As the examination season unfolds – with external assessments well underway and internal exams just around the corner – our Senior School corridors are filled with revision notes, study groups and that familiar mix of anticipation and determination. Our Quad is busy with students and teachers meeting to review and refine content. It’s a time when effort, focus and resilience shine through. Yet, it’s also a moment to pause and reflect on why we learn, not just what we learn.
Grades and results certainly matter. They open doors and provide milestones of achievement. But beyond the numbers and letters on a page lies something even more powerful – curiosity. The students who thrive most, not only in school but in life beyond it, are those who stay curious: those who ask ‘why?’, explore ‘what if?’ and seek to understand rather than merely to memorise.
Curiosity transforms study from obligation into opportunity. A student revising Biology who wonders how discoveries in genetics might change future medicine is learning more deeply than one who simply recalls definitions. The History student who questions what might have happened if a single event turned out differently is exercising critical and creative thought. The Mathematics student who applies concepts to real-world problems – from architecture to economics – is seeing the beauty and purpose behind the equations. And the Language student who explores how words are intertwined with culture, or who traces the origins of a phrase to understand its deeper meaning, is connecting communication to identity and human experience.
At its heart, curiosity connects knowledge to meaning. It’s what turns information into insight. And in an age where information is everywhere, insight is what truly distinguishes a learner.
As teachers, we see this spark in classrooms every day – the student who stays behind after a lesson to ask one more question, the group that takes a class discussion in an unexpected but fascinating direction, the learner who links an English text to a film or social issue they care about. These are the moments when learning becomes personal, and when curiosity begins to guide the journey.
Examinations will come and go, and grades will always have their place. But curiosity endures. It is what will drive today’s learners to be tomorrow’s innovators, problem-solvers and thoughtful citizens. So, as our students prepare for their upcoming assessments, I encourage them to remember that learning is not a finish line – it’s a lifelong adventure.
Study hard, yes – but stay curious. Ask questions, explore connections and let your interest carry you beyond the syllabus. Because long after the exam papers are collected, it is your curiosity that will keep your learning – and your growth – alive.
Frédérique Petithory
Acting Deputy Head of Senior School – Student Learning
