I’m not a fan of gloating. One often sees boasts and gloats on social media and they always leave one wondering why someone feels a need to show and tell so publicly. But brace yourselves, I am about to…

Last night, our Registrar, Alison Hart, and I spent the evening at The Roche School, for their annual Senior Schools Fair. It is an opportunity for many senior schools to exhibit their wares and talk to parents. I have done so many of these events since joining HSW. And the boast: I am proud to say that we must surely have had the longest queue of prospective parents in the room. We couldn’t even speak to everyone, such was the interest in our little stand. In all our conversations, we detected a tangible relief from parents that we were not opening our conversations with ‘What is your child’s standardised score? What are their chances at 11+?’ Instead, we asked their name, their hobbies and interests, what motivates them, where their talents lie, how they feel about school. Every leader will say that talent comes in many forms. Every school will have values that champion kindness, inclusivity and opportunity. But the degree to which a school truly value these things is not measured by how often the words feature in a prospectus or speech; rather it can be seen and felt in the culture of a school and the amount of time and effort channelled into educating the whole child. We have increased our after-school clubs provision tenfold, we have increased the number of educational visits and sporting fixtures tenfold, and we continue to recruit additional staff to join our pastoral team so that we can truly know every child.

We value academic rigour and hard work here, but we will not engage in the sorting and ranking often seen in London schools. We believe passionately in creating conditions in which a child can find their element, develop self-worth, and, through the combined efforts of everyone, feel confident to be themselves!

I left the event feeling justifiably proud.