ASPIRATIONAL TALK

The Head of Bancroft’s School in Woodford Green, Simon Marshall, on o ering lots of opportunities to drive their pupils on to achieve their very best

Q Could you give us a potted history of Bancroft’s School…

A We were originally founded in 1737 and our site was on the Mile End Road, where Queen Mary University of London is now. Francis Bancroft, a merchant and draper, left his estate to the Drapers’ Company to found a school and an almshouse. The school was for 100 boys, to provide basic education between the ages of 7 and 14. It was expected that pupils would go on to apprenticeships. We moved to our current site in the late 19th century and o ered a much-expanded curriculum and eventually prepared pupils for entry to university or to the professions. The late 20th century saw Bancroft’s becoming a fully co-educational day school with a Prep School on the same site; we are happy to stick with what we have now become!

Q How long have you been Head at the school for and what originally attracted you to the role?

A I joined Bancroft’s in September 2016 from running The English College in Prague and, just like that school, Bancroft’s is a selective academic, co-educational and aspirational school. It also had the added attraction of being a short cycle-ride away from my home in Walthamstow.

Q Today, what does Bancroft’s o er?

A Well, I could take up the whole issue with this answer but, in short, we aim to provide a transformational experience for every child. We want every child to have a really wide range of opportunities and challenges throughout their time in the school, and also to have a great time. From outside most people seem to see us solely in terms of our examination results, but these are very narrow metrics to judge any school; education here is just as much about sport, music, drama, di erent activities and clubs, service-opportunities and so on as it is about any subject – all of these aspects of school life are essential if our pupils are to leave here prepared for the world ahead. The qualities, skills and understanding that might help a child go on to live a fulfilling adult life are not found just in a set of grades.

Q Do you o er anything that you believe makes you stand out?

A The outstanding aspect of any school is its pupils – we are continually surprised and delighted at their talents, energy and determination. I imagine every Head feels the same!

Q If we chanced upon a typical classroom scene, what would we find? We don’t have ‘identikit’ templates for lessons; we give teachers the freedom to innovate and to go above and beyond the curriculum at all levels. I hope you’d catch sight of the passion, knowledge and enthusiasm of our teachers being shared with our pupils; hear laughter and lively conversations as well as challenging questions from both teachers and our pupils. Teaching is full of di erent tones and shades of learning – from an atmosphere of quiet calm and concentration, to the energy and exuberance of a drama or PE lesson and the purposeful hum as a class splits into di erent groups working collaboratively. I hope too that you might pass by our learning support hub, where we provide individual support for di erent learners’ needs and see the di erence that close, focused attention can make to less-confident pupils. I think if you walked around you’d see a huge variety of di erent activities and methods being used.

Q What have been the highlights of this school year to date?

A If I had to pick one from last term it would be our House performing arts’ competition, where our four Houses vie with each other through a range of musical and dramatic performances. Pupils from all year-groups take part and it provides an amazing opportunity for them to work together, entirely on their own initiative, to create an extremely varied series of performances. It is one of the first big events of the year: the whole school watches it together and huge numbers of pupils are involved in some way or another. bancrofts.org

Q And what are you looking forward to in 2023?

A Again, there is too much to list in this brief space: there are numerous trips, tours and expeditions, closely-contested fixtures, concerts and plays, field days, competitions in most subjects, debates and spelling bees, partnership events with other schools, university fairs that we host and so on. I am still grateful we can plan these events knowing that they will go ahead. The last few years have not been great for our children so there is real pleasure in knowing that we can o er them the full range of activities and events.