So what were the priorities in preparation for our move:
* to attempt to continue the remarkable ethos that had permeated the old school, where staff and students felt valued and where inter personal relationships were strong, all of which had resulted in positive comments from Ofsted.
* to ensure all subject areas felt they were moving into an environment that would enable teaching and learning to reach another level. This was easy where subjects like product design, media, art and performing arts where to obtain state of the art working areas and resources but more difficult for maths and humanities who were simply moving from one classroom to another, so be it a better one.
* to embrace the excellent ICT opportunities we now had available. There is still a legacy of a large amount of investment in ICT over the last ten years and a view that this as not been matched with improvements in teaching and learning.
* to create a balance of open learning spaces with traditional classrooms so that teachers would have the autonomy and responsibility for creating positive learning and be able to focus on student progress rather than move from room to room.
* to ensure all stake holders were part of the move and to provide clear expectations to everyone involved.
* to embrace the dual use facilities of library and sports centre that was a legacy of the old build and at the same time develop the new community resources including a young peoples and early years centre.
So how did we achieve some of these priorities. First of all we launched an 'are you ready' campaign which was a drip feed of information including posters and flyers heightening the awareness of students and staff as to the positive aspects of the move. This also engaged students and staff in discussion about what we would be doing, how things would be different and what we might expect to happen. After all the core business would not change students where there to learn and teachers to teach. I held meetings with leaders of subjects and took them around the new building in stages pointing out features and making sure they understood the opportunities and challenges they would face. This eventually led to whole teams going round and visualising how spaces might be used. It was inevitable that this would lead to parochial views in some cases and therefore the importance of establishing an open mind with no set plan and to stimulate creative thinking was essential.
Very few of the students were shown around the building before it opened those that did were part of the planning group or sixth formers. We wanted to establish as far as possible the wow factor and the element of surprise. We also took the initials of the academy OBA and ensured the anagram was a forceful strap line and message. Opportunity Belief and Aspiration became the key messages. Everyone of us had an opportunity that very few would get to make a difference and use resources of the highest quality, equally we had to belief and continue to belief that we could achieve anything we wanted with hard work and positive mind sets. Finally we had to set the bar high and aspire to greater levels of teaching, learning and achievement.
So what has happened since we have moved into the building ? We set some early goals;
* uniform standard walks three times a day with a 10 minute detention at the end of the day for students not wearing uniform correctly.visitors consistently remark on the smartness and appearance of our students....it matters !
* to maximise the use of the learning resources we are privileged to work with. There is always something happening outside of the normal curriculum.
* we utilised the spaces we had including, outdoor space and ensured a strong adult presence in all areas.
* the building must be in continuous use, being the hub of the community it is vital we allow engagement and activity to thrive.
* sustainability...a big challenge, the cost of running the building is still an unknown and the potential to bring in an income from lettings and functions is another priority. To help manage and coordinate this aspect we this we are using a local PR and communication company.
* to introduce iPads to students in years 10,11,12 and 13 in order to further develop individualised and distance learning.
So what about learning and outcomes, as there been an impact? Clearly if results continue to rise and performance targets met it would be easy to say that the building has made a difference. What the building does is provide people with the feel good factor, outstanding spaces and resources and hopefully the inspiration to want to teach and learn here. Academy improvement strategies remain the same as anywhere, strong leadership at all levels, a capacity to sustain improvement and development, competent and focused teachers, strong student- teacher relationships with clear boundaries and rigorous classroom management and a strong ethos of success.
The challenge for me and my leadership team is to ensure continuity through development and challenge, to recruit the best teachers and to make sure staff do not forget where we came from and how privileged we are to work in the environment we have.
