2017-2018 has been an especially good year for Cirencester Deer Park School. Our pupils and their achievements throughout the year have made us all tremendously proud. Whether this has been through their commitment to their learning day to day, or the way in which they have embraced new challenges outside of the classroom, they have consistently shown resilience and resourcefulness:

‘Our daughter has experienced an outstanding level of support, amazing teaching and fantastic opportunities, since starting Deer Park in September 2017.  I have watched the self-doubting girl, who joined you, become confident, motivated (to be more than she ever thought she could be), feel valued and inspired. She is keen to tell us about her successes, and equally clear about where she needs to focus in order to improve. I have heard you talking about the importance of developing a growth mindset, so it's wonderful to see those words make such an impact on a young person.’ Parent, new Year 8 pupil

Many of our pupils made a commitment to rehearsals and took part in performances, including Legally Blonde Jr; some undertook expeditions for their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Awards or travelled to new places such as Belgium to follow in the footsteps of Private Peaceful or Africa as members of our Ghana 2018 team; others demonstrated their skills and tactical prowess to achieve success across a range of competitive sports.

 

 

In the autumn 2017 we re-opened our astroturf with its new freshly laid playing surface and in June 2018 we took possession of our new flagship building at the front of the school and our English, Computing and Business and RP, Citizenship and PSHEe faculties moved in. Teachers and pupils are delighted with the new spacious classrooms, which even in the extreme temperatures, have remained remarkably cool, owing in part to the brise-soleil, an architectural feature that reduces heat gain within a building by deflecting sunlight.

To reflect this change and my appointment to the role of Chief Executive of The Corinium Education Trust alongside my existing strategic role as Headteacher of Deer Park, we have created additional capacity within the school’s leadership team.

Liz Lang, Head of School, will be responsible for the day to day management of the school and when she goes on maternity leave in November, James Johnson, currently Assistant Head, will temporarily fulfil this critical position at Deer Park. We are very pleased Rebecca Lillington, Head of Humanities, will join the leadership team in September 2018 as an Associate Assistant Head. She recently used a sabbatical to travel the world independently to give her firsthand knowledge of the Geography she teaches (see LessonsfromaroundtheWorld.com) and, having returned to the school in January 2018, she will lead specifically on the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. Rebecca Lillington is also an experienced teacher trainer and is highly regarded as a subject leader with the Gloucestershire Initial Teacher Training Partnership (GITEP).