A Welcome from our new Headteacher

Dear Families,

I am delighted to have been appointed as the Headteacher at Preston School, from the 1^st of September 2025. 

This will be my fourteenth year as a teacher, and my seventh as part of the Senior Leadership Team at Preston, and I am exceptionally proud of the improvements seen at the school during this time. Most recently, I have worked as our Deputy Headteacher, overseeing our curriculum, assessment and student outcomes. During that time, I have overseen a redesign of our curriculum, advancements in our use of technology to support learning, and an entirely updated approach to summative assessment, which last year saw Preston achieve our highest ever set of GCSE results, a set of outcomes which saw us ranked as the third highest achieving secondary school, of the thirty-two in the County.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that we are perfect, and I have a clear vision for continued improvement at Preston over the next five years. This vision is based around a simple guiding statement – Achieving Excellence, Inspiring Ambition – For Every Student, Every Day. Excellence, Ambition, Inclusivity and Consistency; it is around these four pillars that we have been working tirelessly in preparing the school for September.

As part of this drive for excellence, I have set three key priorities for the school for the year ahead:

1. Academic Achievement for All – To ensure that all of our students are able to achieve outstanding outcomes, particularly our boys, students with SEND and students in receipt of the pupil premium. Our outcomes last year were truly impressive, and a reflection of the significant hard work put in by the cohort. There did however remain small groups of students who performed less well, which while early in the analysis process, appears to have been repeated this summer. 
   
   We will be working hard to ensure that all students can achieve academic success, in whatever form that may take for each individual. I do place the highest value on academic outcomes and believe that it is absolutely our responsibility to ensure that each and every student aims for the stars. Success however looks different for each student, and this priority looks to acknowledge this; for a small number of our students moving from a grade 1 to a grade 2 is an exceptional achievement, and one we will celebrate. 
   
   Part of this priority includes us focusing on what works for our students, removing that which does not. We have listened to feedback, both from our families and students, as well as from our staff and decided not to continue our knowledge builder-based homework in September. Feedback in general was that this did not make enough difference for our students, and that quality subject-based homework would be preferable.  
   
   
2. Wider Enrichment – To ensure that our students have access to a brilliant and wide range of enrichment opportunities, including trips, visits and clubs. While we absolutely believe in academic success, education is about so much more than just exam results, and it is equally our role to ensure that our students enjoy their education, leave us each day inspired, and have access to a wide range of cultural experiences. Our trips have not yet recovered to pre-pandemic levels, and this is something I am asking our staff to resolve this year. I am also looking to provide a wider range of clubs, ensuring that our students have access to inspiring group sessions before school from 8am, and after school until 4pm, to support wraparound care. In addition, we are looking to increase the regularity with which we reward students. They work exceptionally hard, and it is right that this is rewarded. This year students will see increased numbers of rewards assemblies, more merits awarded and a wider range of prizes available for our award winners.

• Student Attendance to Lessons – To ensure that all of our students consistently access high quality lessons, with any applicable intervention timetabled around their core subjects. Like many schools, we have seen a knock-on impact from the pandemic, with increased numbers of students missing lessons. Attendance has been a national priority for the Government, and we are pleased that our school attendance is above the national average. However, we have also seen an increase in students who are in school but not consistently attending their lessons. Often, this is in the form of significant lateness, while on some occasions students are opting to skip a lesson entirely. 
  
  This is something we will be taking a firm stance on this year, and I will be speaking to all year groups on 3^rd September about the changes we will be making to lesson attendance and punctuality. I want to be clear that this will not impact 98% of our students, who already consistently arrive on time. We are blessed with a wonderful cohort of students. However, a very small minority do need a course correction here, and this priority is designed to provide this, while ensuring the starts of lessons are not disrupted. 

While these are our priorities for the year, they build upon rather than replace, what is already in place at Preston. We have a wonderful foundation on which to build, and I am excited to be leading the school into September. I hope that this has provided a useful oversight into the sorts of updates you will see when your child returns to us.

In forming these priorities, I have listened to feedback from our families around the improvements that we still need to make. I am however keen to formalise this process, and am today launching a simple Keep, Grow, Change feedback form to allow you, as key stakeholders in the school, to feedback to our leadership team. This contains just three simple questions; what do we do that you would like to see stay, what do you feel we need to do more of, and what needs to change.

Please see the emailed copy of this letter for the feedback link.

I cannot promise that every piece of feedback will be acted upon, I can however promise that every single piece will be read, and that common themes will be discussed at our leadership meetings.

As I have already mentioned, I am delighted to have been appointed as the Headteacher at Preston School, and a big part of the reason for that is the brilliant support that we receive from you, our families. Education can be challenging, and it relies on a constructive, two-way relationship with our families, who support the steps we take to improve. I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you in advance, for your support as we move into the next academic year.

One way in which you can support the school is in ensuring that your child arrives in September with the correct equipment and in the correct uniform. A brief reminder of the key points around these elements is below, as I am aware many of you may be undertaking your back to school shopping this week:

Equipment Ensure that all students have a pencil case, containing:
Handwriting Pen
Purple Pen
Green Pen
Pencil 
Ruler
 Eraser
Sharpener 
Coloured pencils
A compass and protractor
A scientific calculator  

In addition, in their bags:
Reading book
Mini whiteboard and pen – Provided to students when they join us 

Uniform  

All students require a school blazer, white shirt with collar and school tie.  

School trousers are mid-grey, while skirts are pleated and in navy blue.  

Shoes should be plain black leather school shoes. Trainers and branded shoes are not acceptable. 

Facial piercings, including nose piercings, are not permitted. Students will need to remove these before returning to us.  

While dyed hair is acceptable, it should be of a natural colour. Any unnatural or extreme colours will need to be washed out before students return. 

Students are able to wear one earring per ear, one bracelet per wrist and one ring per hand.

I hope that all of our families have had a safe, relaxing and enjoyable summer break. I look forward to welcoming all students back at 8.30am on Wednesday 3^rd September 2025.

Thank you,

Matt Doble
Headteacher