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Dr Craig Cook on Activity Week with Grade 9

28 Dec Three Threads for Woodstock’s Future

Posted at 10:57h in All, Centre for Imagination, Education Matters, Enrichment, Principal's Views 5 Comments

Principal Dr Craig Cook looks back at his experiences on this year's Activity Week, and forward to share what's needed to ensure Woodstock remains distinctive into the future. It was my privilege during Activity Week to be with the ninth graders on their village trip. While the village was only a...

16 Dec Keep Reading this Winter Break

Posted at 10:11h in All, Centre for Imagination, Education Matters, Enrichment, Principal's Views 3 Comments

The last few days have been cold, wet and windy up here on the hillside, and most of us are looking forward to getting down to lower altitudes and warmer climates. The winter vacations are an important time for us all, not just to escape the most severe of our Himalayan...

12 Dec One-Book Woodstock – Maus

Posted at 08:25h in All, Centre for Imagination, Education Matters, Enrichment, Principal's Views 3 Comments

One-Book Woodstock is back for the winter break. The idea is that everyone – students from Grades 6 up, teachers and staff – will read the book over the Christmas period. When we return in the Spring, the book’s themes will feed into our studies across the curriculum. Essentially, we’re...

05 Dec Tribute to Thomas Chandy

Posted at 15:19h in All, Alumni, In Memoriam 0 Comments

Our Principal, Dr Craig Cook pays a tribute to Thomas Chandy, who served as the Woodstock School board president on two occasions and sadly passed away in November 2019. As a community of learners, Woodstock School benefitted greatly from the life and leadership of Thomas Chandy. Thomas made significant contributions to Woodstock...

25 Nov Becoming a Reusable Water Bottle Campus

Posted at 09:41h in All, Enrichment, Principal's Views 7 Comments

From January, Woodstock is becoming a reusable water bottle campus, where students and staff alike will not be using plastic bottled water at school or in dorms. Principal Dr Craig Cook explains why. Spinning the bottle For the industry, It’s the modern-day equivalent of the philosopher’s stone, sought by alchemists to turn...

18 Nov Navigating college applications

Posted at 09:37h in All, college counselling, Education Matters, Outdoor Learning, Principal's Views 3 Comments

All around the school, students are putting tremendous efforts into getting away from Woodstock. That is, our seniors are busy preparing their applications which will very shortly see them moving off to study at colleges and universities around the world. Moving from school to college is a crossroads moment in...

Woodstock students jump into a river during activity week

21 Oct Into the Breach

Posted at 15:54h in All, Enrichment, Outdoor Learning, Principal's Views 0 Comments

Woodstock Principal Dr Craig Cook explains how exposing students to new cultures, landscapes and experiences during Activity Week provides an opportunity for them to thrive. Harold Garfinkel was a master of the socially awkward. A professor of sociology, he is known as the founder of ethnomethodology – the study of how...

07 Oct Three Types of Fun

Posted at 10:03h in All, Enrichment, Outdoor Learning, Principal's Views 0 Comments

Do you know that there is a fun scale? That is, at least when it comes to the spending time in the great outdoors. Enthusiasts will tell you that there are three types of fun. Type one fun, put simply, is fun – before, during and afterwards. It could be a...

30 Sep Saunter, Don’t Hike

Posted at 10:31h in All, Enrichment, Outdoor Learning, Principal's Views 1 Comment

Woodstock Principal, Dr Craig Cook, reflects on the joys of sauntering. In two weeks’ time, our students will be heading off for activity week. Undoubtably one of the highlights of the school year, it gives all our students the chance to swap the classroom for the great-outdoors and step outside their...

23 Sep Listening, Learning and then Leading

Posted at 22:00h in All, Principal's Views 7 Comments

In our parents' newsletter, Principal Dr Cook explains why he believes great leadership starts with listening. One of many wisdoms attributed to His Holiness the Dalai Lama is: “When you talk, you only repeat what you know; But when you listen, you learn something new”. It’s hard to argue that there’s...

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