A termly review from Highgate Wood School arts college
CONSIDERATION COOPERATION COURTESY CONTRIBUTION
Issue No 1 Summer Term 2011
Message from the Headteacher Welcome to the first edition of insight. The concept for insight is that it will be a publication that gives you some in depth coverage of what is happening at Highgate Wood School with a specific focus on celebrating our achievements. You will find in this first edition a review of the whole year that gives us a really good sense of just how much has been achieved this year. Every school year is very busy with so many areas of the school making positive contributions to student outcomes and experiences. This year is no different, and as you read through this booklet you will no doubt be amazed at just how much you’d forgotten about all of the things that have happened. The introduction of insight is part of a wider look at school communications. Newsweekly will no longer be published – Friday 22nd July is the last edition. insight will be produced on a less frequent basis than Newsweekly, but will go into more depth about some of the features of Highgate Wood School. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Neil Killingback (our Newsweekly editor) for his tremendous commitment and hard work in producing the weekly message so consistently and reliably. He is leaving Highgate Wood at the end of August and I wish him the very best for the future. We will also be re‐launching other ways of communicating with parents/carers and members of the community – hence more immediate information and reminders will take the form of specific letters home (where appropriate), website updates, e‐mails, twitter alerts, text messaging and other appropriate emerging communication channels. We welcome your feedback as the autumn term progresses to let us know what is going well with the new communication systems and what your suggestions are for making improvements. DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
New term starts: Tuesday 6th September 2011
A Level Results Day:Thursday 18th August 2011
GCSE Results Day: Thursday 25th August 2011
See full calendar on page 7
End of Year Thoughts As we come to the end of this year, I am reminded by a colleague that this is the end of my 5th year in charge at Highgate Wood. Time has flown so fast, and yet so much has been achieved in that time. We have developed as a school in so many ways, educationally, physically and ethos wise. Educationally, we have seen significant improvements in student outcomes. Despite the disappointment of last year’s GCSE results, I am conscious that every year of the 5 years that I have been the Headteacher has seen results exceed any previous set of results that Highgate Wood has produced prior to that time. This year, we are convinced that the results will be our best ever. Our results in the 6th form continue to be impressive as is the number of students who increasingly gain places at top universities, including Oxford and Cambridge.