"Learning together, achieving together" : a school of excellence : an experience at Hampstead School, London

Abstract

From November 3rd to 14th, 1997, we were assigned to Hampstead School in N. W. London for an observation visit in conjunction with our reading for a Diploma in Education (Administration and Management). Hampstead is a large mixed comprehensive school of approximately 1300 students of mixed ability ranging from the 11+ to sixth formers. 44% of the students are female and 56% boys. Hampstead School can be described as being a multi-cultural school since it has students coming from over 70 different ethnic groups. In fact, among the main languages/dialects - other than English - spoken at home, one could list Arabic, Spanish, Somali, Gujerati, Urdu, Bingali and Polish. There are also 180 asylum seekers of whom 51 students are unaccompanied. Since students do not wear a school uniform, we have seen many of them wearing habits which form part of their respective national costume. Young girls wearing long plain skirts and headscarfs in the oriental tradition, are a common sight, even among the female members of the teaching staff Yet students mix freely without any inhibitions or cultural differences. We could easily observe that this mutual respect and toleration for differentiation is the result of the school culture which celebrates differentiation and makes use of the different cultures to enrich the curriculum. It further proves that education is a valid tool to eradicate apartheid, hatred, social barriers and other ethnic segregations. A fruitful experience: At Hampstead we were welcomed with open arms and given a carpet treatment. The members of staff considered us as colleagues. On introducing ourselves, we were given official school 'visitors' labels, entitling us to roam freely about, enter classrooms and departmental offices, interview staff and students and have access to official documents. In fact we leafed through various school registers, development plans, staff lists, and records as well as policy documents and students' record sheets. We got deeply involved in the school life and affairs throughout the two-week visit: • we shadowed the head on several occasions - in her office, doing the school rounds, break supervision, student dismissal and so on; • attended a meeting for prospective students and their parents; • attended two staff meetings; • attended Year meeting. Present for such a meeting were Head of Year, Form Teachers, class teachers, and all the students of that Year; • attended a Work Review Day where students and parents discuss with the Year and Form Teachers the progress, attainment and target settings. We were very fortunate in that we had the opportunity to have a first hand experience in this exercise since we had actually interviewed a number of students with their parents. We were actually delegated to deputize for the Head who normally interviews students along with staff concerned; • had several sessions of discussion with various Heads of Departments, three Deputy Heads, Head of Curriculum Support, Head of Carriers and Industry Links, Head of Exams, Head of Vocational Studies, Head of Media Resource Centre, including Library Staff Administration Supervisors and Personal Assistant to Head, and Finance Officer; • attended several lessons in order to get a first-hand experience about class management, student registration and student participation as well as evaluation; • were present during school lunches in the various Years' canteens. Good relations between staff and students and among students themselves were clearly evident; • we were greatly impressed by the variety of extracurricular activities that were organized after school hours. Active participation by students was noticeable; • positive features of curriculum support available in the school were the Homework Clubs, various withdrawal groups (for slow learners, students with special needs etc); support programmes (numerical, writing and spelling) and the number of volunteer support teachers visiting the school; • finally, on various occasions and instances we took the opportunity to interview in an informal way teachers and students about aspects of school life in general. Their answers reflected the co-operation, collegiality and healthy environment that characterise the school. Over all, we observed and noted that the school has: • Clear vision, aims and objectives; • High yet realistic expectations; • Trust in school personnel, support agencies and clients (students and parents); • Emphasis on children's enthusiasm and initiative; • Emphasis on flexibility, self-reliance, the acquisition of basic skills, problem-solving skills, communication skills and adaptability; • Active involvement of teachers, students, parents and the community; • A culture of teamwork, democracy and collegiality; • Counselling and target setting; • Discipline; • Good assessment; • Student and teacher support; • Opportunities for staff development; • A variety of extracurricular activities; • Close and strong links with feeder schools, industry and community; • Accountability; • Finally, sound leadership and good management and administration at all levels. In a major inspection report we have examined, Hampstead School was praised as 'thriving and innovative with many strengths, high standards of achievement and learning, good examination results, very good standards of behaviour and a very high staying-on rate post-16 '. Our experiences and observations have led us to conclude that Hampstead School is a learning community, a school of excellence. To what extent could this school be a model for us in Malta? What strategies, policies and innovations could we adopt from Hampstead to suit local needs? The following chapters are actually an analysis of our observations and conclusions and also of certain parallelisms drawn with the local educational scene. They also demonstrate that this visit has been a fruitful one, that it has helped us to grow and develop further as educators, that it has given us a fresh insight and complemented the knowledge, experiences, skills and attitudes gained from our reading for a Diploma in Education (Administration and Management).