the Gryphon - Issue 3

t h e
G R Y P H O N
Issue N o 03
Class of
2050

‘EDUCATION
IS NOT THE
FILLING OF A
PAIL, BUT THE
LIGHTING OF
A FIRE.’
W.B. YEATS
12

Welcome
Issue N o 03
SUMMER 2021
Welcome to the Summer edition
of our termly chapbook, the
Gryphon, where we look into the
future and examine what school
may look like for children in
30 years time.
2
IT’S LIFE JIM…
AND JUST AS WE KNEW IT
How the power of knowledge and
formation of individuals will still prevail in
a world of intellectual computing.
4
At Embley every child is unique
and deserves the recognition
of that as they grow. We help
them achieve their ambitions,
encourage belief in oneself while
being mindful that the greatest
happiness is achieved by being
compassionate to others.
Embley Park, Romsey,
Hampshire SO51 6ZE
Main switchboard:
+44 (0) 1794 512206
Email: info@embley.org.uk
www.embley.org.uk
A SPACE FOR LEARNING
While technology will be an enabler of
successful learning, the classroom will
look reassuringly familiar.
6
OPPORTUNITY & ASPIRATION
How schools of 2050 should offer
breadth, choice and opportunity.
8
THROUGH THE
LOOKING GLASS
Embley pupils imagine a virtual school of
the future for specific moments, across
boundaries and even space.
10
A DYSTOPIAN STORY
A story of Emily and her sister Tessie as
they battle for survival, by Hannah in Year 8.
12
Carbon balanced print is produced by a carbon
balanced printer on carbon balanced paper.
This edition of the Gryphon:
73kg of carbon balanced & 51m 2 of land protected.
THE HUMAN ELEMENT
OF TEACHING
The importance of interpersonal
relationships in teaching now and
in the future.
1

It’s life Jim…and
just as we knew it
In a world of intelligent computing, the power of
knowledge and formation of individuals will still
prevail writes Headmaster, Cliff Canning.
Illustration by Greg Joens
2

t h e
G R Y P H O N
Remember Spock? It will certainly date me
and offer opportunity to draw all kinds of
conclusions, but he was my favourite character
on Star Trek. I mean of course, the “real” Star
Trek! Every Christmas among the gifts Father
Christmas delivered was the prize gift of
all, the Star Trek annual. I loved the sense of
adventure, the possibilities a little lad in a tiny
corner of a little place could be transported
to. Teleporters, being beamed up and down to
new planets and the uncompromising logic
of Spock. I was quite taken aback recently
when some parents commented on how
tickled they were to read the “kobayashi maru”
reference in our parent and staff newsletter,
Highlights. The ability to beat a system by
stepping outside of it and not playing by
the rules.
This issue of the Gryphon challenges what our
sense of education will be by the year 2050. I
only imagined as a small boy the notion of
communication by video, I saw James T do it,
but it was science fiction wasn’t it? Hmm OK,
point taken.
There is no doubt that the technology Rubicon
has been crossed and there is no going back, but
neither should there be. I suspect by 2050 the
presence of a ‘Siri’ or ‘Alexa’ as a companion in
the classroom will be an established reality, but
I mean as a bespoke companion to each child,
their virtual paidagogos if you will. Consider
some of the dynamics of what is involved in
teaching. The classroom instructional piece,
crucial and irreplaceable (remote learning
during Covid has illustrated the consequence
in terms of human relationship of its absence).
The teacher having set the direction of
the class takes homework and collects in
marking to read a similar thing 15 or 20
times, more if they have a number of classes.
Mistakes are identified and the revised plan of
instruction developed to tackle that which was
misunderstood first time round. Why couldn’t
intelligent computing ‘read’ the work, identify
the common areas of misunderstanding and
the areas where knowledge is sound? The
teacher then has an immediate focus for the
next development and maps the way forward.
In class, the virtual teaching assistant sitting
with every pupil then iteratively increases the
level of difficulty, the better to allow each child
to be their best. This is not a version of Google
by another means, but a bespoke companion
understanding the cognitive and, who
knows, by 2050 maybe even the emotional
understanding of the child.
The second observation I would make is
that knowledge will still be central. Seems
idiotically tautologous but I am suggesting the
primacy of children working to understand
difficult concepts. I deliberately didn’t use the
phrase “struggling to understand” because
it suggests there is something wrong or
unacceptable. There isn’t. Some stuff is just
difficult to understand and that is fine. The
2050 issue I am highlighting is the change in
focus of our understanding and engagement
with the process. Children will be more
pedagogically literate; they will understand
that education happens through, not to, them.
They are active participants in a process, not
the passive recipients of data and instruction.
This is a cultural not a technological shift but
a necessary one as we pivot to a system that
prepares children for an authentic life. School
is not an ivory tower nor a proving ground
away from reality. In preparing children for
life, “life” is not a remote destination arrived
at after Year 13 but the thing they are doing
right now.
The final note may be a surprising one.
Remember Spock? The Enterprise was replete
with only to be imagined gadgetry, but it was a
‘bit-part’ player to the characters. It is this that
is core, the intrinsic quality of what makes us
ourselves after all the costumery of tech has
been stripped away and put back in the props
department. Tech; gadgetry; stuff won’t make
the world a better place; won’t save the planet;
won’t make us happier or healthier; people do
that and their characters form their intent.
The formation of individuals, ambitious to
understand, confident of their own value and
compassionate of others will continue to be
central to what Embley does, not because it is
innovative, but because it isn’t.
E: headmaster@embley.org.uk
3

