As I approach my first 100 days as Headteacher of the European School Culham, I can report that I am really enjoying being part of this vibrant school community and relish the opportunity of playing a central role in shaping its future. It is exciting to lead the only Schola Europaea in the United Kingdom and to be part of that wider family of schools across Europe. It was a great privilege to preside over the school’s marvellous 30th anniversary celebrations last September, where the commitment of pupils, students and staff, past and present, was so manifest.
A distinguishing characteristic of European Schools is the active involvement of parents in the life of the school. This is certainly the case at Culham where I believe CESPA do a fantastic job supporting the school and campaigning for European education to thrive beyond 2017.
The process for transformation into an Academy is still very much on track and moving forwards on both its rails. In the period before Christmas, Lord Michael Jay, former UK Ambassador to France, is coordinating the formation of the Trust that will put forward the formal proposal for an Academy to the UK Government. In Brussels in December, the Administration and Finance Committee of the Board of Governors of the European Schools is set to ratify the phasing out plan for Culham which will give greatest organisational flexibility to allow for successful negotiations about the school’s future. At the same time, following the UK Government’s proposals last October, staff and parents are positively contributing to the consultation process that will help to frame the issues that need to be resolved.
All this and Culham continues to take pole position in the European Baccalaureate rankings. Not only were we one of 5 European Schools where there was a 100% pass-rate, but we also scored the highest average pass mark of 7.87.With 67.7% and 44.5% we topped the table of Yr 7 pupils achieving a final grade in excess of 7.5 and 8.0 respectively. Congratulations to those pupils and congratulations to our staff who also worked tirelessly to achieve these fabulous results.
Thanks to the DCSF and DTZ, our relatively new facilities maintenance company, the learning and working environment at Culham is steadily improving. The old gym is back in action; the English Section nursery has smart new toilets; and over 54 days of electrical refurbishment were completed over the October half-term.
There is now a rolling programme of improvements to the site under way, including a root and branch review of security and safety around the school. This article appears on our new, revamped website, through which we aim to improve communication between home and school, provide a gateway for even more opportunities for learning beyond the classroom and celebrate Culham's achievements to the world.
On the 21st and 22nd November many parents were witness to a brilliant ES Culham production of Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’. It was particularly sweet to hear one of our pupils, Maria Pawlikowska playing Lady Bracknell, voice the author’s famous satire:
“The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound. In England, at least, education produces no effect whatsoever.”
Not so at Culham, as I am sure you would all agree.
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