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Dear Prospective staff member
I am delighted that you are interested in working at Epsom and Ewell High School. You would be joining us on the back of a really strong OFSTED report and be part of our plans to become a specialist language college and one of the leading schools in Surrey. I am extremely ambitious for the school and am leaving no stone unturned to achieve these goals - see school strategic plan 2009-12.
I joined the school in July 2009 having been headteacher of The Beaconsfield School in Buckinghamshire for just over four years. Last year we set ourselves three main targets:
- to bring the school out of special measures and build a vibrant school with an aspirational ethos
- to improve the reputation of the school in the community
- to become one of the government’s specialist schools.
As you will know the school came out of special measures in March 2010. The transformation in the school has been officially recognised by OFSTED and we have been selected as one of 8 schools in the 'most improved' category from all their inspections in 2009-10. The full publication is available online at http://governmentinitiativesiq.com/home.html (select ‘2010 publication’). We are on pages 92-93 in the section of the report entitled ‘OFSTED Performance 2010 – UK’s Top Performing and Most Improving Schools’.
That the work of the school has been recognised in this way is really the icing on the cake. For me it was OFSTED’s main conclusion that was the most satisfying and accurately reflects what this school is now about. The final report stated that "Epsom and Ewell High is a good school. It provides students with outstanding support so that they make at least good and sometimes outstanding progress. Behaviour is outstanding and students are motivated, articulate and polite with a clear focus on learning."
This achievement, in such a short space of time, is down to everyone. The students have been extremely motivated to show their talents and prove people wrong. They have known all along what they could achieve; they just needed the excellent staff that we now have to unlock it for them.
It is vital that we do not stop here. We are extremely ambitious for the school and want to build on the nine outstanding categories that we achieved in March 2010 to be outstanding across the board when OFSTED visit us again in about 4 years time.
I am delighted that the rapid improvements in the school have been recognised in the community. We have double our intake into year 7 for this September and expect to be full in that year group next year. We are taking students into other years regularly and overall the size of the school has grown by 10% in just one year.
Amidst all this work we have also submitted a bid to become one of the government’s specialist schools in modern foreign languages.
You will see from the school development plan that we are serious about moving quickly and challenging all stakeholders in the school to perform at their best all the time. To that end a visit to the school will confirm to you that:
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Behaviour in the school is outstanding. Exclusions are now rare. Parents have been totally supportive and there is a real understanding by all stakeholders that poor behaviour will not be tolerated.
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Standards are improving but, as always, will be the key area for development.
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There is a real vibrancy and sense of ambition about the place. Students, staff and parents / carers are proud to be here. There is calm about the school and the focus is on learning. The relationship between staff and students is based on mutual respect and partnership.
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Investment in the site has been considerable and the learning environment is good. All classrooms have interactive whiteboards. All teachers have a laptop. ICT facilities are outstanding with 11 computer suites and 2 Apple Mac suites. All hardware is replaced on a 3 year rolling programme.
- Staff morale is very strong.
Furthermore we like to do things differently. There are new flexible curricula in both key stages 3 and 4 designed to enable students to succeed. We have enhanced the choice at post 16 so that there is a real coherence in the offer across 14-19. We will also be offering the creative and media and construction diplomas from September 2010.
We have introduced 4 creative learning days when students work in vertically structured groups on 4 different themes. In addition, students following our 'Footprint' programme once a fortnight which covers a whole host of enrichment activities.
Equally we are looking to rapidly expand our virtual learning environment that is open to parents and students alike to enable more effective support to be given at home. We actively engage with parents, reporting on their child's progress 6 times a year and organise two compulsory parents' evenings for each year group annually.
The cover system here means regular staff only do minimal cover. This leaves more time for planning and preparation.
All students in years 7 and 8 follow our 3 language carousel for modern foreign languages that allows all students to experience French, German and Spanish in years 7 and 8 before specialising in one for GCSE starting in year 9. We also embark on GCSE ICT and Humanities in year 9.
Significant Challenges
The school is moving at a rapid pace but we still face significant challenges:
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OFSTED concluded that we are currently a good school. We want to be outstanding.
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Students need to achieve sustained performance at above 80% 5 A*-C at GCSE and above 60% including English and Mathematics
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The reputation of the school in the local community is strong but we want to be at the heart of it.
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Students need to progress in every lesson, every day.
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Staff need to embrace all aspects of the learning agenda so that students experience real pace and rigour in all their lessons.
I am looking to appoint inspirational staff to the school to help us achieve our goals. You must have real ambition for yourself, the students and the school. You need to be an outstanding practitioner who can inspire and guide others
If you are interested in working here then please download our strategic and development plans and feel free to visit the school prior to submitting an application. If you do decide to apply then I would be grateful if you completed the application form and submit no more than two sides of A4 on how you can help us achieve our goals.
Alex Russell
Headteacher
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