Headteacher Weekly Bulletin 22.09.17

Good afternoon.

It really has been ‘one of those days’ without going into too much detail and, consequently, I am rather keen to get home and unwind.  I’m sure that will be a relief to a number of you, particularly those who had to sit through nearly twenty minutes of my waffle on Tuesday at the Bridgewater Hall.   The Awards Evening is the only place I could possibly start my reflections this week.  I’m in danger of repeating myself no doubt but the event genuinely does seem to get better year on year.  The feedback from parents and other guests has been phenomenal since Tuesday; I was alerted to comments on the Facebook page of ‘Timperley News’ and, of course, the musical items on the night drew lots of plaudits.  Whether it be the school band, Sing, Sing with (last year’s)7s, the mass choir of our new Year 7s, the virtuoso solo performance of the unparalleled Joe Cardoza or the combined talents of the ‘Wellington Performers’, one would have to acknowledge it was a pretty damn good night’s entertainment.  Quite frankly, I’d have paid good money to listen to those performances.

However, the moment that has perhaps prompted most feedback was when Mr Tomlinson and Mr Pinkerton helped one of our Year 9 boys, suffering from a medical condition, across the stage and the audience exploded into spontaneous and rapturous applause and cheering.

Summarised by one parent; “… the kindness of your staff helping the young man on and off the stage goes some way to show the level of care that you provide for our children and it was moving and heart-warming to see.”  I might forward that to Ofsted with the words ‘stick that in your pipe and smoke it!’

And this, I’m sure she won’t mind me sharing, from the mum of the young man in question; “Wellington School and its incredible staff and pupils have meant that we don’t ever have to be concerned about my son’s schooling, which lifts a great deal of worry from our shoulders.  Everyone from the reception staff who regularly deal with us, to his friends and teachers all demonstrate an exceptional level of care and understanding.  My son is so very happy at Wellington and as parents we cannot thank you enough for creating an environment which caters for his medical needs while allowing him to thrive educationally.”

Wow!  We must be doing something right.

Inevitably, I spoke about our school value ‘Community’ on Tuesday; surely this episode is the absolute embodiment of that value and these comments from parents could not have expressed it any better.  Music to my ears as Headteacher and a reflection of the sort of school I always hoped we would be.

Well done, once again, to all our award winners and best of luck to all the former Year 13s heading off to university.

On Tuesday, I also spoke about our ambitious goal to raise £80,000 in our 80th year and repeatedly uttered the phrase ‘making a difference’ – something of a Wellington mantra these days.  I’m sure you will get behind this campaign and please endeavour to come along (bring friends, family neighbours etc too) to school at 6.30 pm on Thursday (28th) to listen to what representatives of the three charities have to say and share ideas on how we might achieve this target. 

I was this week made aware of the achievements of one student who quite clearly personifies the concept of ‘making a difference’ with her charitable endeavours.  Alicia Wright in Year 8 has raised over £12,000 for Henshaws, a local North West Charity for the blind and partially sighted by walking blind-folded firstly from Blackpool to Manchester (60 miles in 3 days) and the following year from Wembley stadium to Old Trafford (180 miles in 10 days).  OMG!  Gob-smacked of Timperley.  I have a new hero / heroine in the form of Alicia.  What an incredible feat and we are exceptionally proud of you, Alicia.  If Alicia can raise that much by herself, surely £80K across the whole school community should be a doddle.

Today has been our Year 7 ‘bonding’ day – the third year we have run this event to assist with the primary-secondary transition process.  Miss Hodges has provided a few words about today so I will leave you to peruse her account, suffice to say that when I returned from a rather long and tedious meeting at the Town Hall, it was uplifting to chat with the young people about their experiences today; they’ve obviously had a great time.  Thanks to the staff who organised and took part.

There’s lots else for you to read about in ‘Latest News’ this week and you don’t need me to comment unnecessarily about those items.

I would like to finish with the words of a parent from an email sent following the Awards Evening, as I couldn’t have put it better myself.  It has been a challenging week in many ways and that’s often the case but this just about sums up my thoughts on my own position and the very privileged role I find myself in; “I could tell from your face that you were extremely proud to be Head of such an amazing school with great teachers and great students, both a credit to you.”

Have a wonderful weekend doing whatever you do and I’ll look forward to reflecting again next Friday on another week that we can all be proud of.

S Beeley