SPECIALIST STATUS
On Friday June 23rd I received a phone call late in the afternoon from a DfES official. I waited with bated breath as he told me that he had news of our application to become a Mathematics and Computing Specialist College. Imagine the relief when he told me, in hushed civil service tones, that he was in a position to congratulate the school on its success!
Excited though a very small number of us were, we were bound to secrecy until the news was officially announced by Lord Adonis in July 4th. By that time I was in London, in the middle of a heat wave, sharing a Welcome Conference at Chelsea FC with the headteachers of other newly-designated colleges.
What will change? Extra finance will come into the school to promote teaching and learning within Maths and ICT especially, but all subjects as well, to become even more effective. The first most noticeable feature will be the extra |ICT equpiment we purchase, but we have plans to convert and upgrade the ground floor classrooms of ‘A’ block. Our capital project is a Personal Centre to be used by Dormston pupils as well as the community, but that addition is only in its very early stages.
What will stay the same? The best of what Dormston already is: insistence on high academic and personal standards.
On the day of the conference I came straight back to school for a wonderful Arts Evening. I realised just how fortunate I was to be working at a school where there are such multi-talented students and dedicated staff.
Stephanie Sherwood
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