A Space
for Learning
The classroom of 2050 will be reassuringly
familiar with technology continuing to be an
enabler for successful learning writes our
Deputy Head, José Picardo.
4

t h e
G R Y P H O N
During a school holiday not too long
ago, I visited a museum that featured a
meticulous recreation of a Victorian classroom.
Chalk and caning aside, I was struck by the
similarities with classrooms today, well over
one hundred years later: a dais, a board, desks
and exercise books all seemed reassuringly
familiar. Sure, educational philosophies have
pendulated between traditionalism and
progressivism various times, and pedagogy
has matured to take into account what science
and research have ascertained about how
best to teach and learn since those desks were
last occupied by school children who weren’t
dressing up.
This got me thinking about the future. But
not in the way that you might imagine: my
thinking was not an abstraction about the
ways in which society will be transformed by
technologies that haven’t been invented yet
or about preparing children for jobs that we
haven’t yet imagined. You see, I prefer to think
about the future as something that you build,
not something that you simply enter without
agency. And the best way to build the future is
to lay strong foundations in the present.
For all their ills, the past few months have given
us an opportunity to evaluate what a different
kind of teaching and learning might look like.
And the conclusion is perhaps not what one
might expect. Technology has undeniably
helped to keep the heart of the school beating.
Lessons have continued without interruption,
schoolwork has continued to flow and we have
continued to work together, separated only by
distance.
While accentuating our distinctively human
ability to overcome difficulty through the
judicious application of technology and
innovation, as time went on a connection
exclusively reliant on ethernet cables and
wireless access points also proved to be very
much second best to being in the physical
company of other folk. Offshoring the school
system to the internet turns out to be possible,
it’s just not preferable.
There remains of course a place for the sort
of informal online learning that works well
for the self-directed, the inquisitive and the
knowledge-thirsty. We have all resorted to
YouTube to find out how to change the oven
clock or to Wikipedia to discover with surprise
that we were never taught about the English
Armada. On the other hand, formal online
learning of the sort sometimes offered by
universities and other specialist outfits has
remained on the fringes of the educational
landscape because, quite bluntly, given the
choice, people prefer people.
Strangely this description of the present may
offer the clearest glimpse of the future yet.
Despite enjoying the use of technology that
was firmly in the realm of science fiction in
the living memory of many, classrooms remain
identifiable through generations. Whatever
new technologies arise, they will do what
technology does best: they will become invisible
for us to rely on inadvertently, assisting people
in the indispensable endeavour of learning
from those who came before us, so that those
living in the present can become the agents of
their own future.
If I were foolish enough to predict the future,
I’d probably advance that artificial intelligence
will help pupils routinely to navigate through
personalised curricula in support of oldfashioned
timetabled lessons, while assisting
still very human teachers in curating and
selecting resources, as well as in marking and
assessing. But I wager that in another 30 years,
by the mid 2050s, we’ll still find classrooms
reassuringly familiar. This is the future I would
like to build. But I don’t really know. And
neither do you. All we really know for sure is
that making predictions is difficult, especially
about the future.
E: jose.picardo@embley.org.uk
5

