It's ALL about the students

Hello and welcome to my first blog as Head Teacher.

Sandymoor is an amazing school already, if not unique, and through this blog, I hope to chart our continuing progress as we prepare for September, welcoming our first pupils. If you’ve not done so already, please do look us up on Facebook (facebook.com/SandymoorSchool) and follow us on Twitter (twitter.com/SandymoorSchool  or @SandymoorSchool).

You already know that Sandymoor is a new Secondary School for the local community. Our preparations have shown that there is a need for Sandymoor, with so many young families having to look to travelling long distances to other schools, or moving out of the area. Sandymoor will fill that gap. Opening this September, the school will grow with the community, with a Sixth Form opening in two years time.

What you might not know is that it is a school founded with passion, the creation of five local residents. They saw the need and decided to do something about it and Sandymoor became more than an idea. With the introduction of more freedoms in education through the Coalition’s Academies bill, the ability for interested people to set up their own school became a reality. Last year, the first wave of these schools were launched, and we are now in the second wave.

Sandymoor is, as I said, amazing, if not unique. This is for a couple of reasons, first of all, the vision for the school: “A Fresh Approach to Education”. Secondly, the fact that this is truly going to be a free school; there is no large, anonymous charity behind us, dictating how we do things, we are a group of people with the vision and determination to make a difference to the education in this area.

When I saw the advert for head teacher, I can truly say that a tingle ran down my spine. This was the job I had been waiting for all my teaching career. The chance to lead a school that creates intelligent global citizens, to lead a school founded on a vision of being at the heart of the community, to lead a school that is passionate about the personal dreams inside each individual was all I wanted to do.

Sandymoor is a school that intends to be outstanding in all aspects from day one. Through this blog, I aim to enable you to see the historic processes that we go through in ensuring that happens, as we know it will.