School Description
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At Akeley Wood we firmly believe that every child has talent. It is our job to nurture that talent throughout their education. Our school curriculum is interesting, challenging and motivating to stretch every child's natural ability.
At Senior level, we offer fun and challenging additional learning resources to students who are identified as having exceptional talent in subject areas. For Years 10-12, we offer aspirational experiences including visits to Oxford and Cambridge that encourage them to aim high, whatever their chosen path.
Inspiring greater self-assurance, confidence, and meaningful engagement in the outside world, the benefits of our creative and supportive approach to fostering talent and self-expression are profound.
Who/what inspired you to become a teacher?
My grandmother and parents always said I was a natural teacher from a very young age! I was good at guiding and taking charge of my younger siblings with a favourite game of mine being playing schools. After considering all my options at school, I finally decided to pursue teaching after completing my A levels and I went directly to a full 4 year teacher training course.
What achievement are you most proud of as Head?
Having been a Head for 15 years now, there are so many! Of course, I am always proud of inspection outcomes as they are validation of the great work done in the schools I lead day to day – proof that we are doing the excellent job we want to be doing. However, the biggest achievements for me are still rooted in the actual difference I make to individual children within the role I hold. Whether that be achieving GCSE and A-level results beyond what an individual thought was possible, discovering the love for a new activity introduced as part of our curriculum offer, mastering reading down to an intervention we have introduced, pride in winning a competitive sports match, jumping in a muddy puddle when worried about the dirt, winning an association art competition or simply being happy at school and enjoying every experience and opportunity available. Every achievement makes me proud.
What does a successful school look like to you?
To me, successful schools are happy schools. These are schools where students are deeply invested in their learning because they love it so much and where teachers and support staff take great joy from their interactions with students and from the role they have in progressing their learning and academic achievement, their life skills and their relationships with others. In these environments, students thrive in all aspects of their learning and development because they feel safe, secure and know the adults that work with them want them to succeed at the highest level possible for them.
What is the most important quality you want every child to have when they leave your school? And why?
It’s so hard to choose just one. At Akeley Wood, we want our students to aspire to be the best they can be, to have integrity, to be responsible, resilient and courageous. If I had to choose one, I think it would have to be courage. To have the courage to be yourself, the courage to push yourself to do the things that are hard, the courage to pick yourself up and try again, the courage to stand up for the things you believe in and the courage to aim higher.
Please give 5 words to describe the ethos of your school.
Individuality
Aspiration
Nurture
Challenge
Community
This school is independently managed and its admission criteria may be selective. There is no set catchment area as pupils are admitted from a wide variety of postcodes and, in the case of boarding schools, from outside the UK. Contact the school directly or visit their website for more information on Admissions Policy and Procedures.
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