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Ambition
The importance of Ambition to our school
‘Every part of Cirencester Deer Park School is driven by a positive ambition to continually improve’ says Graham Russell, Chair of Governors.
Our Chair writes: Having ambition to achieve success is an essential element of the ethos of our school. The Strategic Plan for the School 2017-20 has the headline which states that ‘we are an ambitious and inclusive comprehensive school. We challenge all in our community to be the best we can be every day and, as a consequence, we are each able to achieve more than we first think possible’. The Plan is ambitious in that it includes the target to be both the leading school in the South Cotswolds and also to be in the top 15% of all schools nationally by 2020.
Having ambition means that each one of us has licence to reject the fear of failure and go forward to set our own challenging targets rather than wilt under challenging times.
I was privileged to attend the Key Stage 3 Celebration of Achievement Evening on Thursday 10 May 2018, which celebrated the progress and attainment of our Year 9 pupils. It was an amazing event which brought parents, teachers and governors together in order to congratulate pupils on their contributions to the life of the school and for their considerable successes. The school shone at this event and pupil ambitions for Key Stage 4 were launched.
Exactly this time last year, May 2017, we were pleased to learn Ofsted confirmed our ‘ambition and drive to meet the needs of every child are valued across the school and into the community'. Ofsted also stated that our pupils ‘make more academic progress than they do in the majority of schools across the country’ indicating we are well on our way to being in the top 15%.
We are ambitious for our pupils and, to enhance our provision, this financial year we have invested £2m in a new classroom block and new all weather astro turf pitches.
- Build Update (February 2018)
- Official Opening of the Artificial Pitches (November 2017)
The new block is nearing completion and our English, Computing and RP Faculties will be teaching in their new classrooms at the beginning of June 2018, following the half term break. At Deer Park we roll our timetable forward and start our new academic year in June, so pupils will move into their new year groups, with new timetables in new classrooms.
We are ambitious to work collaboratively with other schools in the belief that working together is better than working alone. Our ambition to be the leading school in the South Cotswolds is not based upon league table position but rather on how we can improve our provision for children and young people.
Our ambition is to collaborate with other schools in order to share talent and build on each other’s strengths. This ambition has now become a reality with the creation of The Corinium Education Trust in April 2018. We have founded the Trust with Kemble and Siddington Primary Schools and Chesterton Primary School will join us this September.
We hope other schools, both secondary and primary, will join with us on this ambitious journey of collaboration – working in partnership together for the benefit of everyone, just as the Key Stage 3 pupils so eloquently demonstrated through their support for each other during the Celebration Event.
Ambition through working together in an inclusive way is our strategy, our ethos, and our approach. It is also appealing. This is reflected in the demand for places in our new Year 7 for September 2018.
Graham Russell
Chair of Governors