I was delighted this week to welcome families of those given offers to join us in September as our third year group. Time flies! 180 offers were made for 180 places,  and the ‘last distance offered’ was 1.4 miles. Our waiting list is growing, but there will be lots of movement, and I expect more offers will be made over the coming weeks.

It is exciting to share with new families the opportunities a Pinner High School education brings. The last few weeks have seen Money Matters workshops, and the return of students from the ski trip. The arctic weather led to the cancellation of the Globe theatre trip for the whole of Year 7, which was unfortunate. The RAF were due to be our speakers in the Q?rius programme, but could not make it due to the snow!

Students are busy rehearsing for the school musical ‘Beauty and the Beast’, trying out for the table tennis team, and preparing for the Science Week House competition.

Before we add an extra year group we will be the sole occupants of our site, as Avanti House move to their new site in a few weeks. We are busy planning the spaces we can use straight away, and developing the next phase of the refurbishment programme. Students will help how to prioritise spending £4.2 million on our facilities: we're creating an extensive shopping list!

Happy New Year! The first full week back has seen the students straight back into action. They have chosen from a new list of thirty five clubs for the Head’s Challenge, with new options including Psychology, Salsa, Reading ambassadors, as well as the usual range of sports, art and community based activities. The clubs got underway straight away, and it is great to hear students talking about their new activities with such enjoyment.

The enjoyment of students in the Politics Club was clear to visiting Councillors before the holiday, who will be profiling the group in their newest publication. This news comes alongside Miss Lowder’s successful application to the Teachers Institute at the Houses of Parliament. Teachers taking part in Teachers’ Institute become UK Parliament Teacher Ambassadors following the training, and go on to teach their students and fellow education professionals about democracy and the Houses of Parliament. Miss Lowder applied to Parliament’s open call and was selected from more than 170 applicants to attend the three-day training event in Parliament.  Fully funded by Parliament’s Education Service, Hannah will question the House of Commons Speaker and the Lord Speaker, and hear from parliamentarians of all parties about their work in the Commons and Lords. Rt Hon Lord Fowler, The Lord Speaker, said: “Teachers’ Institute is exceptionally well-regarded by the participants each year, and I welcome the opportunity to explain the work of the House of Lords to such an appreciative audience.” Rt Hon John Bercow MP, Speaker of the House of Commons, said: “I am proud that this excellent initiative continues to provide such an invaluable service. Better engagement and dialogue with young people is of fundamental importance to our democracy, and I am sure that the UK Parliament Teacher Ambassadors attending Teachers’ Institute will find the experience both useful and enlightening.”

We successfully applied to be part in the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families research project into the mental health of children and young people. Our pastoral care has consistently been very highly rated, and taking part in projects such as this ensures we are able to access the latest research to inform our school practices. The research has been approved by the UCL Ethics Research Committee, and training is provided for three members of staff at no cost to the school.

Year 8 students are having their individual GCSE options interviews over the next few weeks. It is brilliant to hear their career aspirations are so broad and interesting. Talking about Sixth form options when the school has only been open for 4 terms and a week is very exciting! We are currently recruiting for lots of teaching positions, so it is not too late to join our team for September.

An action packed few weeks: the whole of year 7 at the Science Museum exploring the ‘Wonder Lab’; year 8 at Ealing Gurdwara temple; more speakers in the Q?rius programme; sports fixtures in football and badminton; rehearsals for Pinner Panto; applications for House Captains; Year 7 parents evenings; preparations for GCSE options.

The Wonder Lab is a brilliant place to explore Science and Maths, and students had great fun at the explosive show and experimenting with a whole range of ideas, activities and materials last week. Taking the whole year group on London Underground is a big undertaking, but students excelled themselves. For many students in year 8 it was their first visit to a Gurdwara temple, and as well as learning a lot students were also very well fed in the langar hall. They enjoyed a generous feast, and the whole visit brought their Philosophy, Religion and Ethics lesson to life in a very memorable way.

