The late Sir Ken Robinson had a significant impact on me and the type of school I want to work in and to lead. During INSET we watched part of his infamous 2006 TED talk, Do Schools Kill Creativity?, to remind ourselves of two critical tenets for any successful school. First, teachers have to believe in the extraordinary capacity of children, the need to encourage their creativity and nurture them through the mistakes they make along the way. Secondly, successful schools constantly invest in breadth so that children can be ambitious, try new things and find passions which build their self-esteem and love of learning. TPS has both of these characteristics in abundance. It has been a whistlestop start to my headship but two memories stick out for me. The chapel choirs have been incredible and the range of music they have already mastered and clearly love performing, comes down to their enthusiasm and the inspirational leadership they enjoy from their performing arts teachers.

The second memory is walking around the school on a Thursday afternoon during after-school clubs. I started by seeing around sixty pupils having a great time in Football Club (wonderfully coached by our new Head of Football but also supported by an equally enthusiastic group of senior school volunteers) to then see the new triathlon club as they practiced their transition from swimming to cycling to running. I passed by the Laser Run club on my way to the ever-impressive Orchestra before looking in on the computer coding club, current affairs club and, finally, the ever-popular tennis club. I arrived back at my office and was thankfully given the all important piece of flapjack from cooking club!

As you can probably tell, I have been blown away by the breadth on offer, the levels of engagement from the pupils and the staggering commitment of the staff. Schools need to practice ‘serious fun’ i.e. happiness comes from being ambitious, trying and failing and being nurtured through this process to an outcome that brings immeasurable reward. We continue to live through a revolution which needs creative solutions, so it is vital that our education systems produce young adults who are comfortable in these environments. As Sir Ken Robinson so eloquently writes about in ‘Out of our Minds’, it is so sad to ask a group of adults, ‘are you creative?’ and to see so few responses. TPS will continue to buck this trend. We will not always get it right and, as a Head, I will always welcome your ongoing comments and support as we build that critical partnership between school, parent and child.