Welcome back to our final half term of this academic year. I hope you all found some time to relax over the half-term break and recharge ready for our final Summer term, which is full of exciting events… and exams. We will need plenty of energy for all of this!

The week before the half-term break was productive and exciting. Events included a Year 12 Geography field trip to Dorset, a Year 8 Computing trip to the Science Museum, a Music Masterclass at Steinway Hall, and our current Year 5 girls joining the Senior School staff for an alien invasion experience! The Summer sports programme is blossoming with athletics, cricket, and tennis matches taking place daily. Our under 15 athletics girls have qualified for the National Semi-Finals, which will take place next Wednesday. Tess H (Y8) and Sybil WJ (Y10) both won medals at the Combined Events Athletics and have been selected to represent Kent at the National competition. The Year 7 to 10 tennis teams have reached the Division 2 Finals. We have also begun our SHINE outreach events where we are welcoming 50 girls weekly from local primary schools (Poverest, St James and Southborough) to participate in Science days with our staff and pupils here. Our theme is STEM and climate change, and so far they have built a wind turbine, conducted an environmental impact study of our grounds, and considered the implications of drone deliveries.

It was a pleasure to welcome our Chief Executive, Cheryl Giovannoni, to the school during the week before half term. She arrived with her team for the GDST annual review of the school’s progress and to spend time with staff and girls to discuss all things ‘Bromley High’.

While a CEO does sit at the head of an organization, the concept of leadership is far-reaching and can be seen in every corner of our school. For example, I recently listened to a politics discussion among our Sixth Form girls about issues surrounding girls’ education, including the gender pay gap, shortages of women in key professions, and the political engagement of young women. The leadership qualities they demonstrated included collaboration, communication, and subject knowledge. I am very proud of the mature and insightful approach I see in our girls, and this makes me very optimistic about the future of leadership in the next generation.

The book “Winners” by Alistair Campbell considers whether we have the will, as well as the skill, to be great leaders. The book builds on the stories of successful leaders from around the world and offers a story about the importance of objective setting, creating a strategy, developing the team, and ensuring tactics are right for maximizing impact. Campbell interviews leaders in sport, business, and politics, finds common threads, and brings them together in this storybook. Chapter 9 in the book talks about the power of visualisation. How often do we use visualisation as a method to see what it is we are aiming to achieve?

From visualisation to an action plan, a research study was conducted at the Dominican University of California. 150 adults were split into five groups and asked to think about business objectives they would like to meet in the coming month. The first group was asked to think about the objectives but not to consider anything further. The second group had to go one step further and write down their objectives. The third group had to write down their objectives and what they intended to do. The fourth group had to do the same as the third group but also share their objectives and plans with friends. The fifth group had to do the same, but in addition, write a weekly report.

Which group achieved the most and why?

Yes group 5, writing it all down, communicating it to others and tracking the progress in the written words was huge. Visualisation and strategy add enormous value and Campbell suggests this is a winning mindset.

Mindset is key to our success at Bromley High. We create our success through our shared values of curiosity, compassion and courage. My teams are busily implementing strategies to deliver on our Towards 140 plan. Like the fifth group in the Californian study, I will write to you soon to communicate our recent successes and next steps.

Mrs Emily Codling, Headmistress