Brockwood Park School

Brockwood Park School

Jiddu Krishnamurti, a philosopher and educator, founded Brockwood Park School, an international boarding school for teenagers in the Hampshire countryside, in 1969. It is the only institution of its sort in Europe and offers a comprehensive education to about 75 pupils.

The school depends on tuition and donations from people who value what is taught there; it is not run for profit and is not funded by the government. The school is small, with a total enrollment of no more than about 100 students and staff who come from at least 25 different countries.

Programs in Brockwood Park School

Every week, every student works with staff members on a similar course for one morning. These are: Human Ecology, Inquiry Time, and Sports.

The entire school gathers during inquiry time each week to discuss in depth the goals of Brockwood Park School, what it means to live well together, and other life challenges. Krishnamurti's teachings and their application to our everyday lives are frequently examined during inquiry time. Students and teachers gather earlier in the week to choose topics by talking about what is most pertinent to the community at that time. Relationships, authority, responsibility, body image, and sexuality are a few examples of issues. Every week, Inquiry Time lasts for a half-morning.

Human Ecology, a course that explores how we fit into the natural world, is a requirement for all students. The three objectives of the course, which meets for a half-morning each week, are to learn:

• how to maintain the one-acre walled vegetable garden at Brockwood Park School's organic farm;
• about environmental problems both locally and globally and consider their underlying causes;
• what it means to be in physical contact with nature and to relate to it.

Sports: Physical education is a significant part of the curriculum at Brockwood Park School. The entire school—kids, older students, teacher apprentices, and staff—participates in a variety of sports and physical activities twice a week in the afternoon. Football and ultimate frisbee are now the most popular (team) sports at Brockwood Park School, but other sports including badminton, basketball, volleyball, cricket, and tennis are also available all year long. In addition to this, Brockwood Park School provides a variety of sports, dance, hiking, swimming, running, slacklining, yoga, and other physical activities. The amenities of Brockwood Park School include a full-sized football field, a tennis and basketball court that doubles as a basketball court, an outdoor swimming pool that is only available during the summer, some inside areas for yoga, dance, and movement, as well as a small indoor gym.

Students who are 14 or 15 years old at the start of the school year and are in their first year at Brockwood Park School are eligible for the Core Programme. The Core Landing Programme (first term) and the Core Courses (second and third term) are its two components.

Students will engage in a variety of largely experiential learning activities each week throughout the first semester. They are exposed to several fields and develop closer relationships with many of the teachers as a result. The school is calling this the Core Landing Programme since one of the goals of these weeks is to assist the younger pupils in settling at Brockwood Park School. Each week will include a significant amount of writing and journaling to help students improve their English skills and reflect on their experiences. The transition to the five Core courses, which will continue over the second and third terms, takes place over the final two weeks of the first term.

The five major subject areas covered in the Core Courses are humanities, arts, science, math, and health and movement. The goal of these courses is to give students the opportunity to explore, experiment, and discover their own motivation and agency in learning while also helping them to acquire core skills by exposing them to a variety of learning perspectives. In Study Hall, students also learn how to organize their work outside of the classroom. Throughout the year, they are encouraged to present their work to one another.

A student can choose from a variety of subjects in the Brockwood courses to create their yearly learning plan. All students who are 15 years of age or older or who have finished their first year of Core courses may enroll in these courses. There is a divide between academic and practical courses at Brockwood Park School. In order to promote the school's original goal, it is a responsibility of the student advisers to make sure that their pupils have a balanced schedule. The academic programs offered this year at Brockwood Park School include some of the following: This year, hands-on courses at Brockwood Park School include photography, fitness and movement, pottery, woodworking, and seminars in life skills. Other topics covered include computer science, humanities, global issues, science, patterns and complexity, and math.

Students at Brockwood Park School are multilingual and have varying degrees of English ability. The English courses must necessarily be student-tailored to accommodate this variance. The main areas of concentration for non-native speakers are vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, and syntax. The study of literature, theater, and poetry helps students with intermediate or advanced levels of English—including native speakers—improve their language abilities. The cornerstone of Brockwood Park School's approach to language learning is experiential learning, and the classroom can extend into any section of the school and beyond, including the outside.

The Project Programme is a crucial component of the curriculum at Brockwood Park School. With the help of this program, students can create their own projects based on a subject or topic of their choosing. The following forms of assistance are provided: group and one-on-one mentorship; aid with project structuring; and support with time management, research, and presenting skills. The purpose of this program is to support the student's independent investigation of the subject, promote a passion for learning, and improve study techniques.

These initiatives could be academic, useful, or something in between. Some students work on a brief project in addition to their other coursework and may set aside one morning each week for it in their schedule. Older kids might prioritize it more, growing their project into a significant body of work or portfolio that can be displayed at interviews for placement in universities and colleges, internships, or jobs. Such portfolios may be used to support further qualifications or even be accepted in place of those that are necessary. A project is a significant commitment that calls for dedication, excellence, a keen interest in the subject, and proficiency in the fundamentals of study techniques.

In the second term and at the end of the school year, all students present their ongoing work to the faculty.

School Life in Brockwood Park School

Students can join in organizations and activities that are generally led and organized by their peers in the late afternoons, early evenings, and on weekends. They fluctuate each year and include everything from theatrical and music rehearsals to physical activities like dance, yoga, or parkour. Additionally, the school frequently arranges day trips to activities, museums, or exhibits.

Another Time We All Meet is the meaning of the abbreviation ATWAM. It is an open learning environment where the entire school receives weekly in-depth exposure to a variety of themes, such as environmental concerns, current events, neurology, nutrition, technology, health, etc. Brockwood Park School hosts in-house presentations by staff and students or invites experts in some of these fields to speak and discuss the issues with students and staff. It is a welcome and essential component of Brockwood Park School's curriculum that fosters the growth of a global perspective in both students and faculty.

Although tours, workshops, or sporting events are frequently given on Saturdays or Sundays, students can enjoy a less organized schedule during the weekend. On Saturdays, students are also permitted to travel to nearby cities and villages, like Winchester and Petersfield, which are both accessible by bus. However, if a student wishes to travel further or spend the night outside, a parent and the student adviser must approve the trip.

Future Prospects after study in Brockwood Park School

Although there is no such thing as a "typical" Brockwood Park School alumnus, the school frequently hears from former students that their experience there kindled the flames of lifelong learning in them. Alumni who pursue education at numerous universities during the course of their careers frequently demonstrate this. In the past five years, 53% of graduating students have, on average, attended college the same year they graduated from Brockwood Park School. The average percentage of students enrolled in universities within a year was 68%. Many people utilize their gap years to travel, occasionally taking advantage of the large and friendly extended community found within the several Krishnamurti foundations across the world, where people pick up the questions that are motivating them and see where they go. Recent graduates have studied at universities in ten different countries, ranging from unconventional schools that are developing radically novel approaches to education to more established, prestigious universities with a long history of academic excellence and significant investment in cutting-edge research techniques. In case, if you need help with Guardianship in order to study in the UK, please fill in application below or contact us directly.