I recently interviewed Penketh High School’s head teacher, Mr Hughes, regarding Building Schools for the Future and the return to school after the Christmas holiday.

BSF or Building Schools for the Future is a government scheme which is modernising, or in some cases completely rebuilding secondary schools in an attempt to better enable learning to take place. Penketh High was recently accepted as one of the lucky schools to get a complete rebuild and so, in the coming years, work will be undergone to demolish our current school and to build a new one. Penketh High’s student council recently attended a trip to a BSF conference in London to discuss ideas for our school and hear others’ opinions, and so they all came back with new ideas which were shared with Mr Hughes and are now being incorporated into the plans for our new school. Both Mr Hughes and the school governors were keen to support this trip as they are all interested in the student’s views on how the school should be built and what features should be added.   Penketh High’s website will be updated soon with a new forum style feature which will allow students to debate and give views on new ideas for the school and to offer some of their own.

The government has given Penketh High some extra funding so that they can modernise one room in our school as an example of what the new school classrooms could be like. The room that we selected to renovate is A2 which has been given new features such as: A presentation area; movable and interlocking tables, a new design of chair, laptops for all students and other innovations to help increase the quality of learning. This classroom is now available for all staff to book and already many staff and pupils have been using this new room and enjoy the new facilities.

However the new school will be more than a new building. We are also looking into ways to change the way students learn. A new curriculum will be introduced over the next three years, including starting GCSE courses in Year 9, including GCSE ICT and providing more flexible pathways that allow students to study at a different pace.  Some will finish GCSE courses in Year 9, 10 and 11, which will reduce the number of examinations in the final year.

In terms of coming back to school after Christmas, there were many complications as a result of extreme weather conditions. The constant snow storms gave students an extra week onto their holiday and caused a lot of difficulties for parents, teachers and students. However Mr Hughes has commented on how pleased he was with the organisation during that time and how the site team worked hard to make the school safe and how others were able to get information onto the School’s website.  Mr Hughes believes that more and more people are now using the site regularly for updates and information. We are always looking into ways that the school can improve its communication links with the community.

Also with the New Year, the school is working even harder to promote key issues that need addressing such as the standard of uniform. The uniform in Penketh is generally good and now staff are working even harder to bring it to an excellent standard. Staff are also stopping giving out equipment to students who don’t have any and after half term form tutors will be having weekly equipment checks. Another issue being addressed that students have recently had assemblies on is attendance and punctuality to lessons particularly in the mornings. Punctuality plays a big part in the standard of education and is a crucial thing to maintain, especially during GCSE years.

Finally, Mr Hughes was commenting on the predicted grades of GCSE students in Year 11. Penketh High’s GCSE grades improved last year and he is confident that this year’s Year 11 will continue that trend. Mr Hughes is encouraging all students to work hard, particularly in GCSE years to achieve the best possible grades.