We began the new academic year in September with a clear focus on “back to school” which challenged our students to strive to achieve their best. That culture has pervaded.
The key to building success as we continue to navigate the challenges of an ever-changing society lies in the concept of collaboration. The culture of trust and challenge at Heart of England is rooted in our core values and is central to our momentum. Helpfulness in creating solutions outperforms individual intelligence every time. When the going gets tough for members of our community what we all require is support and partnership – inspired by the understanding that we all have the same end in mind.
At open events this year our Head Boy and Head Girl spoke of their experience of a school where everyone can excel through effort. They reflected on the need to make mistakes and to be given the opportunity to learn from them. They outlined experiences which had challenged them to “think-hard” and allowed them to grow. They also talked about the joy they had experienced at our school and how important our amazing staff have been in their development.
A brief glimpse at recent news blogs, our new NewsBrief and Student Voice publications demonstrate the wide variety of opportunities open to our students and educational visits are fast gaining momentum. It was wonderful to see so many of our students being recognised for their hard work and for modelling our core values all year in our reward ceremonies. Spirits were not even dampened when pouring rain made the ice cream van visit more of an indoor experience than we had planned!
Both the Year 11 and Year 13 Proms this year have been a delight and our students were a credit to us and their families. I am very proud of our children and want to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has supported us this year. The PTA are brilliant and are ever present at our evening events, shows and performances and work tirelessly in the background for which we are all very grateful.
As ever thanks to our wonderful staff and trustees who work so hard and care so much. The final word goes to one of our students who when asked what they had enjoyed about Heart of England this year replied, “the vibe” … which I trust is a great one. It only remains for me to wish everyone as happy a summer as possible and wherever you may travel or stay – be safe and see you in September.
J Hughes-Williams
Principal