“Every moment is a fresh beginning.” —T.S. Eliot
At the start of a new academic year it is essential to share the key messages with all of your community. As a school community once again our ultimate aim is to continue to nurture a culture of excellence summed up in the quote above.
I translated this into 5 key messages for our students during our first whole school assembly:
The importance of a clean slate, a new academic year is a great opportunity to reset and re-calibrate your own expectations and standards regardless of what has happened before. A chance to aim higher to leave any baggage behind that may be holding you back, this includes relationships with others. With a new beginning you can create new positive relationships with all of those around you.
Another big push this year around promoting community cohesion and British values. We are having a particular focus on the use of language and tackling ‘banter’ and ‘bullying’.
The importance of preparation, being ready and organised. Later this year I will spend some time writing about some of our IT systems that are helping support our students and staff in achieving these goals.
The theme of excellence is raising the bar on every piece of work and every piece of homework. When I talk about 16/16 and 18/18 it is one of our reading initiatives to encourage our students to read more challenging texts. For more information see here
We are encouraging our students to take responsibility around their own mental health and well being, we have provided a sheet of strategies on the back of their timetables that they have personalised at the start of the year.
Our students are extremely fortunate to have a large and diverse number of opportunities outside of the curriculum in particularly many student leadership opportunities we want them to embrace and seize these and to make a significant contribution to their personal development and the wider community.
What are your key messages this year? How do you promote a culture of excellence in your school?