Since taking on the role of SENCO in 2023, I’ve tried to make it my mission to “demystify” SEND at Prince Henry's, so staff, students and parents can all feel confident in how to navigate the special needs landscape in a mainstream secondary school setting. The trouble is, it feels like the system is stacked against us; you’ll likely have seen the national news articles crying out about the lack of funding, lack of staffing and potential major overhauls to SEND policy in the incoming government white paper. It often feels like, despite a better national and cultural understanding of the importance of special needs support in schools, the way to get to more timely and effective provision is still a mystery.

I frequently get asked by students (and sometimes even staff or parents) what it is like to be the Headteacher at PHGS, and my response is always the same. A privilege. However, no two days are the same and you cannot predict what will be thrown your way, where you will need to be, or how best to respond dynamically often in very challenging circumstances.

The final half term of the year is traditionally the busiest in terms of trips and visits at Prince Henry's. Large numbers of students from Key Stage 3 will experience trips to Germany, France and Spain. These will complement the many local day trips for work to support studies in lessons. All of this on the back of trips to the Belgian and French Battlefields, Iceland, Italy, The Gambia, South Africa ....

In September 2023 we launched our refreshed 'Vision and Values' statement and graphic. In this post, we consider why we need a shared understanding of what is important to us as a school. We also explain how we went about agreeing on just nine words to sum up all that we stand for.