Transcript-of-the-Headteacher

Transcript of the Headteacher’s Speech 2020 Welcome ladies and gentlemen to our first ever virtual open evening I would like to extend a warm welcome to everyone here live tonight and to those of you who are watching a recording of the event If you don’t know me already, I am Jon Beck, and it’s my privilege to be addressing you as the Headteacher of Testbourne Community School It is becoming a cliché, but we cannot deny that these are unprecedented times When thinking about open events in the Spring term, I did not anticipate that we would not be able to have adults on site and could not run our traditional open evening and mornings I am disappointed that you will not be able to see our wonderful staff and students in action and that you won’t get to glimpse, first-hand, what the real school day is like here I can say that every year, people are so effusive when they have been on our tours, {say things about what people say} We are, however, doing what we have all been doing for months – changing the way we things and adapting to the circumstances So this evening, is an attempt to replicate a first-hand experience of our school in the virtual world Mrs Gray has already outlined what is available this evening Additionally, as she said, some aspects of the evening will also be available as recordings on our website after the event Our website also has important myth busting and FAQs on admissions as well as information on transport – one of the biggest concerns for families who live slightly further away Before I continue, I want to answer one of the most frequent questions I get asked If you live out of catchment, there is a good chance that you will get a place This is because the Year population in catchment is significantly lower than our admission number We tend to fill up every year but, in the previous years, we have managed to accommodate all of those who have wanted a place You can get more information on admissions in the final session at the end of the evening I am a parent myself so I always reflect on what it is I would want to hear about when attending evenings such as this I have concluded that when I was in the same situation as you, I simply to know about the beliefs, philosophies, and core values of the person I was entrusting with my child’s education I am not going to blind you with facts and figures or spend an age boasting about our accomplishments in Sport, The Arts and Sciences – the excellent academic achievement and other successes of our students speak for themselves I am going to give you compelling reasons as to why you and your children will want to join us for the next phase of your child’s education, based on my ideals as this school’s Headteacher It is the Headteacher that sets the tone of a school so it is important that you understand a bit more about me So what am I about as an educator? One of my most fundamental beliefs is the power of education to change lives Indeed, I am a product of that belief Alongside that ideal, I am passionate about the right of all children to receive the highest quality education I am dedicated to providing opportunities for all children, irrespective of background or need, to excel academically and to develop and excel in their other areas of interest In fact, I am a big believer in needs of the individual before labels I want children to gain the excellent exam results they deserve – and that provide a gateway to their future – and at the same time, enjoy and value their experience of education I want them to become inquisitive and passionate learners so that they develop the skills that will aid them in what will be a competitive future When I first arrived here at TCS, I asked staff to suggest ideas for a school strapline Something we could all buy into and something that represented our core values We decided upon the three words: Achievement, Excellence, Integrity because they were values that we felt we all wanted to live and work by as a community You will have seen them on our branding I’d like to explain how these words neatly summarise everything we believe in The first word in our strapline is excellence The core purpose of a school is to educate its students Sounds obvious but there are a lot of distractions in the modern age For me, the number one priority is learning and achievement Other areas are hugely important: the cultural benefit of our exchange with our Ugandan partners, our amazing drama productions and music recitals, sporting successes and so on However, the thing for which we are most accountable, and rightly so, is your children’s achievement It is the results with which they leave us that determine their future I place a great deal of emphasis on ensuring that teaching is of the highest quality, that teachers can develop their practice, have access to the most up to date thinking and research and that students have the opportunity to learn and are motivated to excel That brings me nicely onto the second word – excellence I believe that we should all everything to the best of our ability We should never leave ourselves asking ‘what if I had tried a little harder?’ Our students only must answer to their own consciences in the end They, after all, must bear the consequences of their actions, inactions and decisions Excellence is a seam that should run through everything we I want everything that we to be the highest standard we can possibly make it and this is then a model for our students – we will expect the best from them I know from experience that by raising the bar, children raise their performance to meet the new level of expectation The delight and pride they take in doing so is one of my key motivators as an educator I want our students to achieve at the highest level academically so that they can progress to the best colleges and universities or secure the best training or employment opportunities I want our students to take pride in themselves, their uniform, their behaviour and their academic and personal achievements This means as a community of learners, we must have the highest expectations of each other and ourselves We have been working very hard behind the scenes to improve our facilities and bring these up to the ideal of excellence for Testbourne students and the community We are developing infrastructure, we have completely refurbished our PE changing rooms, we have invested in a brand new changing facility for Dance, we have created a new computer suite and, in the last couple of years we completed a state of the art, 3G pitch Our long-awaited refurbishment of the large SCOLA building has been delayed by COVID, but we are certainly looking forward to the benefits this will bring when the project is complete We have a well-equipped school library and have provided additional catering outlets such as our now famous ‘Blue Box’ We have installed air conditioning in several rooms We have created a “Learning Hub” for students who require extra support with their learning, for whatever reason, and a new inclusion facility is under development to support students who are struggling to integrate into school life In doing this, we have significantly increased our capacity to cater for our growing community All these developments bring Testbourne Community School into the 21st century whilst maintaining its small, traditional school appeal I would like to talk now about the third word in our strapline - integrity I am a person with what some people call traditional values, but I think of simply as values I believe in a community where everyone is polite, caring and courteous and where we have respect for each other, our environment and, importantly, for ourselves I believe in – and insist upon - the highest expectations of behaviour and, at the core of how I manage behaviour in a school, is the idea that teachers have a right to teach and students have a right to learn When I talk to children about their behaviour, I reinforce the idea that interruptions to one’s own learning and that of others is unacceptable The focus on learning, the elimination of lowlevel disruption, the development of a culture of high expectations and mutual respect are all part of our core philosophy I am very intolerant of the more serious behaviours We support children to make the right choices, but we not shy from applying consequences where this is needed to protect the learning of others We are so fortunate at Testbourne, that we are spoilt by the fact that such a small minority wish to test us Everything we at Testbourne is linked to the masterplan of moulding students who are confident and highly skilled in learning and achieving We have remodelled our rewards system to shift the focus from material reward to recognition Intrinsic value over material value The culmination of this work became a highlight of the year for me The prestigious Prize Giving evening in Winchester Guildhall is where we recognise students for excelling in the demonstration of our Learning Qualities of Respect, Integrity, Courage in Learning, Ambition, Responsibility, Diligence and Leadership These qualities are at the core of shaping our students for their futures The inclusivity of choosing to recognise qualities rather than just academic achievement for example, is deliberate All students can access these qualities and demonstrate them in school Throughout the year, the house points that students earn are tied to these qualities (Explain if time) Additionally, a tremendous demonstration of our culture of high expectations and excellent behaviour was our inaugural “Festival of Sport.” At TCS, we are continually evolving We not rest on our laurels – we evaluate, we talk to our parents, students and staff and we seek to improve the service we offer Testbourne is on the road to becoming an incredible institute of learning excellence and personal growth The school has the raw materials already and our cohort is second to none I am astounded daily by the respect, humour, graciousness, intelligence and articulacy of our wonderful students They have been willing contributors to our journey You will be reflecting on your imminent choices, weighing up what is best for your child You will have developed views about our school, and you must try to test them, even though opportunities to so are restricted this year Ultimately, you must make the best decision for you and your child I not feel that my role is to give you a pressure sell – we are not dealing in timeshare! In my view the school, with its wonderful staff and its fantastic students, sells itself You must decide that TCS is the best fit for you If you believe in the same ideals as me and you feel you can support us in implementing these, you should send your children to Testbourne If you want your children to be part of a high achieving learning culture; to be taught by subject specialists; to experience the highest standards of behaviour, to be safe and happy, to settle quickly you should certainly have us at the top of your list If you want your children to rise to the highest expectations and achieve the highest standards they are capable of, to experience a broad range of extracurricular opportunities and to experience newly refurbished, quality facilities, you should send them to Testbourne We look forward to welcoming children from all walks of life into our school and to helping them be the best they can be We will continue our journey as a top performing school of first choice - I sincerely hope you will choose to be with us on that journey