As Springhill closed we celebrated with loads of ‘best evers’. We started this off with our ‘best ever' Prom for Year 11. Best dressed, best looking, best food (thank you to our fantastic catering team), best attended by staff and students. We then followed up with the 'best ever' Sports Day and a 'best ever' barbeque for all the staff and students. You can see a number of pictures from these events on this webpage.

 

We will be celebrating our ‘best ever’ exam results with Year 11 and most of Year 10 took Maths and English this month too, so there will be mega celebrations on exam results day!! Reminder-this year it is Tuesday 24th August.

 

Looking back over the years major achievements are that in 2000 only 20% of our students achieved 5A*-C, last year 2009 78% of our students got 5A*-C GCSEs- a fabulous achievement from a great bunch of staff and students.

 

Similarly, student attendance was at 84% in the year 2000, this year it is over 93%. All we have achieved has been through team work by students, staff, parents and governors.

 

But most of all we celebrate a place where everyone belongs, everyone can achieve and everyone finds something to be good at-something to enjoy at Springhill, we are a real learning community. Kingsway Park has a tough act to follow, I wish students and staff the very best in the new school.

 

There is a photo in Springboard showing the national awards we have won over the last three years. In 2007, 2008 and 2009 we were in the top 5% of schools in the country for the ‘Value Added’, in other words for getting the best possible results out of the students we have at 5A*-C including English and maths. Mr Parratt, Dr Buchanan and I have attended several award ceremonies in London to receive our certificates from the Specialist Schools and Acadamies Trust, SSAT. In addition this year we won the Most Improved Award, this is for the achievements of the school over time and can only be achieved once in a school’s history.

 

Personally I have loved my time as headteacher and often say to the students it is the best job in the world. I move on to another headship at St Sampson’s High School in Guernsey in September, but leave a bit of my heart behind in Rochdale.