With National Offer Day last week, Saturday was a big milestone for the school as I was able to meet some of the trailblazing students who have been offered places at Pinner High School in September. Instead of spending time planning and preparing, it was brilliant to welcome real students and their families through the door of what will very soon be their school. Some of them seemed as excited as I am! There is another event this Wednesday for anyone offered a place who couldn't make it at the weekend. Governors and I are delighted to be very nearly full. We have already had a number of enquiries from families not offered places, but who are now hoping to join us. If you are in this position, the best option is to contact Harrow Admissions Service, who coordinate all school places in the borough.
Adverts for the next group of teaching posts closed on Friday afternoon. Just as with the initial recruitment wave, I have been overwhelmed with high quality applicants. In January this led to 5 excellent appointments from 128 applications. I now have even more than this to read for another 5 posts. Given the nationwide difficulty in recruiting teachers, this is an extraordinary position to be in.
The rest of the week was taken up with a start on timetabling, meeting with TfL regarding safe and sustainable travel to school, considering room layouts in the new technology classrooms, testing our new phone system, and reading ICT procurement bids. The highlight was certainly talking to students; about their uniform for September, the sports they would like to play, books for the library, and how to make the most of being a Trailblazer. Exciting times!