Speech Day 2010

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Headmaster's Address

Mr Chairman, Governors, ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys, good morning. It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all and I give a special welcome to our Guest of Honour, Christopher Bayston who will be presenting the prizes and awards this morning.

As I approach the end of my first year as Headmaster I cannot tell you how proud I am to lead such a unique and exceptional school. It is a real privilege to talk to you this morning about the school’s achievements and success this past year. The start of the school year comes when the GCSE results are announced in August.

Last year our Year11 pupils did exceptionally well. 86% gained 5 or more GCSEs at A* to C grades including maths and English compared with a national average of 50%. Over one in three were graded A* or A which maintained our excellent results of previous years. Our Year 6 pupils also achieved highly in their KS2 SATs. In English 97% gained level 4 or above, in Maths 94% and in Science 100%. These are highly commendable results which by far exceed national averages.

Of course whilst we all agree that academic achievement is paramount, education is about far, far more than examination success, and we are very fortunate at Saint Nicholas to have staff who recognise this. We continue to do superbly in sport and the highlights this year have been our continued successes in athletics and swimming – the school are East region junior and senior champions in both swimming and athletics which is a fantastic achievement. Several of our pupils went on to compete in the national finals and this year we have many ISA national medal winners in athletics. A truly great year! I was delighted by the highly successful and enjoyable Sports Day and it was particularly great to see the children supporting and encouraging one another – very much a mark of Saint Nicholas pupils. I have been very impressed by the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award students this year and they have had great success and this year we celebrate the school’s first Silver Award winners.

We have been highly entertained this year with superb music, drama and ballet evenings which are wonderful showcase for the vast talent we have amongst our pupils. They have provided great opportunities for pupils to increase their confidence and I am proud of all that they have achieved. We all look forward to next week’s end-of-term music and drama evenings. The highlight for the junior choir this year was when they sang at Royal Albert Hall in aid of Barnardo's; a great experience and one I am sure they will not forget for a long time. The pupils have all benefitted from wonderful trips and visits this year. These have included visits to Duxford Museum, Kentwell Hall, local farms, Epping Forrest Centre, Flatford Mill and Hampton Court, Henry Moore foundation and the GCSE History Hitler on Trial day. And Year 6 had a wonderful residential activity week at the start of the year. We have also had many theatre visits including the Christmas Panto for all the juniors and infants. There have been numerous visits to religious sites such as Loughton Synagogue, Neasden Hindu temple and a Sikh Gurdwara Temple. Many children have visited London for the Natural History, British and Science Museums. Add to this the overseas visits including day and residential visits to France and the History trip to Berlin. Finally there are the many wonderful events organised in school such as the history-off-the-page days, WWII Day, Tudor Day and the recent Caribbean Week. A very full year and we still managed to teach in the classroom!

This has been a highly successful year in so many respects. I am sure that all the pupils would like to join me in thanking not only the organising staff of these trips, events and sporting opportunities but also the many teachers, other staff and indeed parents who supported them in providing these wonderful experiences. Thank you all for your time and dedication to this vital side of school life. On a far more sombre note were all deeply saddened by the news of the death of one of our former pupils, Alex Cheer, in October. The death of a child throws the natural order into turmoil and is very hard for us to accept. Our heart continues goes out to Alex’s family as they come to terms with their loss – but those of us who were present at the funeral will remember the celebration of Alex’s life – and there were smiles as well as tears that day. Alex was at Saint Nicholas for 12 years in which time he lit the place up with his humour and energy and his peers always appreciated his kindness and helpfulness. Later this morning we will be presenting a new award, the Alex Cheer Award, in his memory. This award is voted for by the pupils who were asked to nominate and then vote in the spirit of Alex for the person who they felt made school a better place to be and we are delighted that Alex’s Mum Ann and sister Emily are here to see it be presented for the first time.

