Despite the economic recession there continues to be very strong interest in the school. In September 2010 we will have more boarders than in any year for the last twelve, Year 7 will be the largest ever (and has a waiting list) and there will be almost as many students in the Upper Sixth as were in the entire Sixth Form in 1996/97. We are on the threshold of a further wave of substantial facility development that will enhance our teaching facilities and improve our working environment. We are confident that this will place the school on an even stronger footing to face future challenges, whatever they may be. In an era of continuing change, however, we seek to live up to the expectations of our founders; to be “good and faithful” in the use of our gifts and abilities for the benefit of all.
We await the impact of the new coalition government on our sector with interest. They have declared that the best schools in the state sector will be released from the grip of LEA and central government control and freed from compliance inspections too. It would be perverse if schools in the state sector be given such freedom while schools like the Grove continue to have to meet unnecessary costs of OFSTED and ISI inspection and the dead weight of policy compliance. The number of regulations to which the independent sector is subject has risen from 5 in 1996 to over 300 in 2010. Loretto School in Edinburgh has even designated a member of the Senior Management Team as “Director of Inspection Compliance”! A key ingredient in the success of schools such as the Grove is the independence of its Governors to oversee our ethos and strategic direction; and the independence of the management of the school to guide the school and ensure the best possible educational experience for our children; and in this free market, as parents, you can walk away; we are judged or inspected by our customers on a daily basis. We do not need an expensive inspection regime to keep us on our mettle. We cherish our independence and an ethos in which all pupils are encouraged to achieve their potential not just academically but also in a myriad of other ways. At Prize Day four of our senior students reflected on aspects of their schooldays; from their words one gained a flavour of the real vitality of the school.
In just two years (2012) we celebrate our 200th anniversary. We have a number of plans in place already: a substantial new school history that all pupils in the school in bicentenary year will receive free of charge; a special service on 8th January 2012, exactly 200 years to the day since the school was first opened; a family day in May and much else besides. Our long history provides a superb foundation for the future so we have plans for this too: a new building programme at Bronte House to include enhanced facilities for music and for sport and at the Grove a new swimming pool to be built in the space between the current sports hall and theatre releasing space for the development and expansion of our teaching facilities for design technology on the site of the current pool and its surrounding area. Such is the school’s strength at this time one of these projects has been brought forward and is underway now: the redevelopment of the top floor of Bronte House to provide superb new facilities for music.
I am occasionally asked what we do to stretch our most academically able students given the long established reputation of the school to provide so well for a wide ability range. In addition to substantial extra-curricular and co-curricular programmes our top Maths set in Year 11 takes an A level standard qualification in Maths in addition to GCSE; in French we now have a fast-track set that will complete French GCSE one year early and then have time for the sort of independent research that will stand them in good stead for A level and university beyond; and the top two sets in science can still take three separate science GCSEs. That said, even the new Dual Award qualification has much to commend it, especially for “non-scientists”. One important addition to our Sixth Form curriculum is the new Extended Project Qualification (EPQ). This is a valuable qualification that has received a warm welcome from universities. It provides all students with an opportunity to develop independent learning and research skills and allows space for creative thinking and ideas that stretch well beyond the limits of subject-based specifications.
If you have any suggestions about how further improvement can be made at the school I would be pleased to hear from you. If you want to visit the school to find out whether the Grove or Bronte House could be the right choice for your child or children I would be delighted to meet you.
DC Humphreys
Headmaster
