April Update

 The Easter break is upon us and a great time to take stock of where we are and what we have achieved so far.  The office is somewhat more cramped with new staff getting to grips with various tasks and actions to ensure our educational vision is met for September.  Knee high in Post-it stickies, document wallets and staff applications as well as documentation and plans that

make up the structure of a school organisation.

After trawling through over 1000 applications for assistant heads, subject leaders and main scale posts, we have shortlisted and interviewed almost daily.  Further, we have been accommodated in schools and academies across London over the last 5 weeks, enabling us to employ some terrifically dynamic staff.  This has been quite a challenge but with the help of our sponsors and other key professionals we have completed the majority of staff appointments.

The year 7 student admission process has created a real buzz and we now know who will be coming to the academy in September.  We will be sharing lots of information with parents and students after Easter about induction, timetables, uniform and lots of other key areas in preparation for the new academic year. 

We have also been busy interviewing for sixth form. This will continue after Easter.  If you are in year 11 and have a professional attitude or desire to achieve and be successful, then we want you!  Any prospective sixth form students are able to call and receive information about our courses.  It is not too late to make an application so download a form and send it in.  Visit the website for more details, especially for our Media competition.  Have you posted your entry yet?

We are looking forward to receiving the keys to the new academy building.  

We plan to move in during late June and hope to have an opportunity to meet with the new Year 7 and their parents during early to mid-July.  We will keep you posted on the building’s progress.  For more details and photos please see the Building page on the website.

Enjoy the well deserved rest both for students and teachers alike.  This has been a long term and a good rest this Easter shall prepare all for the summer push ahead.   This will be most notable around exams for students in their local schools and for teachers, the demanding drive to create the dynamic curriculum and systems ready for opening in September.

I look forward to sharing the next phase of Hammersmith Academy’s development after the Easter break.

Media Careers Evening

Thursday last week saw an enthusiastic group of students enjoying a fascinating evening at Hammersmith's Lyric Theatre. The evening was one of the value add events that HA is running to brief potential students on opportunities and careers in the Media Industry.

We were joined by two leading speakers; Charlie Mawer from Red Bee Media and Mat Appleton from Envy Productions. They explained the differences between production companies who create the master media and post production who edit, add special effects, animations and graphics, as well as producing the trailers, ads and credits for TV programmes and films.

They both gave excellent presentations with video examples - Charlie being the man who thought up and created the 'Swimming Hippos' which were used to promote programmes on BBC TV.

Together, they explained the huge variety of career options. As well as people with technical skills, there are also vacancies for finance managers, project planners, customer service staff, hospitality and event managers, as well as sales and marketing personnel. The list is endless!

After a Q&A session with the main speakers, the HA's marketing adviser Peter Rees, MD of PR Strategic Marketing Ltd., introduced the City Dreams video competition. This is open to all under 18's and offers the chance to demonstrate your creativity and win one of  a number of digital video cameras.

More details and entry information are available on the HA website at 

http://www.hammersmithacademy.org/staticc/city_dreams_video.html

The evening wound up with a prize draw for 3 lucky students to take away the latest Apple iPod.

Here's to the next time.

The team is coming together!

Well things are moving very fast. The data about the applications was handed to the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (LBHF) back in January. They have been applying the Pan London Admissions arrangement for all local students in year 6. The first students received their letters of admission to Hammersmith Academy on the 1st March. We now know who is coming to Hammersmith Academy as we receive the letters of acceptance. They will be the trailblazers for our creative and digital media vision. Students will interchange with different technologies in order to achieve the highest academic standards. Our journey begins together and we are now planning your induction into the Hammersmith Academy Way.


We are also very busy preparing for the interviews and observations of the prospective subject leaders who will be teaching the courses for Year 7 and Year 12s. This is quite a logistical feat as we are conducting these interviews in schools across London due to the Academy not being ready to open until June. I would like to extend my thanks to the head teachers, their staff and students in supporting this process.

