things and people when the Doctor sees the lever move by itself at the end and realises that the Tardis has always taken him where he needs to go rather than where he wants to... :)

Grant Hudson, Head Teacher

English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Courses in the UK

Learning English?

Come to Greenfields School

Summer Fun for three weeks between 25 July – 12 August.
Make learning English fun – whatever your level. Theory combined with practical application makes it fun to learn. Study in the mornings and practice English on trips and adventures in the afternoon. More activities in the evening.

Daytime activities and outings include: horse riding, quad biking, archery, trips to London, castles, Wakehurst Place, mountain biking, Pooh Bridge, Ashdown Forest... Evening activities: bowling, laser games, swimming, trips to Tunbridge Wells and sports. Weekend outings such as: Windsor Castle, Canterbury, Stonehenge, Oxford and Brighton.

Price includes EFL tuition, boarding, outings – the only extra cost is getting to the school! Fill out an online booking form.

School Term - Short Stays
During school term, join our English as a Foreign Language class, mix and stay with our full-time boarders in the boarding house (subject to availability). Two days of outings and four days of study.

Short stays between:

• 9 May – 27 May
• 6 June – 22 July

Contact us for more details by calling:
+44 (0)1342 822189

or emailing:
admissions@greenfieldsschool.com

Happy Easter to All

From everyone at Greenfields School,
we wish you a Happy Easter!

Here is a list of important dates for the Summer Term:

• Sat 29th Apr - Boarders Return
• Tue 3rd May - Start of Summer Term and New Students Registration
• Tue 3rd May to Thur 23rd June - G.C.S.E Exams
• Tue 3rd May to Thur 23rd June - A-Level Exams
• Mon 30th May - Half Term Holiday Begins
• Sun 5th June - Half Term Break Ends / Boarders Return
• Wed 8th June - Open Day
• Thur 9th June - PTA Meeting
  
• Fri 24th June - GTC (Greenfields Theatre Company) Starts
• Fri 8th July - Lower School Sports Day
• Wed 13th July to Sun 17th July - Gala Weekend (GTC School Play, Summer Fair, Graduation, Graduates Ball)
• Mon 18th July - Last Day of Term
• Tue 19th July - Boarders Leave
• Mon 25th July - Week One of Summer School
• Mon 1st August - Week Two of Summer School
• Mon 8th August - Week Three of Summer School

NB The dates given for the start of the Summer Term on the school website (due to the Royal Wedding Bank Holiday) are currently incorrect but will soon be updated.

Success in Teaching using The Barriers to Study

Teachers who use the Study Technology of L. Ron Hubbard have found its effectiveness both revolutionary and simple.

In its barest terms, there are three main barriers to study:

Firstly, study without any actual mass. By mass is meant the actual physical object or objects of study.

Obviously, one would not try to teach someone to drive merely by getting them to read a textbook about driving. One would have the learner driver actually drive a car, handle an actual car. This is applicable to all subjects.

Studying in the absence of mass can produce all kinds of physical symptoms: dizziness, sickness, headaches, to name but a few, and the remedy is to introduce more mass into the subject. In a subject like English Literature, this is just as vital. Going to see plays, dramatising parts of a novel in front of a class, pictures, sketches, diagrams, maps, clay models all supply mass.

The next barrier to study is too steep a gradient. If a student gets confused, it is likely that one is teaching too fast. For example, an able student doing well in a subject becomes very confused and says the subject is too complex. By going back to just before they became confused, they can be helped to understand what they did not grasp.

Using a lesser gradient helps students to regain interest and enthusiasm in the subject.

The third and most important barrier to study is the misunderstood or undefined word or definition. In teaching, if one sees a student going blank on what is being read, or reacting aggressively towards the subject, or wanting to give it up because they don’t like it or misbehaving, then an undefined or misdefined word has been passed. The answer is to find this word, handle the definitions thoroughly so that the word can be owned, check the derivation and idiomatic use and then continue.

An Advanced Level student overcame their severe spelling difficulties simply by looking up the definitions and derivations of words they did not understand. They went on to learn Business Studies at university.

When pupils look up the words using a good dictionary and pay particular attention to the derivations, spelling improves.

