Principal's Blog: 'Open Season!'

Our Open Evening this year was a triumph, with well over 400 visitors and nearly 300 Hampton Academy students taking part in the occasion. Our students really are our finest ambassadors, and the feedback we have had on our youthful tour guides has been really impressive. They continued their good work, ably supported by some very mature Year 10 students, on our two open mornings, which saw another 50 families looking round our school. The plans for our two new college buildings, scheduled to open next September, occasioned great interest and excitement amongst both Year 6 and their parents, as did A-Studio architect Art Koning´s presentation on Open Evening.

We have had lots of lovely feedback from the evening; I quote from just one email received the following day.

'I just wanted to say after last night´s visit to your academy by myself, my wife and daughter, I cannot praise you highly enough [...] I think that special praise must go to our two young guides for the evening. Their enthusiasm for the school and their patience in putting up with me was excellent. All the teachers we met on the tour were also a pleasure to meet.'

We have already had several requests for more visits by prospective pupils and their families. If you would like another look - or indeed a first visit - you are more than welcome. Please telephone Mary Aston on extension 269 to set up a tour; or Steph Heximer on extension 212 if you would like to meet with the Principal, SENCO or any member of the Academy Leadership Team. We appreciate this is a very important time for Year 6 parents across the community and are happy to provide whatever additional information families may require.

The Academy has continued to attract a large number of other visitors as well. Earlier in the term we hosted a visit from 14 Dutch teachers and educators, from which I received the following feedback:

‘Your hospitality and transparency were quite inspiring and gave us a good idea of the consequences of the transition from the traditional way of working towards the new educational concept. We were impressed by the enthusiasm and perseverance of your staff and management, but most important to us were the positive reaction of the students themselves.´

Then following on from the Swedish Ambassador and Chief Executive of Kunskapsskolan last week, we have enjoyed hosting two South African school leaders over the past two days. The exceptionally kind weather allowed our Arts & Performance Team to host an al fresco lunch for our visitors, at which our steel pans band provided the musical backdrop. This was an idyllic if unseasonal October occasion! Our visitors enjoyed observing the Steps and Themes curriculum in action across Years 7 and 8 and discussing how the system might work in their own school.

Performance appears to be in the blood of Hampton Academy students. This week I was privileged to watch Mr. Ovenden´s Year 9 class stage an exemplary assembly to 300 Conrad College students conducted — fluently - in six different languages. We were treated to sketches in Farsi, Spanish, German, Swedish and Arabic with excellent linking by James, Shefali and Kirsten who memorised a remarkable amount of facts and figures without faltering once. It was a treat to watch and the enthusiastic audience response suggests that our already strong take-up of modern languages will increase still further as these students progress through the Academy.

Friday 7th October is our first Goal Setting Day of the year, the second taking place in March. This is a very important process which is central to the success of our personalised learning model. It´s very difficult to find your way to a destination if you don´t know what or where it is; so our students start by thinking about their long term goals and aspirations, then work out the steps they need to take in order to achieve them. Obviously staff have a key role in helping students to reflect and think about both their goals and their learning journey, but it is important for their motivation that the students themselves ‘own´ their goals.

This year we are very pleased that more of our staff will be involved in the Goal Setting process. As well as every teacher in the Academy, our experienced team of Teaching & Learning Assistants will be undertaking some tutorials, as will our three College Co-ordinators. All staff have received training on the Goal Setting process and we hope it will be a very positive experience for all members of the school community.
Our students also continue to think of others. As I write the Hampton Academy Mega Events Campaign, a group of Year 9 students who have formed their own events committee, are selling teas, coffees and cakes in the dining hall throughout the day to raise money for charity. This astonishingly self-motivated group of students deserve all credit for once again giving up their time to raise money for good causes. Yesterday our older students ran ‘Jeans for Genes´ and by break time had already raised over £600 for this worthy cause. The great thing about these initiatives is that they are run by students - the citizens of tomorrow - rather than staff, giving the lie to the impression that young people are only interested in themselves.

Perhaps the cowardly parent who sent me an anonymous letter (rather than completing the evaluation form along with all the other parents following our open evening) might like to reflect on some of the above. As I agree with our Dutch headteacher´s comment above regarding transparency, I am delighted that this parent won´t be sending their children to us. We don´t want the children of an anonymous letter writer in our school.

However I refuse to end this blog on a negative note, so the last word this week goes to the Year 9 parent who wrote last year that:

‘The pastoral care at Hampton Academy is outstanding...staff have been there for every step of my son´s journey so far. We have complete confidence in them and appreciate the hard work and team spirit that make the academy a very special place.´

Sue Demont