The Q?rius speaker this week was a Risk Strategist from Price Waterhouse Coopers, who gave a great insight into the world of professional services. As students are about to make their GCSE choices it is a good moment to be exposed to different career options.

A couple of parents at the year 7 evening last week volunteered their services as a Q?rius speaker, which is much appreciated. It is about intellectual curiosity in all its forms, not just career aspirations, so if you have anything that might be of interest to talk about, please do get in touch. At parents evening many many families reported how well their children have settled in, and how busy they are. With sporting success, student leadership elections and performance rehearsals every week, it is easy to see why. You’ll be able to catch our performers on the stage outside Andrew Pearce at 6.20 on Thursday 30th November as part of Pinner Panto. It is a fabulous community event. See you there!

The Pinner Village Show was a great place to be to start last week. I enjoyed chatting to lots of local families from our stall in the Memorial Park. Many visitors remember the school with much affection in its previous guises as Pinner County School or Heathfield, telling me how the site has changed over the years. It is great to write a new chapter for a building that has been a school since 1937 and is going from strength to strength.

Our first end of year production 'Bugsy Malone' was a great success last week. Lots of fun was had with custard pies and splurge guns! There is a great array of talent in the year group, and as usual it was easy to forget that everyone in the cast was in Year 7.

This was the same opinion of an Ofsted Inspector that Governors and I invited to school a couple of weeks ago to help evaluate our progress so far this year. Amongst some useful development ideas he concluded we have 'the model for an outstanding school' and that Pinner HIgh School is a 'very special place'. Further evaluation came in the surveys of students, parents and staff, conducted on our behalf by Kirkland Rowell. They link the survey questions to Ofsted inspection criteria, and benchmark against other schools. It is especially pleasing, therefore, for every group to rate us as 'Outstanding' in every category. Additional validation came last week with the EQ Equalities Award. Governors' initial vision statement referred to an 'inclusive school for the whole community' so this award has particular resonance. Further success came yesterday following our Investors in People Health and Wellbeing accreditation. We have been recommended for the award following a full day inspection. A successful end to the year!

As well as these external evaluations, the student experience is the key measure of success at Pinner High School. Over 60 students, all those who represented the school in a sports team this year, spent the day at the Olympic Stadium in Stratford at the World Para-athletic Championships this week. Over 40 students were involved in the production of 'Bugsy Malone' last week. Many others will be on stage on the last day of term on Friday, receiving an award at our inaugural Prizegiving, celebrating our Trailblazing year. Thank you for all your support. We are all looking forward to the second chapter!

The girls tennis team had a successful debut at the borough tournament this week. They returned with certificates for their third place; the first time several of them had represented the school and played competitive matches. A great result!

Last month I commissioned a Safeguarding Audit of the school at governors' request, following recent local and national events. Two experts from the Local Authority visited for the day, talking to students, staff and governors, and going through policies and procedures in great detail. They opened their 'Key Findings' feedback by noting that "Pinner High School is indeed well led and managed in respect of safeguarding. The Chair of the Governing body and the Headteacher have a clear strategic vision to ensure safeguarding key duties are undertaken effectively." The report goes on:  "The students say they feel safe. According to the students interviewed incidents of bullying are very rare. The students were well informed regarding how to keep themselves safe and who to go to if they felt unsafe or had a concern." This is always reassuring to read and given the current climate we will never be complacent about these crucial aspects of safety and wellbeing.

We had further positive inspection feedback in the Department for Education's third term report, which we received this week. Also this week the Spanish trip for Easter 2018 became oversubscribed, along with the Ski trip to Italy in February 2018. There are good numbers signed up to the China trip and Costa Rica trips for 2019. Exciting times! All of this tells us we have active and engaged students.

Parents, students and staff are engaged this week completing surveys about the first year of Pinner High School. It has been a brilliant year-and not over yet with plenty more opportunities to come- but we will always have an eye firmly on the future as the school grows. Hearing feedback makes sure the challenge of doubling in size is seen with the benefit of feedback from all stakeholders about the experiences of this year.