Last summer over 90% of all observed lessons were 'Good' or better. I have confidence in this number, because when Ofsted came to visit just under a year ago, they did not see any lessons that were less than 'Good'. They undertook observations with each of my senior team, and agreed with the judgements they were making in every case. This very high quality learning has led to some impressive outcomes beyond exam results too. 22 members of Year 8 have recently been published in the national 'Young Writers' anthology. This is an exceptionally high number, and coupled with the GCSE English results from the summer which were 26% above the national average for students Exceeding their Expected Progress shows a vibrant and successful department. That is not all, as 6 students were recently selected to represent the district or county at football. This is wonderful news, and I wish them every success. As well as their high level sporting skills, the values of team work and fair play are of value in every aspect of life. Ofsted judged learning in PE lessons they saw as 'Outstanding'. Students make use of our wonderful facilities and consistently excel. Just in case you had forgotten, we are also recent former U13 table tennis National Champions too!
This week I enjoyed hosting our Parents Forum. Parents submitted questions in advance so we could ensure we covered all the topics that families wanted to hear about. They included, amongst other things, the expansion of the Academy, Data and Reporting, Extra-Curricular Activities and ICT. Just over 30 parents attended the event in our newly refurbished Grand Hall, which is a very impressive building. 82% of attendees rated the event as 10/10, with lots of positive comments in the feedback. I plan to hold more events of this type, as dialogue with families is so important to help us develop further.
One final event to bring to your attention is Proud to Belong week, the first week of term in January. This is a week we dedicate to enriching the Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural life of the school. Year 7 follow a week of activities to explore aspects of friendship and growing up. They do this through the Harry Potter novels, culminating in a visit to the Studios, where they are set challenge activities as part of the Principal's Challenge. Year 8 students will be investigating prejudice through sport, with former professional footballers working with them, before they take to the slopes of the Hemel Hempsted ski centre for their Principal's Challenge. Students have letters about these two activities, with details and deadlines about how to book on parent pay. Activities for Years 9 and 10 will be revealed shortly.Year 11 will be completing their mock GCSE examinations that week, and will receive details on their return after the half term holiday. This is one of my favourite weeks of the year- we have had paralympic athletes, members of the armed forces, and holocaust survivors come to speak to the students. Their mature and sensitive responses make me very Proud to Belong.