Welcome to Claire Pringle who is the new Director of Finance and Resources and John Neeson, who is the IT Systems Director. They will be ensuring the technical and IT operations of the academy are in place and ready for use from day one. Quite a challenge but they are more than capable of achieving this. We have also employed a number of Assistant Headteachers who will support the preparations and developing curriculum and pastoral processes.

The team is very excited by the interest in our new 6th Form. We have over 270 applications so far and still rising. Students from a vast range of schools are making a wide range of choices from traditional A level subjects to various performance and creative specialist subjects that we are offering. They are a fantastically varied group of students with different skills and ambitions but all with a huge motivation to want to succeed and be part of the Hammersmith Academy vision. We hope they are working hard in order to attain the high standards required to study with us. Our high professional standards, expectations and professional attitude is inspiring more students to want to come and join us. Letters of confirmation are being posted. If you are in Year 11 and have not applied yet, go to our website, download and email your application.

We are looking forward to our Media event at the Lyric on the 10th March at 5pm. This is a ‘first come, first served’ registered event. We have industry insiders, Kevin Trehy from Warner Brothers and Mat Appleton from Envy Productions, talking to the select audience about the different careers, opportunities and the media business from an insider’s viewpoint. The Media industry is still growing and a great British export of talent and skill even in these times of austerity. If you are in Year 11, interested in Media and have not registered yet, then get on to our website www.Hamsix.com immediately. Places are going fast!

The building looms large with its fantastic curves. The helical stairway in the entrance is a metaphor of the journey to the top for our students. Rising four floors it creates an image of the smooth and steady path to that our students must tread in order to attain the highest standards and achieve their potential. Look at our The Building page on the website to see the architect’s drawings in more detail; see each of the different floors and specialist rooms contained within them.

I will keep you posted, next month, of any new additions and new developments. Good luck to all students especially Year 6 with their upcoming SATs or school tests and to Year 11 preparing for their GCSEs . Be bold and confident.

Onwards and upwards without fear or trepidation.

FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS

I wish you all well this New Year and that with hard work and luck that your resolutions remain resolute and that opportunities and ideas come to fruition and that success comes your way.


The starter pistol for the new calendar year has fired very loudly. The countdown to opening has truly begun with the 2011 number at the end of each calendar day. The Christmas break provided some much deserved rest for the team who are refreshed and firing on all cylinders. Welcome to John Campbell, deputy head, who has launched himself two footed into the maelstrom of activity, as if he has always been part of the team.

It is with much regret that Kate, my PA, has returned to Australia. She has been a key component in helping to launch the Hammersmith Academy project over the last 9 months and will be sorely missed. Even so, we have recruited additional administrative help to support the expanding team, to ensure that no plates stop spinning as new plates are added.

We have launched headlong into the recruitment season. The first posts are IT Systems Manager and Finance Director. Key roles in the procurement and embedding of important processes and systems, to ensure that the building can function effectively come September. Also, the next level of senior management with Assistant Head interviews in early February, closely followed by Heads of Department and other subject and non-teaching staff. The train is certainly moving up to full speed. Keen interest is anticipated for these posts and we expect many teachers to come to our recruitment evening at St Paul’s Girls’ School on Wed 19th January to hear my vision and values.

The admissions process was highly successful. There has been huge interest from the families within Hammersmith and Fulham and beyond. Over 650 parents and students placed us on their application form with over 500 choosing to participate in our Fair Banded test. All data has now been passed on to the local authority for offers to be made through the Pan-London arrangements that binds all schools. We wait to receive the information back in March to know who the students in year 7 will be.

The sixth form recruitment continues at pace. Student applications are flying in! The first priority date of 31st January is fast approaching. We have started to interview and make offers for places to those early applicants. We will of course continue to recruit, but courses are filling up. So if you are in Year 11, get that application in! We are 80% to our target and I would love personally to smash through the target.

