Skip to content ↓

We open in

Headteacher's Blog

Here is a round up of our blog posts, keeping you informed about the life and times of Pinner High School.

 

November 2020

  • Mathmagician!

    Published 27/11/20, by Admin

    An eclectic round up in the blog this week, involving Maths, the Burnet News Club and the Royal Geographical Society.

    Year 9 have been working on complex questions involving volumes and surface areas of 3D Shapes. When I visited the class, one student did a perfect explanation for me of how to tackle this particularly demanding question in the image above. The question is beyond the expectations of GCSE, so for students to approach this, and be able to explain it so eloquently in Year 9 is staggeringly impressive!

    Also very impressive, the Burnet News Club is run by The Economist magazine Educational Foundation, which we take part in with some of our more able students. One of them won their most recent competition. Congratulations!

    And finally, the Geography department are delighted to report they have become full members of the Royal Geographical Society.  A Year 7 parent has very kindly sponsored the membership which gives the school access to a host of additional resources . The Royal Geographical Society lectures, teaching resources and up to date key cases are all now available to the school. Head of Geography Mr Smith believes, ‘This is a great extra resource and next year when the school rolls out its first A level courses, the membership will be invaluable.  The knowledge and expertise linked with the new technology will help the department to be at the cutting edge of teaching Geography’. We are very grateful for such generous support.

    Read More
  • Awards night

    Published 20/11/20, by Admin

    The TES awards took place last week, featuring a film about Pinner High School following our shortlisting in the Secondary School of the year category. Being the only school in the whole of London, and one of just 8 schools in the country selected in this way when there are over 4,000 in the country is a huge honour. It is a brilliant endorsement of everything our students, staff, governors and trustees have been doing for the last four years. The award was won by Heartlands E-ACT Academy; many congratulations to them. To even be considered for this prestigious award is an extraordinary achievement, and I’d like to thank our whole community for their support. If you would like to watch the award presentation, it is available here: https://www.tesawards.co.uk/tessa2020/en/page/watch-the-tes-schools-awards-2020 Our film is towards the end of the programme. Congratulations!

    Anti-bullying week is coming to an end, during which we have had so many peer ‘kindness’ nominations. Year 7 had their tower building House Event, during which 7BY came out on top. Our Year 11s have Sixth Form interviews, and their examinations are fast approaching. There are only 3 weeks to go until the end of term, so plenty of time to let you know about this year’s charity, and events in the last week of term including a festive lunch and the annual festive jumper day on the last day of term, 11th December.

    I hope you and your family are staying safe and well.

    Read More
  • Parent Governors

    Published 13/11/20, by Admin

    I am delighted to share news of the recent parent governor election. I am always grateful when parents offer to contribute to the success of our school. There are many ways to do this, and being a governor is an especially important one. We had a high number of parents willing to put themselves forward, and I would like to thank each of them for doing so. I am sorry all the candidates could not have joined the group, but there were only two vacancies. The successful candidates in the election were Dr. Day and Rev’d Hullyer. Congratulations to them both. Their biographies are below:

    Paul Hullyer: "I have been Vicar of Pinner Parish Church since 2008, having been ordained for 23 years. Before ordination, my career was in credit management and corporate finance. I have experience of school governance, having been a governor at 2 schools in Addlestone, Surrey (2000-2003), then later chair of governors at the Oak Farm Primary Schools in Hillingdon (2003-2008), and as a community governor at Bishop Ramsey (2008-2013) where I chaired the finance committee and also the steering group managing the transition to academy status. I am also an Officer (Chaplain) in the Army Reserve.

    I am used to working both within teams and individually, and pursuing goals which emerge from a corporate decision making process. I understand corporate responsibility, and feel strongly that the role of school governance is to assist, not direct, the head teacher and all staff in their roles. I can bring experience of school finances and governance in a variety of settings to this role.

    I passionately believe in in Pinner High School and its challenging and stimulating education for young people; it’s ethos and it’s capability for inspiring learning in every discipline. I am able to give the necessary time to the role."

    Kerry Day: "I would be delighted to have the opportunity to join the Governing body as a parent Governor, as I believe I have the skills and experience to be able to make a meaningful contribution as Pinner High continues to grow and establish itself as an outstanding school in the community. 

    I have 7 years’ experience as a Governor of a local primary school and fully understand the role of strategy and challenge in an education setting. I have been the designated Governor for safeguarding, pupil premium, SEND and EYFS. I have also been Chair of the Curriculum and Community committee. My term has included Head teacher and SLT appointments, decisions on school expansion, extensive building works and 2 successful Ofsted inspections. 

    Professionally, as a Consultant Paediatrician, the development of children and young people is something I have always cared passionately about, and I believe that an education that is engaging, inspiring, wide-ranging and fun gives young people the best possible start in life.

    As my children are growing older, with my daughter now in Year 8, I would relish the chance to bring my experience as a Governor and my perspective as a parent to the Pinner High Governing body."

    Governors meetings are all virtual at the moment, but I look forward to Rev’d Hullyer and Dr. Day’s contributions to our school. Our students continue to show considerable resilience during this challenging time, and I am so impressed with the way they continue to approach their learning. We are keen to make sure that the ‘fun’ that features so prominently in students’ views of Pinner High continues this term, and Year 7 have been looking at form time House Events, and Year 8 have been reflecting as a year group on the Pinner High School Values.   

    Read More
  • New spaces

    Published 06/11/20, by Admin

     

    A challenging and rewarding week: new classrooms for 360 students and almost 20 office moves- but we are in and students are making good use of their new spaces. 

    We have new gates, doors, feature displays, labs, classrooms and staff work spaces we have reclaimed the main hall and expanded into new outside areas too. I need to express my admiration for our site and facilities team who have managed this over the half term break whilst adhering to safe working practices. A real challenge, and a real success. The strip out work has started immediately on the parts of the school we vacated, ready to upgrade these facilities as well. These plans have been several years in the making, and it is exciting to see them coming together.

    Read More