A St Mark’s Summer Welcome
A Summer Party to Welcome New Headteacher to St Mark’s School
Families from St Mark’s School came together on Friday 5th September to welcome new Headteacher, Barnaby Ash, to the school community in style. The event was organised by staff and parents from the PTA and Governing Body to mark the start of an exciting year for the school as it continues with its mission to become the school of choice for local families.
The rain held off and a balmy summer’s evening barbeque ensued with parents and students taking the opportunity to meet Mr Ash and hear of his vision and ambitions for the future.
St Mark’s School was judged ‘Good’ by OfSTED in June 2013 and was recognised as an ‘Outstanding’ Church of England school in its most recent SIAS inspection.
“My ambition is to further improve the provision in the school by building on its current strengths whilst retaining the school’s unique character,” says Mr Ash.
“The school promotes high levels of achievement within a culture of support and challenge so that every student can achieve excellence at a level that is appropriate to their skills and talents. St Mark’s places importance on the unique contribution that every student makes to their community and takes great pride in having a culture where all successes are recognised and celebrated, no matter how big, or how small, so that all children can flourish and excel.”
He continues, “I feel privileged to have been appointed to this unique and exciting school community that is aiming to be the ‘school of choice’ for local residents.”
“This evening is testimony to the hard work and dedication shown by everyone involved with the school from staff to students, parents, governors and local Headteachers. Everyone that I have met is incredibly enthusiastic and excited for the future of the school and I feel honoured to be a part of such a thriving community.”
“St Mark’s will be hosting a series of Open Events this autumn and I warmly invite prospective fanilies to visit the school and see all that St Mark’s has to offer.”
Supporting the event were the Headteachers from ‘The Valley Schools’ as they performed the live music for the evening. St Mark’s School works in a unique collaboration called the Valley Schools, a cluster located in the east of Bath, including St Stephen’s Primary, St Saviour’s Infants and Juniors and Swainswick Primary. The aim of the partnership is to improve the links between primary and secondary and enrich the life of the community through shared learning and experiences.
Headteacher at St Saviour’s Church of England Juniors, Kevin O’Shea, commented, “It was lovely to be able to welcome Barnaby to the family of local schools. We hope that local families will share in this opportunity to see St Mark’s continue to grow and firmly stake it’s place amongst secondary provision in the city of Bath.”
Ed Harker, Headteacher at St Saviour’s C of E Infants and Nursery added, “It was a great chance to meet Mr Ash, and so many St Mark’s parents who had clearly enjoyed hearing about his vision for the school.”
“We’re meeting again very soon when we’ll be planning a range of collaborations between our schools, including a second run of the very popular Christmas Cake Factory for the Genesis Project using the St Mark’s food technology resources.”