June 15th 2018
This afternoon, I was able to deliver the excellent news to the Year 8 Common Entrance candidates that all of them have been successful in their recent exams. It was a very special moment and as you can imagine there was enormous excitement amongst the boys. Congratulations to all the boys, whose hard work over a sustained period of time has paid off. There are 43 boys in Year 8 and they will be joining the following schools in September: Abingdon (10); Bradfield (2); Cokethorpe (2); Eton (1);Marlborough (5); Magdalen College School (2); Milton Abbey (1); Pangbourne (1); Radley (5); Shiplake (2); St. Edward’s Oxford (6); Stowe (4) and Wellington (2).
Parents will be aware that Mark Griffiths leaves Moulsford at the end of this term to become Director of Sport at Shiplake. We shall say a fond farewell to him in July. We ran an open process for a new Director of Sport in the first half of this term and had a very strong field with 42 applications. I am delighted to announce that James Springer will become Moulsford’s new Director of Sport from September 2018. James, who is currently Head of Games at Moulsford, was outstanding throughout the process and possesses the skills, energy, vision and empathy to lead Moulsford sport forward. A central feature of James’ application was inclusivity and opportunity for all boys. I am also extremely pleased to inform you that Markus Orgill has been appointed Head of PE, with effect from next term.
Our thanks to all of you who completed the parent survey conducted by RSAcademics in March. 80% of Moulsford families responded to this, which is an extremely high figure, demonstrating the excellent engagement which parents have with the school. The results of the survey were very positive and in terms of overall parental satisfaction with Moulsford, compare extremely favourably to the previous survey carried out in March 2015.
However, the reason we conduct such surveys is to establish how we can further improve as a school and so in analysing the findings, the management and Governors have focused on the continued development priorities identified by you as parents.
Inspiring your boys is key to their success, and when employing new staff, we are looking for clear evidence of this gold dust. Likewise, giving the current staff the support and time which allows them to stay fresh and energised is so important, particularly in an environment which is becoming ever more demanding. We are looking very closely at how we feedback on your boys’ progress and specifically the organisation of parents’ evenings. The rejigging of the latter is not straightforward and may take a while to come through, so please bear with us in the meantime.
Inclusivity and opportunity for all (as stated in the paragraph above) remains core to the ethos of the school, and we will continue to strive for this. The security of the school site continues to be a priority for the school, and our transport consultants are looking closely at ways to manage the car park. We have also put additional protocols in place for visitors to the site. From September, we will be adjusting our preparation for senior school pre-tests, on which more details will follow.
To see a summary of the results of the parent survey, please click here.
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