By David Tickner, Executive Head, Newcastle School for Boys
In 2022, the School launched a five-year strategic plan. Its key focus is to continue to develop and deliver excellence in teaching and learning and character development whilst preserving the current values and ethos of the School.
The plan’s key themes include the application of technology, development of our staff, curriculum development as well as maintaining the strength of the School’s financial position, its assets and resources, particularly in the current climate.
Whilst we are delighted to have been able to make significant headway in each of these areas this year, it is perhaps in the application of technology where we have seen the most progress. All our Senior School pupils now operate daily with one-to-one devices and this is starting to transform how they access and progress their learning both in the classroom and beyond.
Has everything gone according to plan?
Nothing ever goes entirely according to plan but part of the purpose in having a strategic plan is to allow us to prioritise and focus on the areas that we have identified as being most important for our pupils and school. Consequently, we have been able to reach nearly all the milestones that we set out to achieve in the current academic year.
How has the school fared in the field of sport?
School sport continues to make significant contributions to our pupils’ wellbeing and character development. In March of this year, we organised Under 8 and 9 football tournaments at Goals in Gosforth for nine local primary schools. With around 200 local children involved, the tournaments were supported by our sixth form sports leaders who helped organise and run them.
Our 49 runners, pupil, staff and families, who took part in this year’s Newcastle Children’s Cancer Run race raised £1,000 of support of Children’s Cancer North.
There were the usual team successes, notably our Under 15s winning county schools cricket and rugby titles, as well as the Newcastle futsal league championship. Our Under 14s combined very successfully with girls from Westfield School, to become North East touch rugby champions and national finalists.
In July, our senior cricketers undertook a cricket tour to India and in the autumn, we look forward to opening a new outdoor gym and fitness facility for our Senior School pupils.
What have been the most popular extra-curricular activities?
The co-curricular offer at Newcastle School for Boys is broad and offers a remarkable number of opportunities for a school of our relatively small size. Each term there are close to 100 co-curricular activities engaging pupils across the whole school.
Some changes to the timings of the Senior School day from September will facilitate even more co-curricular opportunities in an impressively extensive programme for our pupils from next term.
A particular highlight this year been the opportunity for Senior School pupils to develop cooking and food-based skills under the guidance of our catering staff, preparing hundreds of meals, delivered locally to the People’s Kitchen in support of the homeless and vulnerable.
A new addition to the Junior School programme this year has been a very well attended voluntary service club, which included numerous local litter picks, positive messages left around Gosforth, biscuits baked and delivered to the staff at the RVI Paediatric Intensive Care Unit and an afternoon spent at the Feeding Families Foodbank Packing Centre.
Another highlight has been the Senior School’s outstanding joint production of The Addams Family with Westfield School at Northern Stage, which saw three sell-out performances in March.
The Duke of Edinburgh’s award scheme remains very popular and it is great to see our pupils making progress and developing their character through the scheme, including two pupils receiving their gold awards at Buckingham Palace this year.
How has your team evolved?
Schools and their staff are in a state of constant evolution. We have made several exciting new appointments for the next academic year, including bringing in some new specialisms. We have been pleased to appoint this year an additional school guidance counsellor, who has been a very welcome addition and provided much valuable support to our pupils and staff. We have also been pleased to appoint a careers specialist for September to support further our pupils in this important area. Within our Senior Leadership Team, there has been some further clarification and definition of roles, including to allow me to have greater developmental and strategic focus to take our School forward.
What has been the most enjoyable school event?
Perhaps the single event that I enjoyed the most was the inaugural Newcastle School for Boys maths problem solving competition, hosted at our Senior School site in February for nearly 80 children from Years 5 to 6 from eleven local state and independent primary schools. It was fantastic to see the engagement and enthusiasm of the young contestants.
Describe the 2022/23 school year in three words?
Busy, (at times) challenging and successful.
What are your early aspirations for next year?
As usual, we welcome many new pupils to the School at the start of the academic year and one of our earliest priorities is to help them settle and quickly become comfortable in our environment, so that they are happy in school and able to make the most of their talents. Due to growing demand for places, we have been delighted to add an additional new class to our Year 5 from September.
We will also be looking to embed our new extensive co-curricular programme at the Senior School in a re-vamped school day.
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