+
Twitter Wall

Twitter Wall

Close

10/07/25

Year 7 and 8 parents - we need uniform donations for our SHUSH (second hand uniform shop), especially Trousers, Skirts, Blouses, Shirts, Ties, and Blazers. Please visit our website for details: https://t.co/YTbbYuX3ID pic.twitter.com/vWu2xp0Zdt— Valley Park School () July 10, 2025

10/07/25

60 students attended a smaller Transition event to prepare them for the main induction. The took part in group activities to help them get to know each other, and were awarded certificates at the end of the day. We hope our new Year 7s have a wonderful Summer!#wearevalleypark pic.twitter.com/VSGtLJMfzX— Valley Park School () July 10, 2025

10/07/25

Year 8 students showcased their ambitious science projects in the hall, captivating the audience with innovative experiments & bold investigations. Their outstanding presentations reflected their passion and hard work, representing Science at Valley Park with excellence. pic.twitter.com/wxyEro4mgG— Valley Park School () July 10, 2025

09/07/25

There are still tickets for 13Jr, our musical production at the Hazlitt Theatre! Don't miss out on this end of year treat. https://t.co/fefcFXEaQh pic.twitter.com/mSDmNZLkvR— Valley Park School () July 9, 2025

09/07/25

Here's some book ideas for reading through the Summer holidays!#wearevalleypark pic.twitter.com/iKgRAVtwyl— Valley Park School () July 9, 2025

06/07/25

There are many reasons why a student might struggle with attendance at school. Valley Park has a dedicated team to help & support you. To speak to someone, contact us by phone or email & a member of the attendance team will get back to you. pic.twitter.com/MpOCCasUkd— Valley Park School () July 6, 2025

05/07/25

Ashura holds different meanings for Sunni and Shia Muslims. Sunnis celebrate it as the day Moses parted the Red Sea & the salvation of the Israelites. For Shias, it is a day of mourning for Husayn ibn Ali's martyrdom, the Prophet Muhammad's grandson. pic.twitter.com/3wtiRS2P3N— Valley Park School () July 5, 2025

04/07/25

House Points update... pic.twitter.com/xCVrxTMdeU— Valley Park School () July 4, 2025

04/07/25

We welcomed our new year 7 students for their transition day yesterday. Ms Flannery, their Head of Year, is really excited to get to know each and every one of them!#wearevalleyparktransition pic.twitter.com/7w7fSW2EzP— Valley Park School () July 4, 2025

01/07/25

Celebrating year 7 student Max, who has achieved the new rank of a Colour Sergeant. On Friday, Max attended the Headcorn aerodrome with his commandant and was invited to the MBC Mayor's lunch, which helped kick-start the Battle of Britain airshow. Well done Max! pic.twitter.com/7QojNXgj9s— Valley Park School () July 1, 2025

29/06/25

58% of Year 7-11 pupils who missed school at the start of the year went on to miss at least 10% of sessions across the whole academic year. Fischer Family Trust#everylessoncounts#wearevalleypark pic.twitter.com/7n6HO97RfS— Valley Park School () June 29, 2025

27/06/25

House points update... pic.twitter.com/0IwMxWJkas— Valley Park School () June 27, 2025

27/06/25

The Feast of the Sacred Heart is a prominent Roman Catholic devotion, symbolising Jesus' Divine love for humanity through His physical heart. It emphasises the unmitigated love, compassion, and long-suffering of the heart of Christ towards humanity. pic.twitter.com/gX6mUi5Bgw— Valley Park School () June 27, 2025

27/06/25

Hannah and Jasmine, Valley Park students and Bearsted Football Club Under-15s players, were invited to watch the England Lionesses train at St George’s Park recently, as they prepare for the upcoming UEFA EURO tournament! 🦁🦁🦁 pic.twitter.com/I3qKXhxrVg— Valley Park School () June 27, 2025

27/06/25

On Tuesday 24 June Valley Park Shakespeare Society performed an extract from The Merchant of Venice as part of the RSC associate school project. Despite morning rain, the outdoor performance at Samphire Hoe was a success. pic.twitter.com/BhS7FeuO7R— Valley Park School () June 27, 2025

26/06/25

It's V in the Park on Saturday 28 June from Midday - don't miss this fabulous annual music event on the Valley Park Field.#wearevalleypark#wearevinthepark pic.twitter.com/2aIZIEmmwP— Valley Park School () June 26, 2025

22/06/25

There are many reasons why a student might struggle with attendance at school. Valley Park has a dedicated team to help & support you. To speak to someone, contact us by phone or email & a member of the attendance team will get back to you. pic.twitter.com/rXhg7UfxGN— Valley Park School () June 22, 2025