Opportunity
& Aspiration
The world has changed, no
more so than in the past year,
but where is Prep education in its
response to these changing times?
Asks Head of Prep, Sheina Wright.
6

t h e
G R Y P H O N
When I heard the recent statistics
noting the changes in A Level choices
it made me reflect on the choices we give and
opportunities we present to our primary aged
and nursery pupils.
Many young people are shunning traditional
subjects such as English Literature in favour
of Geography when they reach an age which
allows greater choice (figures published by
the assessment watchdog Ofqual in May 2021
show that A Level entries for English Literature
fell from 38,310 in 2020 to 36,135 in 2021).
The fall had been attributed to a number of
factors including a push in subjects such as
Computing, Science and Maths and, in part, to
tie in with a ‘these subjects lead to the jobs of
the future’ mantra. So is a fear of the inability
to secure a job leading to the demise of some of
our once most popular subjects?
This got me thinking… how should we respond
to this shift in Prep education in the next 10,
20 or even 30 years? I believe that a really
good Prep education is about opportunity
and aspiration. Keeping multiple doors open,
encouraging children to give them a nudge on
a regular basis and just giving new things a go,
not feeling the need to be perfect at everything
but embracing the opportunity to try when it
comes their way. So first and foremost I believe
that the future of Prep education should
maintain breadth not just in curriculum
time but in its co-curricular programme too:
whether that be a series of after school Art
workshops where a child learns to make a clay
pot; planning, designing and making a clock
in a STEM club; sailing the Solent as part of a
collaborative crew; or learning how to play a
killer game of chess!
From a curriculum perspective, a deep and
secure foundation in English and Mathematics
should remain vital. The ability to read and
write and be numerate, as well as puzzle
through problems, is essential both in life and
the world of work. That said education is not
a means to an end or a function: it is about
igniting a passion within a young person
whether that be a passion for literature or
Mathematics.
Our generation of young people have a greater
sense of responsibility and self awareness of
the impact their actions have on our planet. So
the profile and depth of Science teaching will
continue to rise in coming years, alongside
a thirst for knowledge. Learning about the
impact we have on the environment and
indeed our own bodies will be key, including
sustainability, nutrition and nature. Being
outdoors will continue to form an important
part of school life, but it will be embedded more
fully in the curriculum; Prep schools should
provide their children with a substantial
and deep Science curriculum which includes
Natural Sciences.
Geography will also need to raise its profile
in the Primary years. This in part will be in
response to an increased concern from our
young people about the environment and
climate change. Add to that a shared pandemic,
which has challenged humanity and a political
landscape that has made us more insular, it
has never been more important to understand
that we are part of something much bigger. It
is particularly important to raise world ready
children with an international understanding.
Other subjects which I think will continue
to become more prevalent are those such as
Computer Science. It is important to see the
difference between playing on a device for
hours on end and learning how to code, to
create rather than consume.
So in conclusion schools of 2050 should offer
breadth, choice and opportunity. I believe
core subjects will remain vital, but there will
be greater emphasis and interest in Science,
Geography and Technology. However, the
subjects we offer are a small part of education.
With an uncertain world and job market in
front of us, it is about our approach, how we
help young people to help themselves. This
is about the way we teach young people, our
day-to-day interactions and modelling. Key
qualities for future growth will be the ability
to adapt, to create, to make mistakes, to repeat
practice for confidence growth and to be bold
enough to try something different if things
really don’t work out.
E: sheina.wright@embley.org.uk
7

