It’s been 16 months since I took up my first headship at the wonderful Torquay Academy and it’s time to open up the blog again… It’s been a (steep) learning curve, but I will save that for another post in the future. I think it is sufficient to quote Leo McGarry from the West Wing “fake it till you make it”; I hope I am now starting to make it!
We had the pleasure of welcoming our Regional Schools Commissioner, Sir David Carter, to school yesterday. During our tour Sir David took a photo of our school vision and tweeted it. This led to me getting a number of messages asking to see a full image.
The image is based upon our Vision 2020 document that was written by our staff and other stakeholders. I used the INSET session on my first day to gather the ideas of colleagues as to the type of school they wanted to work in by 2020. I highlighted 12 areas of the school and our work grew into a rather lengthy document (TA Vision 2020 v12). I wanted a rather more digestible Vision 2020 that could be shared with students, parents, governors… I contacted the brilliant Joel Cooper, who I had met at a SSAT conference, in the hope he could bring our vision to life. He produced this version initially:
Joel then made some adjustments so it would fit on our 8 x 2m wall. It was fitted by local sign writer, Dean. We are delighted with the results. I will often talk to students during the day in front of the wall and discuss various aspects of our vision. I also love the images and often use them in assemblies.