20/06/25

Our newest Sixth Formers started today – say hello to our 9 new chicks! Our Sixth Formers are learning about responsibility in Personal Development, and as part of this, are responsible for incubating, feeding, cleaning and watering our new arrivals! pic.twitter.com/DD70VvVM6f— Valley Park School () June 20, 2025

20/06/25

We have 3 amazing shows for you during this year's Arts Week: Dance Extravaganza, Romeo & Juliet, and 13 The Musical. If you want to buy tickets, please visit: https://t.co/IJpO06PN4T pic.twitter.com/sTiaIFVr0m— Valley Park School () June 20, 2025

20/06/25

The Feast of Corpus Christi, meaning "Body of Christ," is a Catholic celebration honouring Christ's presence in the Eucharist. It features processions with the Blessed Sacrament, showing public faith and devotion, with special prayers and hymns. pic.twitter.com/ADjMgCm067— Valley Park School () June 19, 2025

19/06/25

Tomorrow's exams...#examupdate#wearevalleypark pic.twitter.com/5aeKoYoN0b— Valley Park School () June 19, 2025

19/06/25

Litha, the Summer Solstice, is a pagan holiday celebrating the sun and fire on the year's longest day. Stonehenge and similar sites are aligned to showcase the sunrise on this day, attracting thousands of pagans. After the solstice, days shorten. pic.twitter.com/IcAooq55kk— Valley Park School () June 19, 2025

19/06/25

Just returned from an incredible trip to the Marlowe Theatre with our Year 8s to see Pig Heart Boy — they were amazing! As their Head of Year I'm so proud of their impeccable behaviour and brilliant engagement. A real credit to our school pic.twitter.com/GaBFgfxSOB— Valley Park School () June 19, 2025

18/06/25

Tomorrow's exams...#examupdate#wearevalleypark pic.twitter.com/EbjFUZjlEb— Valley Park School () June 18, 2025

18/06/25

We're tremendously proud of Sapphire (Yr9) who played in the U14 ESFA Champions’ Cup Plate Final at Sixways Stadium. She scored a 20-yd screamer & took a penalty in the end of match shootout, which ended 2-2. Well done Sapphire!!! pic.twitter.com/47bUQfolJc— Valley Park School () June 18, 2025

Blog

Posted on: January 24th 2022

To fail to prepare is to prepare to fail.

Have you seen the infinite chocolate bar video? If not, you can view it below:

There’s nothing like a bit of mind-blowing magic to awaken our sense of wonder and amazement!  What if this really was a way to make infinite squares of chocolate?

Peel away the initial 'wow' moment, of course, and what comes next is the realisation that this must be an illusion. Some of us will think about it briefly before getting distracted, others of us will consider it more deeply. I had a great time, for instance, turning the whole demonstration into a line graph and using calculus to determine surface areas (once a maths teacher, always a maths teacher!) and to work out the mechanics of the illusion. A great opportunity to flex my mathematical muscle-memory, but the illusion also got me thinking philosophically…

How many times in our lives do we sit back and hope for a miracle, in spite of the well-established and well-known processes (which are probably somewhat painful, annoying or inconvenient) that have long been proven to work? Take revision, for example. An often-dull and always-challenging process, in which one must confront all past learning that hasn't gone so well, or that hasn't been used recently.

Revision takes time, effort, will-power, dedication, and resilience, as one confronts difficulty after difficulty in order to drive improvement. Yet we know revision works! We include retrieval activities in our lessons for the same reason - it builds muscle-memory and forces us to practise accessing material from our long-term memory. The more we practise, the better we become - just as in sport, music and other skilled disciplines.

In Drama, one might wait for one’s lines to be learned automatically, for example, in a world where we believe in the chocolate illusion. In football, one would become an international striker overnight. In music, one would be on stage at the O2 without ever picking up an instrument or song book. You get the point – this would be ridiculous.

However, it is equally ridiculous (yet somehow culturally more acceptable) to cut corners in exam preparation, expecting that – magically - what one didn't know before the exam started would pop into one's mind when the paper is open and that dreaded question is there, in black and white: a great white space to be filled with evidence that one understands. In detail.

There's no magic to cover that eventuality. No illusion that can cover up a chasm in knowledge, or a missing skill.

You'll have seen some attempts at illusions before - probably through funny internet memes like this one:

Find x o 448

Amusing, admittedly, but worthless. Really, though, there are some magic words that will spare us all the need for an illusion, so long as we remember them:

To fail to prepare is to prepare to fail. 

Benjamin Franklin.

‘Abracadabra’ it's not, but then revision, recall and retrieval isn't trickery. It's fine-tuned, honed, honest skill.

Don't wait for the magic to happen; don't waste time hunting for a cover-up illusion - get the ingredients right in the first place. The magic emerges on results day.

 

MH Title