Around Ealing Autumn 2016 | Page 15

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE FEATHERSTONE HIGH SCHOOL Together we achieve We know that choosing a high school is a challenging decision and we hope this article will give you a flavour of life at Featherstone High School, an ‘Outstanding’ school (Ofsted 2015). S tudents continue to achieve excellent GCSE results and we are regularly placed in the top 10% of schools in the country for the progress that is made by our students. Our Sixth Form has a reputation for academic excellence with progress made by A Level students placing us in the top 1% of schools. We have had another exciting year. One of our teachers, Ms Samson, has received a National Teaching Award and has been shortlisted for the National Teacher of the Year Award (the third teacher here to receive this accolade); our annual Science Week included a talk from the world renowned leading scientist Lord Professor Winston; Featherstone music students entertained Prince Charles during his visit to meet faith leaders; and we have sent our Southall Shamrocks Gaelic footballers off to Ireland to test their skills. In 2015 we were recognised by Ofsted as an ‘Outstanding’ school for the second time in a row. Ofsted inspectors found “learning to be lively and interesting, with a wide range of helpful resources to support students’ accelerated learning.” They also found the behaviour of students to be ‘outstanding’ and their attitude to work ‘exemplary’. The school’s leaders, Ofsted noted, have “exceptionally high ambitions for all students to successful.” We have recently set up the Grand Union Multi-Academy Trust – a partnership of schools committed to achieving excellence by sharing best practices. We have also been approved by the Department for Education as a ‘Sponsoring Academy’ which allows us to access government funds to support improvement in other schools. We spoke to some of our Year 7 students and asked them about their first year. One student said: “I think that FHS is a great school. It has fantastic facilities and the school offers lots of extra-curricular clubs. At the start of Year 7, I managed to fit in easily and make friends with the support of the teachers.” Another added, “What I like about Featherstone is that the teachers are kind and the older children look after the younger ones. When you start you get to make new friends and our lessons are really fun.” A Year 7 parent told us: “I chose this school for my daughter as her elder sister received an excellent education there and I was very happy with the quality of teaching. The school was my first choice and my daughter wanted to go to Featherstone. I know that I will be kept informed of her progress which is very important to me.” We are proud of our success. Whatever the criteria: academic, social and personal or sporting, this is an exceptional school. We want children to leave school having maximised t heir academic potential but also to really enjoy their time with us and leave with fond memories. Please do come and see for yourselves, it won’t take you long to appreciate that Featherstone High School is a warm and hardworking community striving for excellence in all we do. OPEN EVENINGS AND DETAILS Year 6 to 7 Open Evening Thursday, 29 September 2016, 6–8.30pm Headteacher’s talk: 6.15pm and 7.15pm Sixth Form Open Evening Thursday, 3 November 2016, 7pm Featherstone High School 11 Montague Waye, Southall, UB2 5HF T: 020 8843 0984 www.featherstonehigh.ealing.sch.uk around ealing Autumn 2016 15