This has been a very busy year at Moor Park. It is safe to say that recovering from pandemic lockdowns has been more  challenging than anyone could have predicted, it has affected some of our young people acutely and we have seen behaviours and attitudes that were very uncommon prior to the pandemic. Attendance has also suffered with rates of absenteeism that I have not witnessed since I began my career in the last century. It has been a challenging time and all of our staff at school have had to work doubly hard to reset our high standards and our fierce expectations. Throughout the past four years the school has stuck together and retained consistency, key staff have been retained and we have been very lucky to have recruited very strongly. Our young people have progressed better than other young people do nationally, despite having to overcome significant challenges. I am fiercely proud of our achievements.

This summer I have been spending days on end in County Hall, attending appeals for the very many families desperate to send their children to our school. This has doubled in the last two years and the school is now well over four times oversubscribed. Next year we can no longer focus on recovery, our young people deserve a school that teaches them to be proud of themselves and grateful for receiving a high quality education. This will mean that our expectations around behaviour, attendance and hard work will be fiercer than ever before. We will need to be uncompromising with those families and young people who do not share our ambition; I make no apologies for wanting the very best for all of our young people. I am excited about the next academic year and all that it will bring and I remain proud, as always, to be Moor Park!