Blog: 50 Things that 'make Ashfold Ashfold'

A few years ago The National Trust produced a list of ’50 things to do before you’re 11¾’ along with some recommendations of the best locations to do them (all at National Trust properties, unsurprisingly).  It was a brilliant list, including tree-climbing and den-making and star-gazing and lots of other fantastic outdoorsy things.  The list caused a lot of discussion and led to lots of nostalgia in newspaper columns and wistful editorials about the state of childhood today.

But I’m pleased to say that as the Head of a school like Ashfold, I have no time or need for nostalgia!

I am quite a way past 11¾, of course, but I have decided to set myself a similar challenge with an Ashfold twist. Between now and the end of my first year I want to do the 50 things that ‘make Ashfold Ashfold’.  And I’ve asked the children, who know the school best, to help by setting me the tasks.

I have a fairly good idea of some of the things that they will ask me to do (Pre-Prep nature walks, using the zip wire, the Wigan Run), but I’m hoping for a few surprises as well. So please feel free to pass on any suggestions. I will try to keep a record of all 50 tasks and I am pretty sure that the Ashfold list will be even more exciting than the National Trust’s one.

Colin MacIntosh
Headmaster