The importance of Study Technology cannot be stressed too strongly. It gives children and young people the chance to really learn and apply what they have learnt.

Based on the experiences of educator and teacher,
Lady Joan Hort

This article can also be found in the Results Newsletter (issue III)

Take the Free Study Skills Test...

...and find out exactly what barriers
your child may be encountering

Ever WONDER how much your child is really
learning at school?

In education today, children face well known obstacles:

• Getting ‘labelled’ (‘special needs’,‘ADD’ etc.).
• Feeling sad, angry or disinterested.
• Difficulty remembering items studied.
• Not having a purpose for learning or knowing how to revive interest in learning once it has gone.

Less well known is that underlying them there are only three barriers that keep children from reaching their full learning potential and cause actual emotional or physical phenomena when encountered.

Students fail to learn because no one has ever taught them how to learn – how to identify the barriers to learning and how to overcome them.

Study Skills Test
This is a FREE service offered by Greenfields Educational Trust. It is designed for those children
who may need help in their studies, as well as those who are doing well but would like to do even better.

Recommendations may be given but there is no obligation whatsoever for you to act on them. At
the very least this test will show you more about your child’s strengths/weaknesses as a student and how you, as a parent, can help them.

You can complete this test online at: www.greenfieldsschool.com/study-skills-test.htm or contact us and we can arrange getting a test to you.

Teenager praises hospital that rebuilt face after golf accident

A GCSE Greenfields student makes the local papers after creating a video tribute, to thank the hospital who treated him after a golfing accident.

East Grinstead Courier & Observer, 27th Jan '11

"What is so impressive is that Harry feels so genuinely in debt to those who rebuilt his face. If every child showed the same impeccable manners the world would be a better place. "

A boy who suffered horrific injuries in a golfing accident has publicly thanked the surgeons who rebuilt his face.

Harry Wood's cheekbone was shattered, his eye socket was cracked and he suffered a slight loss of vision after being struck full force in the face with a club.

The Greenfields schoolboy was caddying when the accident happend.

The 14-year-old had been holding back a branch for a friend whose ball had gone into the rough at Crawley's Tilgate Forest Golf Course when he was accidentally hit.

The schoolboy had to undergo specialist reconstructive surgery at Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead.

After this proved an overwhelming success, he recorded a video for website YouTube in which he thanks medics.

Recalling the accident, Harry said: "My friend hit the shot into the rough so I held a branch back for him. He swung, missed the ball and caught me in the face.

"The main reason I put the video together was to thank everybody and to bring an end to the whole thing.

"I also wanted to show people how bad it was, but that I'm fine now.

"The magnitude of people who have shown their support has been so big. This message is for them."

Harry believes he is stronger than ever, having made a speedy recovery from his injuries.

The video tribute was also sent to the hospital's chief executive Adrian Bull.

During the clip – which was published on the internet last week – Harry praises the "wonderful" hospital staff and says he would never have healed the way he has without them.

He tells them: "You were the ones that kept me going and I can't thank you enough. I love you all from the bottom of my heart and will always be grateful for the support you gave me."

Mr Bull is delighted that the youngster went to such an effort to thank his staff. He said: "It is always gratifying to read such comments and it is also pleasing to know that our hospital services have made such an impact."

Having suffered no trauma from the incident in June, Harry even joked that he will be more cautious during his next outing on a golf course. He said: "Maybe I'll wear a helmet next time."

Excerpted from the East Grinstead Courier and Observer website, read the full story here. And you can see the tribute video on Youtube.

East Grinstead Courier & Observer's comment:

Appreciation of teenager is impressive

Hospitals around the country will treat thousands of children every year, transforming their lives for the better. Most children will be grateful but few will go to the lengths that 14-year-old Harry Wood went to so they can show their appreciation.

Creating a heartfelt video tribute will have touched all those who treated him and many who have simply watched the clip.

Of course some people will argue that Harry should not have been standing so close to someone using a golf club.

But accidents happen and nobody deserves to end up with the kind of horrific injuries which he did. What is so impressive is that Harry feels so genuinely in debt to those who rebuilt his face. If every child showed the same impeccable manners the world would be a better place.

