As the end of the summer term approaches the school seems to be in a headlong rush towards the holidays. Every day in late June and July has at least one major event happening as trips vie for attention with off-timetable days, induction sessions and expeditions. As I write we are in the middle of the latest teacher strike days too – so with a Middle School trip to Germany, the Chemists out at Southampton University and Great Yews the school population is much smaller and the site is a little quieter than my customary experience. Single big events have removed whole year groups over the past month or so, especially due to the programme of activities for BWS adventure led by Mr Oldham. Bronze, Silver and Gold Award Groups have all fanned out across the rural landscapes of England and Wales and all of Year 8 and now the whole of Year 7 have made the most of the opportunity to explore the Longford Estate. In exactly the same way as Music and Sports encourage the progressive development of skills and team work, the BWS Adventure Path Way builds boys’ and girls’ bravery, initiative, endurance and resilience as they move through the year groups. It’s what universities and employers want; students that will stay the course, and employees who will be able to get hold of a problem by the scruff of the neck, give it a good shake and come up with a solution. Subjects and learning remain axiomatic, but we are working on those soft skills too in all sorts of ways, and of course all of this is an obvious sign that we are post-pandemic too.
Over the summer we will be working on the school to improve things for the students ready for the autumn return where we will be full with around 1,200 on roll. We will also be getting going on our Bishopgate development which will future proof our accommodation. We now own the site and we have applied for planning permission to build a new classroom block to the rear of the building; provided permission is granted then construction will start in the autumn and completion of the £2 million+ build should take place in summer 2024. In addition we are continuing to raise funds for the Multi-Use Games Area at Britford Lane, where we are about 2/3 of our way to meeting the £100,000 fund raising target. Finally Mr Edney has already raised enough money to begin the installation of a Mac Music Suite in Bishopgate over the summer – all most exciting.
Unusually there will be a significant number of changes in staffing at the end of this academic year, so I would like to say a big thank you to all of my colleagues who have worked so hard to make things special for our boys and girls. I will focus on the new arrivals at the start of next term, so for the moment this is all about farewells. Leaving BWS after 25 years of sterling service, most recently as Assistant Head and Timetabler will be Andy Harmsworth. Mel Gordon will be departing for pastures new after two decades of directing play productions here. The Modern Languages Department sees quite a bit of change with Jo Campling, Alexa Bellingham and Inma Gea-Neff all relocating away from Salisbury, and Nicola Brown will retire from the Maths Department this August. Gail Walster will leave the English Department, Gabriella Burchell has been promoted elsewhere and Paul Brook departs taking his wonderful collection of classic vehicles with him! Nicky Cook leaves the Science Department for retirement, and also both Alex Mihai and Lucinda Kimberley will be going this summer. Yvette Quirk (Science Technician) leaves BWS at the end of the summer term, Leah Brown from Catering and of course we say a fond goodbye to our latest crop of Graduate/Gap Year Assistants, Lily Harffey, Isaac Taylor-Holland, Callum Kealey and Tom Reeve. I would like to offer my heartfelt thanks to all of my colleagues for the work that they have put in over the year, and we wish all of our leavers the very best of luck for the future.
There will of course be quite a number of new staff joining us for the start of the Autumn Term, and I will detail those for you after the coming break; we are, thankfully, fully staffed for September. For the present I can spell out the internal promotions. There will be a couple of new members of the BWS Leadership Team, as Mike Thorne will become an Assistant Head (i/c Timetabling & Performance Data) and Zoe Lambard (Head of Sixth) sees her post enhanced to Assistant Head to mark the now explicit OFSTED accountability for post-16 work. The Lower School Pastoral Office will be led by Louise Drummond, assisted by Tracy Collingridge. In the Middle School Henry Joyce becomes an Assistant Pastoral Head, as does Hamish Morton in the Sixth Form Office. In curriculum areas Oliver Stamp become Head of Politics, Ruth Tonkin becomes Head of Science, Ben Denham will lead PHSRE and Andy Green will lead the House System.
So we reach the end of the July Term with change on the horizon, but with the school in a very strong place. The combination of breadth and quality in provision, the glowing inspection report and the prospect of our Year 13 boys and girls joining a stunning range of universities is a powerful cocktail of success. I really do hope that your son or daughter has had a super year and has ended the year tired but with a smile on their face. The summer break beckons for us all; have some wonderful family time, and I very much look forward to renewing the excitement and adrenaline in six weeks’ or so’s time…
Best wishes
SDS