THROUGH THE
LOOKING GLASS
Embley pupils imagine a virtual school of the
future, attended for specific moments, available
across national boundaries and even space.
Remote learning, social
distancing and elbow
bumps were unfamiliar terms
in our children’s vocabulary
18 months ago, and the idea of
using video conferencing to learn
virtually from home was an alien
concept. Having witnessed such
extraordinary events in such a
short period of their lifetimes, we
asked some of our pupils - who
will be in their early 40s by 2050
- what school will look like for the
children of their generation.
8

t h e
G R Y P H O N
How will school be different for children in
2050 compared to now?
Phoebe: We will be the subject of our History
lessons. Instead of learning about the
Victorians and the World Wars, children
will be taught about the events that we’ve
witnessed, such as coronavirus, lockdown
and Brexit.
Ellie: I think that the way children will learn
compared to now will be totally different.
They’ll write using electronic devices and
styluses rather than using pens and paper.
Phoebe: There are robots in the world right
now so maybe we will have robots at school;
maybe robots with a teacher’s face on it.
Leon: On the other hand, school may not
change at all because, other than advances
in technology, classrooms of today are
very similar to classrooms 30 years ago.
Handwriting will be crucial because it’s
a valuable life skill that you’ll need when
you’re older.
What do you think children will be
learning about?
Ellie: In 2050 the world will be dominated
by technology so children will need to know
how to use computers and robots, and to
reset and fix them if they break.
Leon: Maybe we’ll all be chipped, and
we’ll receive software updates when we’re
sleeping. We’ll go to school for the social
aspects and to learn physical activities such
as Sport, Art, Music and Design Technology.
We’ll learn subjects such as English, Maths
and History, which don’t necessarily have a
physical element, through our microchip.
Ellie: Maybe children could tune into our
lessons from around the world and learn
through a common language translated by
computer.
Phoebe: There are new inventions all the
time. In the Music room, children may be
learning newly created instruments that
don’t exist today.
Tommy: There could be an instrument
that you play with your mind, connected
wirelessly to the device which reads your
thoughts to play the music.
Phoebe: Perhaps instead of co-curricular
activities such as sailing, it will be possible
for children to go to space.
Will books still exist?
Ellie: I think books will become more
expensive because there will be fewer
physical books available and digital books
will take over. But I think reading a real book
and turning each page is a better experience
because it’s physical.
Tommy: We may not even need to pick up a
book ever again because of audio books.
Ellie: Yes, but the problem with audio books
is that you don’t develop your reading skills.
Reading is such an important life skill that
not to have it will be a real disadvantage.
Do you think children will physically go to
‘a school’?
Ellie: I think about two thirds of children will
come to school and the rest will learn from
home because we’ve all adapted to learning
from home since Covid. It could be that you
don’t go to school from Monday to Friday
but that there is a mix of days at school to
socialise and do physical and non-academic
activities and other days at home dedicated
to remote learning for the academic subjects.
Leon: That could work if the teacher is a
robot – you could have two teachers: a robot
teacher for remote learning and a real
teacher for teaching at school.
Phoebe: Maybe you’ll have your own
personalised robot, like a personal assistant.
In 2050, what will school be for? Ellie, Leon,
Phoebe and Tommy all agree that school
will continue to be about developing friends
for life, personal development, building
knowledge and setting children up for the
future.
9