Harry's story was also covered in the Crawley News, 27th Jan '11 and The Argus, 28th Jan '11.

Open Day: Greenfields School, Sussex - Open for Tours

Discover a friendly, caring and safe environment for your children to learn and achieve their true potential.

Greenfields School Open Days, 23rd February and 8th June.

We recommend that all prospective parents and students come and have a tour of Greenfields School. There is nothing like experiencing the atmosphere and seeing the school in action! We have one of the friendliest and most beautiful environments you will ever see for a school and it is well worth making the effort to get here in person.

HOURS

We are open Monday – Friday, 9am to 4.30pm.

Telephone messages may be left for staff at other times, but private numbers of staff are not given out.

OPEN DAYS

We have Open Days throughout the year where you can drop by whenever you want without need of an appointment. You will receive a tour of the school, an interview with one of our administrative staff and a nice cup of tea!

The official Open Days are:

Wednesday 23rd February 2011

Wednesday 8th June 2011

Teaching staff may also be available to answer any questions, timetable permitting.

Please call 01342 822189 to speak to one of our Admissions staff. E-mail is also an excellent way of staying in communication with us: admissions@greenfieldsschool.com

If you wish to visit the school on another day, not listed here, we will do our best to service you and make your plans work. Please contact our Admissions staff and let us know what you need.

TRIAL DAYS

We also offer trial days for prospective students, this means that they can spend the day at Greenfields in the classroom and with the other students. This is a great way to experience Greenfields as it really encourages the student to find out if this is a place where they would like to come to school. Please call the Admissions department to arrange a time to have a trial day!

John Travolta - What I Think of Study Technology

John Travolta, Spokesman, Applied Scholastics

"Here in California, there’s been a lot of talk lately about research that L. Ron Hubbard did on the subject of study and books he wrote to help students do better in school – something called Study Technology.

Study Technology – an education approach which teaches one HOW TO LEARN – is something that I hold very dear to my heart, which is why I have supported it (and used it!) for many years. As a parent, I want my children, and all children, to leave school with a real chance to make it in the world. Anything that can contribute to that deserves a close look.

But the problem runs much deeper than that. Kids who don’t understand the world around them, how it works and how they can contribute to it, are easily overwhelmed. They make bad choices. The links between illiteracy, crime and drug abuse have been demonstrated again and again.

Study Technology has been in use all over the world for a quarter of a century. It was this exact method that enabled me, someone who never finished high school, to achieve one of my greatest goals – to be a jet pilot. And not just that but a jet pilot licensed to fly six different types of jet aircraft . I have also personally seen this miraculous mentoring tool bring hope and joy to the lives of many children whether in inner-city communities, schools or at home.

I think Study Technology is something worth getting excited about. It’s a tool, and it works. But it doesn’t work on its own. Parents, teachers and students have to do two things first: learn how to use it and then decide to use it. I hope you’ll take the time to find out more about Study Technology and Applied Scholastics. It might change your mind about the kind of future we can create for all our children."

John Travolta
Spokesman
Applied Scholastics

This article was taken from the Results! Newsletter (issue III) - The Applied Scholastics® Newsletter for the United Kingdom

Education Newsletter: Results! Issue III Out Now

The Applied Scholastics® Newsletter for the United Kingdom

Results! Newsletter - Issue III

The contents for this issue include:

• Greenfields School - Learning & Living by Head Teacher Grant Hudson, BA Hons
• What is Applied Scholastics?
• Study Technology - What are The Barriers to Study?
  
• What Teachers are Saying about Study Technology
  - Success in Teaching using The Barriers to Study - Lady Joan Hort
  - Teacher Success by Veronica Tupholme, Dip. Ed.
  - Maths by Emily Dearden B.Sc. Hons.
• Greenfields Educational Trust in the Community
• John Travolta - What I Think of Study Technology
  
• Student Success with Study Technology
  - Paul Rogers
  - Assaff Rawner
  - Chloe Wicks
• Effective Education Centre
• Teaching by L. Ron Hubbard

Visit Greenfields School or contact us on +44 (0)1342 822189, info@greenfieldsschool.com to get your copy of this issue's Results! Newsletter.