Principal's Blog: Building on a Learning SiteHampton Academy´s new year has got off to a flying start, notwithstanding the immense amount of construction activity now taking place on sections of our site. In the light of this it was particularly gratifying back in August to achieve our best ever GCSE results, reminding us all of exactly why we are here. As a member of the Leadership Team reminded me on the first day of the new year, we are a learning site on which some building work is taking place - not a building site; and so it will remain. Overall 70% of Hampton Academy students achieved 5 or more top grade passes this year with 96% achieving this at all grades. Long gone are the days when a worrying minority left with almost nothing to show for five years of secondary school. Following appeals to the exam boards, our 5 A*-C pass rate including English and maths is confirmed at 48%, equalling our previous best achieved in 2010. Our Ebacc score of 16% has doubled since last year to above the 2010 national average, and shows that our continued commitment to modern languages in a declining national context is paying off. Students are in one respect like buses. As the Class of 2011 recede from the forefront of teachers´ thinking, another new cohort of students arrives to take their place. The current Year 11 are already being firmly focused on their highly ambitious target of 61% 5 A*-Cs with English and maths; meanwhile, at the other end of the school, our 183 new Year 7 students are beginning to find their way around and embracing all the opportunities of ‘big school´. It was lovely to meet so many parents on Monday at our annual tea party, and to hear such positive feedback about students´ experience in their first week. There have been some recent staff successes too. At the end of last term Niall Smith, Associate Principal, was appointed to the headship of Southborough School in Kingston upon Thames after four years at HCC/ Hampton Academy. He will leave Hampton Academy at the end of this half term. Niall is my second successive deputy to go on to a headship (Bev Bell has been running Crest Academy for Girls in Brent since 2007) and will I am sure make an excellent headteacher. We congratulate him, and wish him well. We also commend Andrew Finch, the Wordsworth College Higher Level Support Assistant, who achieved a 2:1 in his degree in June. Andrew combined his studies with his full time job here and has certainly shown our students that you can achieve ‘more than you thought possible´. The school is very proud of him. And yes — there is some building work going on! The new car park is fully operational, the demolition of the art and inclusion blocks is largely complete, and the final cutting and securing will allow for building work to start in the next few weeks. There have been some teething troubles, but nothing which has impeded the smooth running of the school so far — the female staff did have to share their toilets with 400 teenage girls for a week, but we all managed! Finally, following a summer where some of the headlines around young people were less than edifying, it was splendid to receive a letter written on behalf of the Directors and Trustees of Hampton Voluntary Care, praising a group of Hampton Academy students. Whilst rioting and looting were occurring across parts of London, several of our Year 9 students were giving up part of their holiday to organise and run a ‘Bridge the Generation Gap´ event for senior citizens at the Greenwood Centre. The Manager commented: ‘We were most impressed with the team´s approach and execution of this event under the professional leadership of Sean Chapman (9CD). The whole team worked smoothly in a co-ordinated and commendable effort...We were encouraged to see young people interacting with the elderly in such a positive way, bridging the age gap so seamlessly. In the light of the recent youth problems, many of our clients have been encouraged to see today´s youth reaching out to them in such a positive manner.´ What a great note to end on. Sue Demont |