Award Winning Students at Wyke

This week we have the first of our celebratory evening events: the Awards Evening on 13^th October is for students who have performed particularly well and progressed onto our second year.  I am really looking forward to meeting the winners and their parents.

As I will be reading a short description written by departmental colleagues for each individual winner, I thought that I would share some of the key characteristics that are common for most of the winners.  These are: that all of the winners have worked extremely hard; all are well-organised and show great commitment; all have made tremendous progress since coming to Wyke and are team players; all are willing to listen and take advice about further improvement; all have gone beyond what is expected of them and are a real "pleasure to teach".

I am certain that these characteristics are shared by "winners" in all walks of life, whether it is captains of industry, academia or sport.  I can imagine Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Trevor Bayliss as well as Alex Ferguson, Brian Clough, Bill Shankly or Don Revie using similar descriptors for their "star" players.  The adage that "the more you put in, the more you get out" seems so true of our Wyke winners.

We have a particularly busy period ahead: a parents' evening for our "Flyers", the 75 students who all have mainly A* and As at GCSE.  We have put together a unique and exciting programme to meet their needs and to enable them to fulfil their outstanding potential. Thereafter, we have two Open Evenings in November when we hope to meet our prospective students/parents and to "show-off" our wonderful College.

Welcome to the New Principal's Blog

As a new Principal, I am delighted to say how welcome I have been made by all of the students and staff at Wyke.

My first encounter with a student was on the first day at the main entrance when I was asked about my “educational philosophy”. I must confess that this was a first for me and I was somewhat taken aback. I did recover and informed her that “I believed in the power of education to transform lives” and that this was my experience as well as that of my family and friends. I realised that I should ask her for her philosophy and was delighted to hear a clearly thought out perspective from someone so young.

My experience at the entrance continues to amaze me. A returning student came to shake my hand, introduced himself and welcomed me. Wow! Is this what I can expect form all students at Wyke? I would not have had the confidence to do this even as a new teacher.

Thereafter, straight into the cycle of results, reviews, student talks, staff meetings and enrolment analysis. I am really pleased to say that despite the apparently chaotic nature of the first few days, everything seems well organised and all of the staff and students know what to do. Roll on the first Parents’ evening, the “whole” College photograph,  Awards evening in October and the first of three Open evenings in November.