Social media has been part of our progression. Communication through our IT and Digital specialism means we are now Twittering and using Facebook, as well as other social media. Zoë Thompson has become our resident media guru. Look out for our Media competition. We have produced some radio and visual adverts. All made with free software available on the internet. We think we have done quite well! We challenge you to do better. All entries will be judged by a select group of local media commentators at our media event at The Lyric on the 10th March. Prizes will be given to the winning entries. Show us you musical, video and media talents. Can you blend them to make a winning entry? Check out the website for more details.

The building is developing fast. It feels more and more like a school, with zones, rooms and spaces taking shape. Orders for major fixtures and furniture have been made. We hope to have access to the building in early June to continue our preparations. We hope to be able to organise Induction days for the new year 7 students and visits for prospective 6th form students and parents in July. Being a building project, I cannot yet make absolute promises, but watch this space. We are working towards this as desired goal.

On 11th January Steven Greenhalgh, Leader of the Council and Helen Binmore, Councilor for Children’s Services visited the Hammersmith Academy site, with council officers. It was great to be able to show off the construction and help develop a clearer understanding of how this intelligent building will help manifest our vision for creativity and inspiration in learning, whilst ensuring high standards and excellence. The continued support of the Council and its officers has ensured that this project remains on-track and will clearly provide additional opportunities to the residents of Hammersmith and Fulham. Also, the level of IT that permeates the building will allow us to develop my dream to ensure students have access to all the tools and information required to become confident 21st century learners. Hammersmith Academy students will switch naturally between different learning environments using technology that best suits the task in hand.

So with purpose and ambition we continue to fire ourselves up to meet the challenge of launching a cutting edge academy, with children at its core, an advanced curriculum at its heart and inspiration and achievement in its soul.

NEW Hammersmith Academy Video

There's no substitute for hard work

I am sitting in my office with my team feverishly preparing for our Fair Banding tests for the Year 7 applications. Quite a feat of planning where paper letters and phone calls of confirmation meet the most enormous Excel spreadsheet. We anticipate with excitement the attendance of the students tomorrow and next week. It is strange leading a school without completed buildings or students.
The 6th Form Open evening at SPGS was a triumph. Lots of students from local school and others from out of borough braved the freezing temperatures to come and listen to what we have to offer. Students travelled through our ’Market Place’ with exhibitors from academic institutions like Westminster University and The Brit School. Also, music and media organisations like Music Tech, Red Bee and Escape Studios. These young people were armed with career and qualification type questions, used with laser like intensity, targeting them towards Hammersmith Academy staff and other professionals. We are looking to hold more specific course type open evenings in the New Year in different venues like The Lyric or Riverside Studios. Watch this space!

The first showing of our radio advert and viral video showed what students of a sixth form age can produce. Some students who registered won iPod shuffles and one lucky year 11 walked away with an iPad. I will not forget the look of surprise and joy on her face. I hope the iPad is used in the production of material for our future competitions, and to support her success in her GCSEs this year so she can get onto the right course at Hammersmith Academy. You never know when luck is going to smile on you. We want to see the talent of all those students in West London and we will be offering more digital equipment as prizes for posting to competitions through our website. Keep your eyes peeled.

Zoe Thompson, deputy head, is crunching all the data and we will be interviewing all applicants in the New Year. Another enormous spreadsheet is growing. Get those applications in!

This Academy team, though small, is fantastic, rising to every challenge that I set. I have not been disappointed yet due to their absolute energy and professionalism. The culture of success is infectious. The small team is growing with job adverts going to press and online. Just today I finished the lengthy job description for our IT Systems Manager and Director of Finance and Resources. What key roles they will have to lead this state-of-the art building with some of the most advanced ICT and equipment.

Meeting the students makes me realise why we are on this journey. I am inspired by my colleagues and the plethora of supporters that are giving their time freely to support the academy’s development. So much assistance with our artwork, graphics, press and marketing, writing of policies, all working to our vision of creativity and excellence. This makes long building committee meetings all the worthwhile. Ensuring we stay on track for building completion by 1st June 2011. I have been agreeing the fixtures, furniture and fittings for the entire building. I am still looking for the perfect classroom and dining rooms chairs. I know they are out there. I will not compromise on quality and comfort, as well as style. Hammersmith Academy students deserve the best.

