The role of Principal is one of the most diverse jobs in the world. In the morning you can be briefing staff, then dealing with students, members of the public, the press, teach and then complete the paperwork that is required of the post. This week was a prime example. On Monday we had our first whole school assembly of the year. As always I am very proud of our students, their conduct and their determination to always be the best they can be. This was witnessed by Ben Gummer MP who took some time to see the students in lessons and sample the improved climate for learning.
I always try and get out around the Academy to see the quality of teaching and interaction between staff and students. Last week it was a pleasure to see that the level of thought and response to teacher questions has increased from last year. We have raised expectations this year as we believe “we get what we expect”. Staff have really taken this to heart and embraced the new challenges with typical Chantry determination.
The new build has created a number of opportunities to showcase student work and enhance our reputation in the community. On Tuesday we hosted two events through the Active Learning Trust, the first was the second cohort of Leading Active Learning participants. The Leading Active Learning programme gives staff the chance to lead and develop an area of school improvement whilst being supported by experienced leaders. I am delighted that 3 members of staff are participating this year, Mrs Manhertz, Miss Ewen and Miss Parker. They will all be working on individual projects that will enhance the quality of learning and student engagement.
Later that same evening we hosted a Governor training event for the four ALT schools within Ipswich. Leadership is a key area of the Academy that was identified in the last full inspection as a key improvement target. Governance is a vital role that strengthens whole academy leadership. I am really pleased that we now have a local governing body with a new Chair of Governors, Mr Robert Dool. Bob leads a team of 5 trust governors, 2 staff governors, 2 parent governors and the Principal. The role of the Governing body is to hold the Principal and the senior leaders to account, ensure standards and our values are maintained. I took Bob for a tour of the school on Wednesday and I was taken aback by the enthusiasm of the students to showcase their work. The year 11 musicians were particularly keen to demonstrate their Jazz ensemble, so much so they voluntarily missed their break to do so.
However my two favourite events this week have been the visit of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to work with our primary partner schools and our own students. Needless to say that this opportunity is not available to every school and we were very excited to give our students the chance to hear some of the best musicians in the world. The key learning point was that they all at one point couldn’t play the instrument, but through hard work and determination they succeeded. It is always good to see our own core beliefs being demonstrated by the very best in the world.
The second event was the Year 6 Open Evening. The only way to describe the event is….tremendous. We had two talks and each one was crowded. Staff reported that there was a constant stream of people wanting to look round the building and talk to our students. Our students on the evening acted as brilliant ambassadors, demonstrating the values of the Academy. One parent emailed the next day with this comment
“I just thought I would send you an email to say how incredibly proud I believe you would be of the two young ladies that showed us around your school this evening. They were an absolute pleasure to spend time with and were so enthusiastic to show us around all of the new build. Both the young ladies took an hour and a half to show us around the building, making sure they had covered every angle. Both girls had their timetables to hand, which they went through in great detail with my daughter. They were very complementing of the teachers, the systems in place… ie how the behavioural issues are dealt with and one even said ” I am proud to wear my uniform.” The other one was very quick to tell us how much she loved the school, she feels it was the best choice. What respectable young ladies they both were and a great advert to your school. “
The buzz of the evening lasted well into Saturday afternoon. Staff and students commented that this was the busiest open evening they had seen with almost 500 people attending the event.
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