“Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the Fall” F Scott Fitzgerald

Summer is over, autumn is here and a new academic year has started. It also happens to be my first week as the new Headteacher of Wyedean School following the retirement of my predecessor, Clive Pemberton. Clive’s predecessor, John Claydon (Head, 1990-2005) wrote me a welcome card for me to read on my first day in the job. “You’ll find a tremendous well of goodwill in the local community and amongst the staff”. One of the reasons I wanted to be the next Head of Wyedean School was due to its close relationship with the community. Having worked in schools in England and Wales where the community has a good and close relationship with the school I know how valuable this is for the success of the students.  I am impressed with the dedication, professionalism and hard work of the staff at Wyedean and I am very proud and privileged to be the next Headteacher of the school.

All sorts of studies show how important these weeks and months are in autumn for successful learning and watching the new Year 7s arriving on Thursday eager to get started in secondary school made me think how quick the time also flies by in a 39 week academic year.  The Sixth Form have just had their best A Level results ever and by the time we have reached Friday with the rest of the school returning we are already back into the swing of school life.  The staff worked hard on the inset days on excellent teaching and learning with a real tangible buzz and excitement about the year ahead.  I want to build on the strengths of the school, identified rightly by last year’s OfSTED and the summer result. In our priorities for the year as staff we discussed developing further outstanding learning, Digital Learning, International Education, Creativity and learning skills that a changing and fast paced C21st society requires.  There are some great learning opportunities planned for the year ahead for our students.

This week has seen the worsening of the heart-breaking humanitarian crisis on the shores and borders of Europe. As we start this academic year with this backdrop in the news the reasons why we value education and the nurturing and development of our young people in the ethos and values of our community and society have never been more important.