The Founding Head of Sixth Form post currently being advertised is drawing an extraordinary amount of interest. I have enjoyed showing prospective candidates around the school, who are all very excited at the prospect of the opportunities the role presents. Interviews are towards the end of the month. I am starting this process so early so that our Trailblazers have the benefit of a brand new Sixth Form set up with the same traditional values but innovative approach that is characterised by the rest of the school.

Our basketball team made their debut this week in a new league. They are competing against students a full year older (and taller!) than they are, which will give them great opportunities as they gain in experience.

The students and staff returned from the Battlefields of the First World War this week, where they had a very memorable experience. As well as the very moving monuments in the area, they also saw a production of ‘Journey’s End’ by RC Sherriff. As a literature teacher, I am always keen that students see such performances in context, none more so than this. A powerful experience. Poppies have been on sale this week supporting the British Legion, organised by students during their free time, and we will have representatives at Remembrance Day services in Pinner and Eastcote this weekend.

Black History month drew to a close following a very engaging series of activities designed to challenge stereotypes and promote positive role models. My thanks to all those who engaged in this, and all aspects of school life, so well.

Our new mini-bus arrived this week, but news of this will have to wait until after the half term break, as our blog this week features a guest entry by our Chair of Governors. Dr. Ahmed writes:

‘It has been another excellent half term of the year for the students at Pinner High School. There are now over 700 students, and they have settled in well to all aspects of school life. A growing school has unique rewards and challenges, and the strategic oversight Governors have of this ensures our continuing success.

Every half term I run a ‘student voice’ meeting, where I chat to a group of students about their experiences at school. I spoke to a very articulate group of Year 10 students last week, who told me about their growing school with so much pride. They talked warmly about the opportunities they have had ‘so much better than our friends in other schools’ (they said) and the support they feel from their teachers. They also talked about how well supported they are in their GCSE courses, and the high standards expected of them. They also made a point of telling me how friendly they still find the school. The same theme came from visitors to our open day a couple of weeks ago. Over a thousand visitors were here on the day, who filled the main hall four times during the day. When we were a brand new school we expected there to be lots of interest from all sorts of quarters. We also expected the number of visitors to decrease over time as so many families have been to see us already. However, our positive Ofsted inspection only seems to have increased the numbers for our fifth annual open event. My only regret is that they won’t all be able to come here in September.

We all celebrated our ‘Outstanding’ judgement of the summer, but are keen to build further on this success. There is no shred of complacency in the Development Plans the Leadership team present to the Governors. They firmly have their sights set on the forthcoming GCSE examinations, and securing the Sixth Form with the same success that the whole school is founded on. The staff team have grown to nearly a hundred, and the extremely high quality of applicants the school has had to choose from is one of the main reasons for our success. Our Governing Body has also grown in size recently, and I am very grateful to them for the time they put in as volunteers to provide challenge to the school. We take this very seriously, and review a range of student data in detail.

We all await further news of our refurbishment plans. I know the community has been very patient with this, and there is an immense amount of work going on behind the scenes to secure this key aspect of our next development. Whenever I visit the school I am reminded that it is never the buildings that make a school special, it is the people within them. Nonetheless, I will ensure you are kept up to date with developments.

Student successes this half term have been wide ranging; more sports teams than ever before, greater numbers on the Duke of Edinburgh Award programme, and a vibrancy to school life that has always been the hallmark of a Pinner High School education. There are always new experiences too: the school is now on the Mandarin Excellence Programme, a prestigious opportunity supported by the British Council and the Institute of Education to develop Mandarin across the UK. Following the successful World Challenge trip to Costa Rica this summer, another trip was launched this week, this time to Tanzania. All of these opportunities require dedicated teachers to make them happen, and I would like to ensure all members of staff at the school know how much everything they do is appreciated by the Governing Body.