Today we say goodbye to long-serving members of staff. Peter Webb joined the school in 1995 and not only has he successfully led design technology but he has been involved in the wider aspect of the school; helping with staging, adopting the role as school photographer and also volunteering to take part in countless school trips. He will be greatly missed. Alison Porter is retiring after 10 years as a Year 2 teacher. She is a highly committed member of staff with a passion for teaching and has shown great care for the children in her class. We are all extremely grateful for her dedication and care that she has provided to the younger pupils. We wish both Mr Webb and Mrs Porter the very best for their retirement. Jacky Brown is also leaving this year and she has proved herself to be a great asset to the school during her 11 years here. A talented teacher, Mrs Brown has worked as a junior and reception class teacher and also a senior science teacher. We thank her for all her efforts. Gary Rodbard became Deputy Head five years ago and he has so contributed much to the school in his time here. Mr Rodbard is a highly popular teacher and colleague and he has a wonderful sense of humour which is appreciated by pupils, staff and parents. This sense of humour is best illustrated by his passionate support of Stevenage Town Football Club! On a personal level he has been a great support to be in my first year as Head for which I thank him. We wish him all every success in the new adventure as he takes up his new headship in Bangkok!

My final farewell is to all Year 11 pupils, a lot of whom have been at Saint Nicholas for many years. You have all accomplished so much in your time here and contributed greatly to what Saint Nicholas is today. We all wish you every success in your future endeavours and we hope that you have happy and fulfilling lives ahead of you. As with all of us, there will be occasions when you will no doubt regret things that you done in life – but you will learn from these mistakes. I hope, however, that you seldom look back and regret things that you have not done – I urge you make the most of all opportunities that you are given. I would like now to take the opportunity to thank the many people who make Saint Nicholas the successful school it is.

The Governors carry a huge weight of responsibility and we are fortunate in having a Chairman and board of governors who provide all the support, guidance and challenge a headmaster and school needs. I want to put on record my thanks to them for their commitment that has enabled the school to flourish with the outstanding facilities we all now enjoy. To all the non–teaching staff — our financial team, Pauline Jones, Lorna Mutono and Paul Beaufrere, the office staff, Brenda Newland and Christiane Ivic, Julie Bradley my PA, Rosemary Hitch, Debbie French and Vera Dawkins who keep the house in order!, The maintenance and grounds staff Terry Pinto, Scott Collins and Bob Embery, I thank you all for the vital roles you all play in the school’s success. We owe a debt of thanks to all the Friends who have worked hard behind the scenes, to not only raise funds, but also to organise some excellent family events. The pupils, staff and governors are extremely grateful for all your hard work and the contribution you make to the school community.

I thank the highly supportive Senior Leadership Team for their talent, good humour, professionalism and for the wisdom and experience they bring to the school. I couldn’t do my job without this dedicated team.

On my regular visits to classrooms I see high quality learning and teaching taking place. I see highly committed teachers working with highly committed pupils; I see those teachers not afraid to praise pupils and those pupils not frightened of striving for success. I also see the great care, attention and respect that the adults and pupils give to one another. Teachers and teaching assistants do not take on the job if they want an easy life. It requires complete dedication and a belief in those whom they teach and support. I am privileged to work with an extremely dedicated team at Saint Nicholas. I therefore wish to express my sincere thanks, something I know I don’t do anywhere near enough, to all the teachers and assistants for your hard work and for the encouragement which you give to enable the children to feel happy and fulfilled in their lives. Thank you all very much.

My special thanks I reserve for you the pupils. Thank you all for your hard work, dedication to your learning and most of all for your company over the past year. I am immensely proud of all of you. Enjoy the holidays – next year we start again with, as ever, increased expectation of you all, confident that you will meet the challenges ahead with your usual resolve and good will.

I am often asked by parents to share with them my vision for Saint Nicholas’s future. The important point is missed I feel. Saint Nicholas’s future is not solely dependent on my or indeed the governors’ vision but on how each and every one of you, pupils, teachers and non-teaching staff as well as parents want the school to grow and develop. It is your school – I have the responsibility and privilege to be the head but you all make up the community and therefore not only have the right to your say in its future but more importantly the ‘responsibility’ to contribute to how the school moves on. I invite you all to maintain an active role in the Saint Nicholas community.

We at Saint Nicholas are all intensely, and rightly proud of what we are, what we have achieved and what, with great confidence, we are setting out to do over the years to come. We have already invested greatly in improving facilities, over £3.5 million over the past 13 years. Next year we intend to invest further and we shall be increasing our investment in ICT to enhance further pupils’ learning as well as making improvements to the senior art and science. We are constantly reflecting on our work and will continue to strive to provide the very best educational experience whilst maintaining our caring and supporting community ethos.

It is an immense privilege to be part of Saint Nicholas, to work with such exceptional staff and with such wonderful, interesting and talented pupils. I thank you all for an amazing year….one which I doubt I will ever repeat again…….but then again there’s always next year!