Welcome to the latest principal’s blog from Queen Elizabeth’s Academy.
The academy has been very fortunate recently to have some high profile visitors – we have more to come over the coming weeks, including the Chief Executive of Diverse Academies, Chris Pickering, who will be having his second visit to the academy. Our visitors have been amazed by the improvements that we have achieved at Queen Elizabeth’s, due to our clear vision and the absolute commitment of our superb staff.
“I first visited Queen Elizabeth Academy earlier in the year, and left inspired by Miss Brothwell and her team. I’ve enjoyed following the school’s journey since then.”
Mark Lehain – Parents and Teachers for Excellence
Education expert Mark Lehain was one of our guests – he has visited the academy on a couple of occasions now, and has written a report for the Parents and Teachers for Excellence website which can be viewed here. We’re very proud to have the support of Mark and his team on our improvement journey, and to see the impact we’re having for the benefit of our students and the local community.
Improvements and academic rigour
We are very clear about where we are on our path of school improvement, and we know that academic rigour has to be our number one focus. The quality of teaching and learning in our academy is a sight to behold, with our children getting a superb ‘diet’ of excellent teaching.
As I said to students in assembly on Monday:
‘Students in private schools, grammar schools and the best schools in the country are able to learn in a calm, studious environment, free from distractions. They enjoy social times where nobody is left out, bullied or mean. If it is good enough for them, then it is good enough for you. My staff and I will do our utmost to ensure that you have what they have, because you deserve it.’
Parent Forum – have your say
We are aware that some students and parents think that we haven’t been quick enough or strong enough on bullying in the past – we also know that students get very frustrated when even a couple of minutes of learning time is wasted due to silliness. We want to reassure you that we are stepping up our push for Queen Elizabeth’s to be the academy you will be immensely proud of – the academy you would want for your children if you were able to design it.
In response to this, we would like to invite parents to attend a parent forum on Thursday 6th December. We are providing two slots in an attempt to ensure that everyone is able to attend and is included. There will be a breakfast meeting from 8.30–9.30am, and also a tea and cake meeting between 5.30–6.30pm on this date.
There is no need to book in, but I really hope to see many of you there so that we are able to get a full range of voices from our entire academy community. No viewpoint is more or less valuable than yours – we really hope to hear the voice of parents loud and clear in the meetings as it is so important that we have your input in the next steps towards achieving our goal.
Thank you as ever for your support.
Helena Brothwell
Principal
