If the future is Whittlesey students, the future is good..

Last weekend I was part of a team of staff and students (with me as a token Governor) taking part in a 24 hour relay at Sir Harry Smith Community College, with five teams of four or five each keeping exercise bikes going for a total of 24 hours. Each person contributed at least 4 hours worth of cycling in half hour stints, suffering sleep deprivation, my sense of humour and some pretty sore backsides.

Of course it was great to raise money for a good cause, but actually there are more reasons than that to be lad to have taken part.  Top of the list has to be to observe and chat to the students, who despite tiredness, lack of sleep and a lack of sensible sleeping arrangements behaved impeccably, with no-one complaining and everyone joining in in some way or another in the spirit of the occasion.  I was so impressed with everything about the night, but especially how the students coped with the circumstances - and I should stress these were students of all ages, not just from the top years of the school.  I know they all went home feeling tired, I hope each and every one of them went home feeling proud, I certainly felt privileged to have been part of the event.

I would also like to thank Vesuvio for the marale boosting pizzas at aabout 9 o'clock Friday night.  A really nice and well appreciated gesture.

Launch of Kick Ash Sir Harry Smith

Yesterday I had the privilege of attending the launch of Kick Ash at Sir Harry Smith Community College.  Kick Ash is a program that uses young mentors to try and prevent and reduce smoking in schools.  There is real evidence that the program is really successful in other schools.  The mentors who were involved in the launch yesterday were great - a few weeks ago they were involved in creating a radio advert, which they played yesterday with some accompanied comedy acting. You can find the advert here.

Congratulations to everyone involved.

Alice in Wonderland at Sir Harry Smith Community College

Sir Harry Smith Community College's latest production is Alice in Wonderland which will be performed on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evening (30th March - 1st April).  I am always impressed by the quality of the school's productions and I am told this year's is going to be no exception.

Tickets are £3.00 for children and £3.50 for adults. You can contact the school via their website.

Sir Harry Smith - Building Schools for the Future Consultation

There is a consultation at Sir Harry Smith on Wednesday night where provisional proposals for Building Schools for the Future development will be on display.   Turn up any time between 3pm and 8pm.

Having been given a heads up at a Governors meeting tonight, I have to say they are quite exciting.

Sir Harry Smith OFSTED report

The OFSTED Report for Sir Harry Smith was published last week as well.   The report classes the school as Good, but recognises that it has outstanding features and, in my view, accurately reflects the progress the school continues to make.  Whittlesey residents have every right to be proud of our Secondary school.

Congratulations to the staff, students and to my fellow Governors.

The report can be found here.

Education in Whittlesey and a few words of thanks

Some of you will have read in either the Cambs Times and the Evening Telegraph (no link available) about my daughter's A Level results (and well done to the Cambs Times for getting her results right!).   Of course, I am really proud of Rosie for what she has achieved - she has worked really hard throughout her time at school, and she got the results she deserved.

Rosie finishing her A Levels means that both of my children have now completed their education in Whittlesey, and both have absolutely thrived here - and I wanted to use this post to express my thanks and to highlight how lucky we are.

Of course Sir Harry take loads of credit.  There are times during both of my children's time there when certain teachers have pulled out all the stops to help them.  Those teachers probably know who they are, but actually the overall ethos of the school, one where students are expected to achieve to the best of their ability, is to be applauded.  This is something that was created by Mike Sandeman during his time as Head and which has carried on since his departure.  Whittlesey is lucky to have a school of this quality, but more importantly, one that also keeps striving to improve.

But we shouldn't also forget that education starts at Primary School and both of my children were also extremely well served by Alderman Jacobs.  But it is true that our primary schools overall are of a high standard and I am sure there are parents from every school in Whittlesey who are as grateful as I am of their particular schools.

So, thanks to everyone at Sir Harry's and AJS for the huge role they played in my children's education.   It is something for which I will always be grateful.

Can I also add my congratulations to the students who have just left the 6th Form, those that I know and have met are a real credit to themselves and to Whittlesey.

Sir Harry Smith Rock Night

I can't say enough good things about the rock night at Sir Harry's tonight.  Three bands made up of a mix of students and staff performing to an extremely high standard.  I suspect that having members of staff from a
band as successful as The Brays is having a really positive impact on the school.

The music covered by the bands tonight just gives a good idea of the standard, they included Pink Floyd (5 songs played by a 7 piece PF tribute band) and Linkin Park - both bands whose songs need talent to cover with any credit.

It was a nice touch for The Brays to perform This Is It Now with Pandemonium who were one of the winners in Sir Harry's recent talent competition.  They also allowed the bands to use their sound equipment and gave away free copies of their album and then spent ages signing as well.

The Brays are not my sort of music (not loud enough for me!!) - but I take my hat off to them for what they are helping to influence at Sir Harry Smith.

Sir Harry Smith School Pantomime

Sir Harry has a reputation for doing good performances.  Tonight I went to see the school pantomime and had great fun.

There was a really good mix of students and teachers involved and quite a lot of great humour.  Everyone involved should be proud of what they put on and that they helped make people like me have a bit of a laugh.

As for me, I am a proud dad.  I watched my daughter in a chicken costume lay a golden egg.

UPDATE:   Someone has pointed out that the above comment is a bit ambiguous.  My daughter was wearing the chicken costume not me.

Congratulations to Sir Harry Smith 6th Form

Congratulations to the 6th Form students at Sir Harry's, I am hearing about some great AS and A Level results today.

We should also recognise the effort teachers make at Sir Harry, we have some fantastic teachers who bust a gut to get the best out of our young people.

I am a proud dad again today.

UPDATE:

The Cambs Times Website has an article about results here. There are also reports from other Fenland Schools on their website and again it looks like really good results.