Message from the Headteacher
01 / 04 / 2010
Our inspection report has now been published. I have included a press release on our website which gives more detail on my view of the new inspection framework, which I will not repeat here but it remains a source of great frustration. In advance of the inspection I said to the staff that what motivates us is not an OFSTED report but the outcomes of our students and we can all be very proud of that. I would like to thank all students for their superb conduct and contribution to the positive outcomes and also all of the many hundreds of parents and carers who returned questionnaire forms overnight, it meant a lot and said much about the close relationship we have with you.
There has been so much to celebrate this term that it is difficult to know where to start. TheHaringey Performing Arts tour to Memphis saw our students perform brilliantly in both music and dance. It is difficult to imagine how it must have felt to go from a Park View assembly to a 5000 seater arena in Tennessee. Our students also distinguished themselves in the model United Nations conference with passionate speeches and intelligent diplomacy.
The Coca-Cola enterprise champions went one step further becoming the national champions at Tate Modern in the company of cabinet ministers and other dignitaries.
Last but not least our peer mentors and the students driving the BSafe initiative show that the solutions to improving the school lie in the student body themselves.
All students in Years 9 to 11 know that internal and external examinations are around the corner. There is plenty going on for Year 11 students after school and during the holiday and around the clock electronically. No student has any excuse for not revising over the holiday.
Good luck to all Year 11 students this year, they are a great year group and should believe in themselves.
The Building Schools for the Future work is going well as any student who has visited the third floor recently will know. Each half-term will see more parts of the building coming back to the school, including the hall in the middle of May and the new Street and Library in June. It has been a long haul but it will be worth it.
Term finishes at 12.15pm on Thursday 1st April. There is a slight change to the start of term on Monday 19th April in that it will start at 9.30am rather than 10.30am as previously advertised.
Thank you for your support and I wish you a good break and a happy Easter if you celebrate it.
Alex Atherton
Headteacher
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11/02/2010
First of all I would like to apologise again for the three days the school was closed because of snow and ice. We tried our best to open on the Friday in particular but it was not possible to do so.
I would like to thank all Year 9 and 10 Parents & Carers who came to the Parents' Evenings and Year 9 Parents & Carers again who came to Options Evening. As you know we cannot guarantee that all students will get their first choices but I was very impressed with how the year group was considering their future. Please note that
Academic Achievement Day is scheduled for Monday 22nd March. If you have received a Parent / Carers Questionnaire please fill it in and return it to us as soon as possible, it does help us improve the school, as you would wish.
The building work continues at a rapid pace. Some areas will be handed to the school over half-term, after this point the handing back process will accelerate before completion in September. Given the disruption to the school I think the students have coped with it very well and the reward will not be long now.
There are many stories of student achievement in this newsletter. I would like to emphasise how impressed I was with the response to the Haiti appeal. Many hard earned merits were cashed in without hesitation, which was wonderful to see. The appeal will continue over half-term so there is an even bigger reason than usual to work hard!
With the exception of Year 11 (who should be using the time to revise) I would like to wish everyone a good half-term break. School ends at 3.15pm on Friday 12th February and begins again at 8.30am on Monday 22nd February.
Alex Atherton
Headteacher
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17/12/2009
I would like to thank all parents and carers who have come to the recent Parents' Evenings. The attendance figures have been very high and they have been wonderful events to attend. It is so pleasing to see so many students doing so well and eager to do better. The remaining Parents' Evenings are in January and Academic Achievement Day on Monday March 22nd.
All parents and carers should be aware that the school is likely to be in
spected this year by OFSTED. One of the features of the new inspection procedures is that questionnaires are sent out to parents and carers just before the inspection and need to be returned very quickly. We will be organising our own annual questionnaire for next term in any case. We would be very grateful if you could support us by completing both of these when they get to you.
The building work continues, with the project now more than halfway through. The end date is still planned to be September for all internal ar
eas. At the time of writing the final plan for the rest of the academic year is still being discussed. The most inconvenient part of the works is now over, although there will still be some difficulties to come.Those of you who follow the website will know that it has been a fantastic term for the school's work being externally recognised. Year 10 students won an Enterprise competition for all London schools at Coca-Cola, this
was a magnificent achievement. The BEAT crew won a prestigious award at the highly publicised London Week of Peace for their film and exhibition work. The full International Schools Award and ArtsMark Gold were finally awarded to the school in September. The school was among the first in the country to achieve the 'School Safety and Cohesion Award' from the Deputy Mayor of London in December.
In terms of individual students two which stand out include Akram Kiberu (Year 11) receiving a 'Spirit of London' award at 10 Downing Street and
Toms Rutkis (Year 7) winning the 'Junior Sports Performer of the Year' category as forward on the U12 Haringey Bulldogs ice hockey team. Congratulations!I'd like to congratulate Year 7 on finishing their first term at the school, they are really impressive as a year group already.
Alex Atherton
Headteacher
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08/09/2009
Welcome to our new website!
I'd like to thank everyone who has helped to put this together, especially Billahl Mehter who led the project from start to finish.
We wanted a website which reflected the range and quality of the work carried out by the staff and students and where it could be quickly and easily updated. I am really proud of our vibrant and successful community and that we now have a website where we can easily show this to the outside world.
All comments welcome!
Alex Atherton
Headteacher