A Dystopian
Story
Hannah, aged 13, tells her dystopian story of Emily
and her sister Tessie as they battle for survival.
Emily wasn’t listening. The chaotic
classroom was a whirlwind of screams,
laughter and wasted education that only the
rich could afford. But it wasn’t the chewing
of gum or the throwing of pencils that was
distracting her; it was the streets. They were
completely empty. Not a single person had
dared leave their house. They all knew The
Crew were coming.
Outside, the last of the autumn leaves were
cascading down slowly and miserably, like a
child that finally gave in to leaving their friend’s
house. Ice lined the pavement. It gave Emily a
frosty wink, telling her that she’ll be the next
unlucky pedestrian to slip precariously into its
grasp. The towering apartments that provided
life-saving shelter to many were so close to the
school that it felt like they could all get crushed
by this giant in an instant. The cracked glass in
the few remaining windows reminded Emily
that even money couldn’t buy the resources
they no longer had. Healthcare and food were
at an all time low. The Ghost Flu had infected
thousands living in the Jurius region of south
Paria and The Crew saw this as a solution to
the rebellions going on. Their logic was: the
more people die, the smaller the army they
need to annihilate. Only government officials
had access to the life-sustaining medicine
everybody craved.
Emily jumped up suddenly as the bell gave a
piercing shriek. Wearily, she collected her few
precious belongings. As she was fastening her
bag, she noticed something in the bottom of
it. Her heart skipped a beat. It was a tattered
old picture; but not just any picture. This one
was not only symbolic but it was also worth
thousands in the eyes of many. It was her home.
Her real home. A huge colourful paradise full
of all her favourite things. Back in the days
when money really could buy happiness. Back
when earth was a sweet, blissful place to live in.
Back before the disaster that destroyed her
world struck.
Snapping back into reality, she weaved her
way through the bustling corridors and the
cold metal gates. She grasped the collar of her
uselessly thin coat and pulled it all the way up
to her ears in a desperate battle to keep away
the coldness of reality. The cameras stared
down from every corner like seagulls eyeing a
child’s ice cream. The desolation in the town
echoed through her soul like a singer wailing
down a microphone. Momentarily, she allowed
10

t h e
G R Y P H O N
her mind to wander back to the warmth and
comfort of her previous life. Her stomach gave
a jolt. She was falling. Fast.
As she opened her eyes, she glanced around.
With no idea as to what had happened, she
leant up and placed her hands beside her.
As she did, she felt a strange tingling sensation.
A lump underneath her pale, ghost-like
arm itched. She was going to die. She didn’t
doubt that.
Tessie was alone. With her mother at work
and her sister at school, she was stuck in their
cramped snail-shell of a house. She longed for
the days when warm daylight would come
flooding through the window panes like a
golden wave come to thaw the frozen hearts of
the manipulated inhabitants.
She felt a sharp splinter jab at her torn
skin. She pulled herself up from her old and
battered armchair, one of her only remaining
possessions that hadn’t been destroyed in the
nuclear disaster.
Tessie grabbed a thick coil of rope and heaved
it over her shoulders. She wandered over to
the door and pushed it open slowly. As she
sauntered into the broad daylight, it was a
stark contrast to the lifeless, empty part of
town she knew her sister would be in at the
moment; The Crew were due to arrive soon. She
walked towards the only safe place for miles.
The mountains. Her feet protested to the
painful stroll.
She could clearly make out the snow-topped
mountains. All there was between her and
the towering white-capped giants was a ditch.
A very big ditch. She lugged the rope off her
shoulders and jammed one end into a pile of
rubble near the edge. Carefully, she peeled off
her shoes. She took a deep breath and clung
onto the remaining length of rope.
She looked around to make sure nobody
was watching her then resumed her original
position. Her hair swung from side to side as
she darted over to the sides of the valley. She
turned, gave a graceful leap, and plummeted
over the edge.
Emily had almost given up. She knew she would
be dead by now if it wasn’t for her instinctive
will to live. She lay down on the dewy grass
and stretched out her aching limbs. Her mind
swirled, thinking about the enormity of what
having the Ghost Flu meant. Not only had she
somehow crossed the line between reality
and the spirit world, but a fourth-dimensional
creature had also decided to curse her. She
sighed, looked up the cliff face and couldn’t
believe her eyes.
Drifting down the mountain like an angel
cascading from heaven was her sister.
As Tessie came closer, Emily started to
notice the alarming pace at which she was
descending. Emily jumped to her feet to try
and catch her, but swiftly collapsed. The curse
had made her weak.
As Tessie reached the ground, she spotted
her sister laying helpless on the floor. She
enveloped her in a warm hug. Tears of
happiness slid down Emily’s face.
She heard Tessie give a sigh of relief, but when
she looked at her face it was full of anger.
“What were you doing here?!” she raged. Emily
started to explain herself but Tessie didn’t
seem convinced, but even so, she grasped her
sister’s hand as if it was the most precious
thing in the world and hoisted her up tenderly.
Tessie looked up at the towering hillsides on
either side of them. “Ok, I think we should go
down this path,” she declared.
After they both took a few steps, it became
evident that Emily wouldn’t be able to walk all
the way back to their house. Tessie stopped her,
and they sat down on a rock to contemplate
their next move. Suddenly, she noticed
something moving in the distance. As it came
closer, she realised it was one of The Crew’s cure
cars, carrying medicine reserved for MPs only.
Without a second thought, Tessie raced over to
the car and started banging on the doors. By
this point she was willing to sacrifice anything
to get her sister home safe and well.
“Give me the medicine!” She screamed. A Crew
member stepped out of the car. He lifted Tessie
up like a rag doll and threw her into the vehicle.
The last thing Emily remembered seeing of
The Crew’s car was the boot, containing Tessie.
Her sister. With a gun to her head.
11

