Expectations of students’ behaviour, work and effort are much higher and I can see a tangible difference to learning and progress in every lesson I visit. We will maintain our focus on this area as this is now part of our everyday practice. 

In addition to expecting more from students in lessons, leaders and teachers in College are working to make sure that the level of challenge is high in every lesson too. This means that each lesson has one challenging learning objective, which is aimed at the most able students in every group. We are also catering for every student through making sure activities are appropriately differentiated for all. Our drive, though, is that all students must be challenged to achieve their personal best and we will only accept their very best work. 

We are moving ahead with a new system to reward students’ good work, effort, attendance and behaviour. The system we will move to is called ‘E-Praise’ and it allows students to exchange reward points they receive for prizes.

The list of possible rewards is currently being discussed and agreed by our student council and I hope they will be able to launch it in assemblies in the week before half-term.