Students at Pinner High School have broad horizons. As well as the Chair of Governors and a Trustee, I am also a Pinner High School parent. The PTA continue to flourish; we are lucky to have such a supportive community, and it has been a pleasure to work with the school since before it opened. Thank you for your continuing support for our school. We have lots to look forward to!’

Our first Deep Learning Day of the year took place this week. Year 7 spent the day at HOAC, where they had a brilliant time climbing, rafting and other team building activities. It is the fourth year in a row we have run this trip, and this one lived up to the high bar that has been set. The rest of the school had a range of activities around current issues; fake news and other personal, social, cultural and health education topics. It is days like these that led Ofsted to conclude: " ...tolerance, respect and democracy, is a integral and powerful force underpinning the culture and daily life of the school. As a result, the development of pupils' spiritual, moral and cultural skills is outstanding." My thanks to the guest speakers who visited us, and the members of staff who planned the day so carefully.

We have been busy filming the third version of our school film, coming to our school Youtube channel very soon. I have enjoyed spending the day guiding our cameraman around the school. It means I have seen bread being baked, mobile phone holders constructed, clay being sculptured, the deconstruction of a CPU, diffusion, some fine footwork in the sportshall; and all that before lunch today!

Next week is our open day, with presentations on Thursday 3rd October at 10am, 4.00, 5.30 and 7pm. We anticipate a busy evening, so please do use public transport if at all possible.

The first week back at school has been a full and exciting one. Students have quickly got back in the swing of our high expectations. Everyone took part in our first House Event of the Year, the Tug of War. Honours were shared between Malala, Ali and Bannister Houses across the year groups, getting the House Competition off to a great start.

Students also chose their Head's Challenge activities this week, from a list that is getting longer and longer. This year it includes 34 choices for Key Stage 3 and 38 for Key Stage 4. Golf makes a popular return, and for the first time we have Irish Dancing, Hypnotic Drawing, Young Engineers and Public Speaking. An exciting list from which to choose.

The students from our trip to Costa Rica have come back with amazing stories of crocodiles, turtles and rainforests. I look forward to their assembly, and their ideas for our next World Challenge adventure.

Another award this week! Congratulations to all involved in the application to the Eco Schools Award for recognition of the schools commitment to working towards a sustainable lifestyle. This has involved students, staff, parents and governors, and I am delighted to see such success is celebrated in this way.

The week started with an induction day for all our new staff, joining us in September. As our fourth intake, we will number over 90 staff in September. I remember well when it was just one! I now they are going to make our team stronger still, and they are looking forward to getting to know our students. Our new students were here this week too, and we had a very positive induction day on Wednesday. There were 700 students here on Wednesday, enjoying a range of activities. Year 8 had a team building day with ‘Wise Up’ an organisation who highlight communication and collaborative skills for young people. The students rose to the challenges presented to them really well, with lots of positive comments from them and their team leaders.

The last two weeks of term are busy ones. We look forward to Pinnfest on Thursday, our first Sports Awards on Monday 15^th, and our celebratory family breakfast for all those students who have 100% attendance for the whole year. All are great occasions to celebrate the year at Pinner High School.

I enjoyed visiting the assemblies of all year groups this week to congratulate students on the ‘Outstanding’ judgement on our school from Ofsted. Visitors this week may have seen our celebratory balloons in reception!

We enjoyed welcoming some of our new Year 7 students this week as part of our transition arrangements. Colleagues and I have visited lots of primary schools over the last few weeks, which is always an enjoyable experience. We meet our new group of parents next week, and then all our new Year 7s spend the day with us the week after. On this day Year 8 will have a day of team building activities on our field, with a group from ‘Wise Up’ to look at communication skills in different contexts.

Year 8 exams took place this week. Students conducted themselves in a very positive manner. They find out their GCSE options this week as well, as part of our preparations for September. The current GCSE students are experiencing language oral exams this week for their own examination practice.

Fingers crossed for a sunny weekend for our first Duke of Edinburgh expedition on Saturday and Sunday. It is the first outing with all of our new kit, so we hope it will stay dry!