Head's Blog: Welcome Back!
Dear Parents,
I hope that you have all had a relaxing summer holiday.
Over the summer, I was able to reflect on the previous year. As I highlighted in my Prize Giving speech, there has continued to be lots of opportunities and experiences for your children. It all culminated in our Year 8 pupils passing their exams in May and June with record A* and A’s and achieving a place to all their senior schools for September – 22 scholarships and awards were also achieved – outstanding results! I was also pleased to see the variety of senior schools that we fed this year, both in the county and beyond, e.g. Brighton College, Hurst, Ardingly, Worth, Clifton, Wellington, Oundle, Uppingham, Shrewsbury, Rugby, Epsom, Charterhouse to name a few. I also mentioned that this year was 100 years since our school motto - Be Trewe – was created. Be Trewe very much focussed on the values of encouragement, respect, truthfulness, participation, a sense of service and kindness. I hope that we will all, staff, parents and pupils alike, continue to try and live by these values over the coming year.
The Chairman of Governors, Mr Miles Templeman, mentioned in his speech the importance of ‘empowerment and alignment’ being key criteria to the success and growth of Handcross Park. The one area that I want my staff to focus upon this term is that of better ‘communication’. As you know, we are a team with your children being at the centre of everything that we do and if we are to achieve our goals then we must work together. I hope that we can all work harder at communicating, preferably face-to-face, as I know that it will help create an environment where we can continue to build ‘trust’ which then helps ensure happy and productive children who are being given opportunities and who can thrive in a positive way.
Finally, I have begun to investigate all the ways that Handcross Park can be more sustainable and I am working on a carefully costed strategic plan that would make this school carbon neutral in five years – a challenge! It would not only show a clear engagement with the issues of climate change but it would also allow our children to be educated in this most important area affecting our society. The key areas that I am considering include:
1. Buy Well e.g. using 100% renewably sourced power
2. Use Well e.g. energy efficiency, infrastructure, behaviour
3. Generate Well e.g. heating and power – wind, solar, combined heat, power and transport.
There is, indeed, much to think about and I would like to wish you all, particularly your children, a fantastic year.
Please remember that my door is always open.
Yours sincerely
Richard Brown
Headmaster