The Human Element
of Teaching
Stephen Fenlon, one of our Senior School
Mathematics teachers, looks at the
importance of interpersonal relationships
in teaching now and in the future.
12

t h e
G R Y P H O N
Blackboards and chalk, log tables, T-squares
and overhead projectors. All things I used
or witnessed being used on a daily basis in
my schooldays (and most through university
as well!). All things that are anathema to
the children I teach today. The teaching
environment of the 1950s was very similar to
the one I experienced in the late 1980s. Thirty
years on and things are rapidly changing,
where will we be and what will our classrooms
look like in another thirty years?
The events of the past 18 months have
changed the day-to-day procedures of my
profession more than at any other time in my
teaching career. The switch to a fully digital
environment has accelerated faster than I
ever expected. There are massive advantages
for teachers with this; all my classes’ work can
be stored, marked and returned on a portable
device that weighs just under one kilogram, a
far cry from my days of carting home shopping
bags full of exercise books. I can monitor
pupil progress throughout a lesson without
leaving my seat, and can provide detailed,
personalised feedback.
This switch to a digital learning environment
has led to bold predictions from many online
‘experts’. Recent educational journals have
included titles such as “Many educationalists
now believe that is only a matter of time
before robots – intelligent machines – begin to
replace teachers in schools” and “Classrooms
in the future will be virtual, pupils connecting
online via virtual reality headsets”. Is this
really the future of education?
Whilst we were able to teach our classes during
lockdown, the virtual learning experience
also presented its own problems. The nuances
of knowing each child individually and what
their ‘tells’ are were lost. A raised eyebrow
when a question is asked lets me know that a
pupil may need further explanation. Similarly,
pupils who haven’t fully understood will often
avert their gaze as I scan the room. These signs
can be picked up in an instant in a normal
classroom but are almost impossible to detect
when teaching virtually. And if I had to listen
to one more excuse of missed lessons or work
not submitted due to ‘wifi issues’, I may have
been driven to early retirement!
One of the joys of being a teacher is building
interpersonal relationships with pupils, not
just in the classroom. A conversation on a
Duke of Edinburgh expedition can lead to a
breakthrough with a pupil I had previously
struggled to motivate. Or recognising that the
afternoon tiredness is due to a 5.00am start
for swimming practice rather than a latenight
playing Minecraft or Call of Duty. This
allows us to treat our pupils individually and
tailor our expectations according to not just
their abilities, but also their personalities. This
is where teachers have the advantage over the
robots and the apps.
The use of technology has helped to improve
teaching and learning and will no doubt
continue to do so. But the temptation to use
technology just because it exists needs to be
resisted. The bottom line is that if something
improves teaching and learning in our
classrooms then it should be utilised. In 2050,
I still expect teachers to be standing in front
of a classroom, with pupils sitting at desks
in front of them. Our methods of delivering
content and resources will no doubt have
moved on, but the general principles of how a
school operates will remain broadly the same.
If it hasn’t, well, I’ll have retired by then so it
will be up to the next generation of teachers
to wander round in VR headsets on their
hoverboards, communicating wirelessly with
pupils who are on a beach 500 miles away still
asking “when will we ever use this in real life?”
I hope I’m somewhere on a beach as well.
E: stephen.fenlon@embley.org.uk
13

Embley Park, Romsey, Hampshire SO51 6ZE
Main switchboard: +44 (0) 1794 512206
Email: info@embley.org.uk
www.embley.org.uk