A Week in the Life...

The week ahead at Hampton Academy is action packed, with events combining that fascinating blend of the academic, the sporting and the charitable which can every so often coincide within schools. It´s Comic Relief Day on Friday; ‘500 Days to the Olympics´ launch on Tuesday; and learning business as usual every day! All are important; and keeping the right balance between the three can present a challenge for both students and teachers. With the enthusiastic help of our College and Student Councils, we aim to get it right this week.

It´s a special week for Year 9, who have their Parents´ Meeting and Preferences Presentations on Monday followed by their individual Preferences Interviews on Wednesday. These are

extremely important as the decisions taken will determine each student´s curriculum for the next two years. This particular Year 9 find themselves taking those decisions against a changing national backdrop, where a new government is making pronouncements and changes as to their preferred curriculum offer as I write. The press has been full of headlines about the merits and demerits of the plethora of qualifications now available and the attempt to at least rationalise these is not unwelcome; however tens of thousands of students have benefited from the range of different courses and like most headteachers I hope the baby will not be slung out with the bathwater when the government´s preferred curriculum offer is published.

At Hampton Academy we will continue to ensure that students can follow a curriculum which will allow them to fulfil their potential and at the same time motivate them to achieve. This means advising our potential university graduates of the requirements of the E-bacc (English, maths, 2 sciences, history or geography, and a language); providing a suite of BTEC courses in performance, sport, ICT and Travel & Tourism for those who work best in a collaborative and cumulative structure; and ensuring that all students, whatever their prior attainment, have the opportunity to achieve the equivalent of 8 GCSE passes at grades A*-G. In our experience there is no student at Hampton Academy whose ability would preclude

them from achieving this, providing they attend school regularly and work hard. The majority will of course be aiming for 8 A*-C grades either solely through GCSEs or through a combination of GCSEs and BTEC.

The 2012 Olympics will provide all kinds of opportunities for young Londoners, and our PE staff and Sports Co-ordinator Jimmy Giblin are very keen to exploit these at Hampton Academy. A full report of our Olympic Learning Day will be published shortly; we are looking forward to seeing the range of sports kit and team shirts produced by both students and staff in honour of the occasion. Monies raised will go towards the provision of a special HA team kit for our competitors to wear in fixtures and tournaments.

Comic Relief Day of course has a greater fundraising focus for charities outside our school community; our student councillors have pledged to raise a minimum of £1000 on Friday, starting with the ‘mufti day fee´ as we enter the building from 8.00am. The terrible earthquake in Japan, whose consequences are still unfolding as I write, is another salutary reminder of the limitations of human control over the physical world; I was struck by a newspaper article yesterday, which pointed out that the sophisticated technology which we all associate with Japan

counted for nothing against the onslaught of the earthquake and tsunami which followed. I have no doubt that our students will be looking to make a response to this disaster as they have to others, and our sympathies as a school community are extended to any Hampton Academy families who have relatives or connexions with the affected area. Once again, a natural disaster has put the rest of our lives and work into perspective; and in our very small way, as a school community, we will do what we can to help.

On a happier note, we have been delighted to welcome several prospective parents and Year 6 students to Hampton Academy last week. In response to the level of interest, we have appointed a dedicated member of our admin team to manage the programme of tours and visits. Any families who would like to visit as they consider their child´s secondary school offer should contact Mary Aston on 020 8783 4288, or email maston@hamptonacademy.org.uk We look forward to meeting you.

Sue Demont