Christmas is fast approaching. It is a busy time for all. I am astounded by the amount of kind messages we are receiving form all sections of the community for this amazing project. Good luck to all year 11 students who are currently revising for their upcoming mock exams. There are no substitutes for hard work.

Where has the half term gone?!

Another month has gone by and I’ve realised that, once again, Christmas is literally just around the corner. With our Year 7 open evenings behind us, I finally have some time to reflect on how busy and intense it has been in our small office, at SPGS, since September. Open evenings, site visits, 1-2-1 library sessions, 6th form open evening planning and the continued engagement with local businesses, have all combined to keep me occupied and fired up.


The Year 7 open evenings were our first order of business. Organising open evenings is complicated at the best of times. Doing it without an actual building is even more difficult. Somehow we had to convey the atmosphere, ethos and vision of a school, without a physical or tangible manifestation. Thanks to the generosity of SPGS and The Lyric Theatre, we were able to hold two evenings, one in each location. Both saw over 400 people signing in and were, for a variety of reasons, totally different.

SPGS was the first and blighted as I was with what my wife and PA termed, “Flu d’homme,” the evening passed off relatively smoothly. This is, in large part, due to the unfailing and exceedingly generous support we continue to receive from SPGS. They repeatedly go out of their way to accommodate us and offer their help unreservedly. We are incredibly grateful to them. Still, being perfectionists, we gathered the day after our first Open evening and analysed what worked and what we needed to improve, before the next one, at The Lyric.

We were overly-organised and prepared, come the 6th and raring to go...and then...all I can say is, 400 people arriving at The Lyric, at the same time, half an hour early, tested even the limitless patience and graciousness of Kate, my PA, who somehow managed to keep the queues orderly and laughing. Unfortunately, the combination of everyone arriving at the same time and The Lyric’s insistence on Health and Safety being observed, in relation to numbers allowed in the Studio at any one time (120), meant that there was a lot of waiting around for all. This is where my team, led by; Deputy Headteacher’s, Zoe and John; Kate, my PA; architects, uniform models and sponsors, took over and answered the hundreds of questions being fired at them, by multitudes of people. Jake (Kate’s 11yr old son) and Holly (his friend) modelled the uniform and answered questions ranging from, “Is that the uniform?” to, “What is the durability of the material like?” and “If you were allowed to, would you want to go to Hammersmith Academy?” They handed out goodie bags, with the help of an amazing Year 12 SPGS girl, Alex Compton, who had volunteered to help out for the evening; they entertained tired children and debated football with Adrian Chiles. Inside the studio itself, I discarded the prepared speech of the previous week and spoke from the heart. I am incredibly passionate and excited about my vision for Hammersmith Academy. I wanted everyone listening to hear and taste a little of that passion and vision. Education doesn’t have to be dry, dusty and disheartening. At the heart of it, Hammersmith Academy wants its community to be excited about education again; to be passionate about the possibilities and opportunities that abound; to be ambitious; to be excellent. I hope I conveyed that ethos and vision to all who were there.

Next up is the 6th form Open Evening, to be held here, at SPGS, on November 24th. Details are on the website if you wish to come along. It will be an altogether different evening to the Year 7 events, as there will be a larger number of partners and speakers. They will be there to talk to Year 11’s about the sorts of things they will be studying and doing, both in the specialist subject areas and the more traditional A-levels.

Moving on from the Open evenings, I am happy to report that the building itself is now watertight – a very exciting milestone reached.

So, everything is on track. I continue to engage with local businesses and not a week goes by where I am not off to meet someone new, who wants to provide unique opportunities to students of Hammersmith Academy. I feel privileged to be Headteacher of this new and groundbreaking Academy and I look forward to continuing my partnership with the local community.