Celebrating our wonderful school at our Open Morning on Saturday was both joyous and humbling. In between my speeches I was able to take in the commitment and passion from both staff and pupils who were here supporting us on the day.
The school looked wonderful, and classrooms and specialist teaching areas were brought to life through showcased activities. The feedback from visiting parents was overwhelmingly positive, and families were most impressed by the warmth, creativity and talent which exuded from every faculty area and phase of the school. Thank you to everyone who helped to make the day such a success.
September has started well, and already our girls have much to be proud of. Whilst it’s only been a few weeks, we’ve already had many moments of happy triumph. Something I always note from our Bromley High School pupils is that they delight in their own success, but also that of others. They are fuelled by each other’s accolades, and they buy into this rewarding idea of ‘fulfilment’.
We have seen Duke of Edinburgh expeditions, aerospace conferences in school, Minerva Symposiums launched, and much more. The pace and dynamism of this school is so impressive. Our new Year 7 pupils are settling in very well and it was a pleasure to meet so many of our new families at the Curriculum Evening last week. I know that the girls have been looking forward to their PGL residential trip and that they will come back bonded and engaged with each other.
We are so lucky that our girls benefit from a close community, and this extends to our BHPA. They have some very exciting family events on the horizon, including our infamous Fireworks event and Christmas Market. The tickets for the Fireworks are on sale now and I understand places are limited, so I encourage you to book as soon as possible! The BHPA work tirelessly to channel funds into wonderful school projects from which the girls benefit enormously. Our community also extends to the broader network of the GDST, enabling us to provide opportunities and support that any stand-alone school, or school within a small Trust, would struggle to provide. Our thoughts are with Old Palace School this week and we wish those families every success in finding their new school.
Over the weekend, I picked up the book ‘Talent Architects – How to make your schools a great place to work’, by Mandy Coalter. This is a great book to read from a leadership perspective. The section on the four pillars is particularly interesting. The pillar that stood out to me was how to create a culture and climate where everyone feels valued, fostering positive culture for our pupils so they have the required steppingstones to be successful.
Part of our culture at Bromley High School is to ensure our pupils know how to prioritise their wellbeing. Validating happiness and having empathetic adults around them who offer tailored support will always lead to the girls achieving better and stops pressure from snowballing into a crisis. School is a place for learning and friendship, yet many young people can feel the academic pressure strongly. In the UK, the Good Childhood Report showed that 12% of adolescents were unhappy with school work. The staff at Bromley High do take academic pressure seriously and we try to balance the expectation on performance with other areas of school life, including co-curricular, sport, music, art, residential trips and visits, House events and opportunities for the girls to socialise.
To quote Mr Thaw, ‘I hope, and believe, that we walk alongside our pupils, validating their feelings and acknowledging their individuality’, so that they feel listened to and cared for.
Mrs Emily Codling, Headmistress