A Mile In My Shoes by Ms Drummond

Only recently my daughter and I realised that we were like ships passing in the night and we managed to catch each other last Sunday and spent the day celebrating her 25th birthday in a lovely restaurant in Selfridges. Over lunch we shared what we had both been up to, professionally and personally. Both of us have been so busy this month - both love our jobs (she is a wedding and events planner) and we both have busy social lives! It is not until we slow down and actually reflect on what we have achieved, experienced and enjoyed that we can be truly grateful for the lives we have. So, coming to the end of this week I am spending this time reflecting and sharing with you all - my second family - some of the highlights for me (not all of them I may add!!)

Last week I attended the IAPS (Independent Association of Prep Schools) annual conference in Wales along with 400 other Preparatory School Headteachers from across the UK and overseas. It was, as ever, a busy programme of events with Keynote speakers and seminars to attend then superb networking opportunities with other Heads and exhibitors.

The conference was opened by a panel of experts discussing ‘What could the next 5 years look like for independent schools under this government’, chaired by Julie Robinson, the Chair of the Independent Schools Council. Julie was joined by expert guests including Ed Dorrel, Lord David Hacking and Alex Chalk (Former Lord Chancellor and Secretary Of State for Justice). It was fascinating to hear the sparky discussions between all three speakers on what the future may be like under the new Labour government. Later that morning I managed to speak with the inspiring Lord Hacking (aged 86) to thank him for his support of the independent sector and for standing against his own party. Having being privately educated himself, he understands the sector and the sacrifices that many parents make to choose to send their children to an independent school. This lively discussion set the tone for the next few days.

I attended and participated in many more interesting sessions over the course of the few days, including these.

• The future of education in a world of artificial intelligence and augmented reality - Ian Symmonds.

• Handling a crisis: managing your school and your reputation in the toughest of times.

(This session was emotional as three Headteachers shared their experiences of dealing with critical incidents, all of a different nature, which all of us hope we will never experience as leaders). 

• Strategies for success in a challenging business environment - David Woodgate.

The conference was closed by Dr. Rangan Chatterjee in conversation with Emilie Darwin as he gave the delegates simple steps to enable us all to thrive not just survive in Headship.  I am thankful and grateful to have the most incredible team at St. Helen’s College who all support each other and it is a testament to them that I am able to be out of school attending such events and school life continues as per normal!

Dr. Chatterjee has been involved in a new two part documentary, Swiped: The School that Banned Smartphones, from BOLDPRINT Studios with Matt and Emma Willis, which will be aired on Channel 4 very shortly. I highly recommend that all parents and educators tune in. Shocking research which he discussed with us that we all need to be aware of included the following.  

50% of all 9 year olds in the UK own a smartphone [1] with 43% of UK teens using their smartphones during school lessons [2]. Alarmingly, frequent social media use has been found to increase a child’s risk of depression by 27% [3] and a recent Education Select Committee report revealed that one in four children now use their phones in a manner resembling behavioural addiction [4]. Even more concerning, half of children have accessed violent pornography on a screen by the age of 13 [5] and 21% of 9 – 12 year olds agree that it is normal for children their age to share nude or semi-nude images online [6].

As well as attending the IAPS conference last week, we have also been visited by a reviewer from The Good Schools Guide. They spent a morning in school on Monday, speaking and touring with me to find out more about St. Helen’s College, and we now await their written review.

We have had prospective parents touring the school almost every day since we returned to school and of course many of you know that on Monday morning I also received the call from ISI (The Independent Schools Inspectorate) to inform us that a team of inspectors would be arriving on Tuesday morning. The school is inspected every three years by ISI. ISI is an organisation responsible for the inspection of Independent schools in England. It is a government-approved, independent body that provides objective evaluations of schools, focusing on educational quality and the well-being of students.

So this week we have had the pleasure of a team of five inspectors immersing themselves in the daily life of St. Helen’s College and experiencing what your children do: attending lessons, observing playtimes, eating with the children, speaking with your children and the staff about the school. Leadership and management and the safeguarding of the pupil are overarching aspects of the ISI new framework and it has been a very thorough process. Thank you to those of you who completed the parent surveys which helps the team enormously.  Inspectors also met with Mr. and Mrs. Crehan, Miss Beckett and our new Chair Mr. Forsyth and safeguarding governor and Director of Education Ms Storey, to enable them to have oversight of the governance of the school since our last inspection.

The stars of our inspection process though are your children! They have represented the beating heart of the school and why we do what we do and, as you might expect, they have done so with confidence, enthusiasm, joy and humility. I am sure that many of you have heard about the various meetings that your children have had with the team and the lessons in which their learning has been observed.

The staff have also enjoyed showcasing their expertise and as I sit here awaiting the feedback from the inspectors I can share with you the great pride I have in being part of this incredible community!

On Wednesday evening we also had 79 members of the school community engaged in the Parent Practice webinar run by Elaine Halligan. The feedback on this session has been so positive and we all left the session with excellent tips to enable us all to continue being the best parents we can be!

All in all it has been an incredibly busy two weeks! I may not have done much outside of my professional life but tonight I will enjoy reconnecting with my well-being and participating in my yoga, pilates and swimming. I will also be relaxing with friends over the weekend!

Happy weekend!

Ms Drummond