Principal’s Update
I attended the preview of our annual Creative Arts showcase last week and I was so impressed by the students; how articulate and engaging they were when talking me through their studies. Congratulations to their lecturers in Media and Art and to Andy, Ben and Raf for their technician support. If you haven’t been yet, I’d encourage you to do so soon.
Last week we had Maths and English GCSE re-takes with more than 400 students examined and multiple access arrangements in place. I am so impressed by the support and encouragement you all gave these students and by the calm and efficient process managed by Heidi and her team – thank you.
This week, we have the final full Governing Body meeting of the year with the focus being on development of board membership via recruitment. Rob Moy and I have our termly liaison meeting with Hautlieu where we discuss joint opportunities and challenges in the post-16 area. Nick Falle is taking up a headship in Thailand for two years and Kate Blackhall will be the Interim Head teacher.
I am following up on the staff survey results with Registry and Compliance – the headlines are good, but some anonymous comments about behaviours (staff and students) being challenging are worthy of further analysis. The analysis is done by Registry, not SLT, so any outcomes are valid and not filtered through a different lens. Don’t forget, you have HR on-site for support, Mike and the wellbeing champions, your line manager and staff Governors to refer concerns to.
Student behaviour has improved with far less “authorised absence” which is a mechanism used to move learning temporarily online whilst a fact find is completed. There were fewer than 10 students in this category this year and so much praise recorded on EBS. Sickness is down among staff, year-on-year, a good sign that although we all work hard, we are coping better.
On Friday, we have the Highlands College 6th Form Festival of Celebrations which is always great fun and a wonderful celebration of our younger learners’ year with us. I hope you enjoy your local celebrations and take the opportunity to join me after the festival for a staff summer party. We will of course have our usual end of term staff gathering on the 11th of July, but it seemed too good an opportunity not to enjoy the entertainment already set up for the students.
We have less than four weeks until the end of term. Stuart and TLD have a packed programme of training and updates beginning this week with the AOC Artificial Intelligence FE Conference. Departments will start their self-assessment reviews and will be preparing for Transitions Days for Year 11s and Induction come September. Transition Days create first impressions for students and us. Although many have extended programmes, the 24th and 25th of June is the one time all 500 plus prospective students will be in this term. People are the best thing about Highlands College, and I can’t wait for them to meet you. Plus, our special power is relationships which makes them feel so included and wanted.
Have a great week.
Jo