Let a thousand flowers bloom
Independent/ State Schools Partnership work. We really appreciate our teachers giving up the first three days of what is already a very short holiday to help our young people achieve — and exceed - their potential.
With this in mind, it´s good to see how well our former students are progressing. Ten of the Class of 2008 went on to Strode´s College to undertake the next stage of their education upon leaving what was then HCC, and a recently received Prize Day programme reveals that no fewer than nine of these have secured university places for September 2011, with the tenth deferring her application for a year. We also note with pleasure that Becky Oldham won the netball prize, Helen Bird the Travel & Tourism prize and Jade Lovitt the English Literature and Language prize. Strode´s is a very large college so three winners out of ten in a class of nearly 500 is very good going! Well done to our three alumni. Last week I attended the annual LST Principals´ Conference in Sweden, with my fellow Principals from Ipswich and Twickenham Academies, Chief Executive John Baumber, Kunskapsskolan MD (UK) Steve Bolingbroke, and a number of Swedish ‘Skolchefs´ (headteachers) and leading officers of Kunskapsskolan. I would like to pay tribute to my leadership team colleagues and the whole staff of Hampton Academy for operating the school so smoothly and effectively in my absence. One important aspect of this very demanding and useful visit was the receipt and analysis of the first annual questionnaire, completed by staff, students and parents last month. I would like to thank the 190 parents who took the trouble to complete the questionnaire — I appreciate it´s quite lengthy — as well as the 515 students (66% of the school roll) and 89 staff (98% of the workforce). The resultant data gives us a very comprehensive and useful portrayal of our school, particularly the data from Year 7 (77% response rate) who are the first cohort to experience the LST education model. A detailed analysis will be presented to staff and students next term and to the Academy Council and Parents´ Forum in May (dates to follow). In the meantime, readers may be interested in the following headlines:
· 75% believe the Academy´s approach to teaching and learning is good
· 82% believe there are clear rules about how students should behave at school · 75% would recommend the Academy to other parents (87% of Year 7 parents) STAFF There have been numerous other highlights over the past two weeks, including prestigious visits from poet John Hegley and dancers from the Royal Ballet School — do read the stories under our news section. And on our return, students Matt Gibson and Izzy Humphreys have an exciting start to the summer term with the opportunity to meet with Lord Coe in their capacity as Hampton Academy Olympic Ambassadors. Meanwhile our Programme Leader for Science Peter Edmead and PE/ Dance Teacher Gemma Davidson have a very exciting holiday planned — a reciprocal visit to Mivukoni School in Kenya following their staff visit to us last year. We are delighted that these colleagues are willing to spend the bulk of their holiday on developing and strengthening our links with Mivukoni, with a view to some student exchanges taking place in the future. We wish Peter and Gemma a successful and rewarding trip, and Year 11 the very best of luck with their exam preparation. In the meantime, I hope that all readers and members of our academy community enjoy the Easter break, and come back refreshed and ready for a productive summer term. Sue Demont |
