Dear HP families,

I am very excited and honoured to have been appointed as the Headteacher of Holmleigh Park from 1st September 2023. My first year at HP, as Head of School, has been thoroughly enjoyable and clearly shown to me what a fantastic school this is. As a long-time resident of Gloucester, I had already heard a lot about the changes and dramatic improvements at the school. However, seeing the impact of them first hand, including the recognition of being tenth most improved school in the country between 2019 and 2022, has been extremely impressive. Numerous times this year I have given tours to prospective parents who have told me how they used to attend here as a child and that they cannot believe the development that has happened. I am sure you all share our pride in knowing how far this school has come.

Now though, I want to look to the next five years and consider how much we can collectively achieve. I want Holmleigh Park to be the undoubted school of choice for our local community and where students have a better chance of success with us than they would anywhere else. With this in mind; there are two overarching aims that I have for every single HP student; to achieve the best possible outcomes and to have access to the widest range of opportunities.

By outcomes, I mean that by the time HP students leave us they have worked incredibly hard to achieve the strongest possible set of GCSEs, Extended Diplomas and A Levels. These outcomes keep the widest array of paths open to students for after they have left us. These paths may include attending Sixth Form, attaining a higher apprenticeship or going to university. I want HP students to be able to take control of their destiny and be able to start adulthood able to select from a range of paths to support them to build meaningful and fulfilling lives.

Whatever path our students choose when they leave us, for them to achieve their potential they need to be well-rounded, self-confident and equipped with a range of skills. Over the next few years at HP we are going to be dramatically expanding our character education offer so that our students have the opportunities to develop holistically as young people. I want HP students to maximise their time at school and take responsibility for getting involved in opportunities outside the classroom.

I am very passionate about increasing the amount of opportunities for HP students to become confident orators. So much of the way that we present ourselves in life is down to feeling confident when it comes to verbally expressing ourselves and being able to do that to a range of audiences. I intend to build a stronger community spirit amongst the students so that they have an even greater sense of pride about being part of HP. Our house system will be expanded and developed further and a greater emphasis on students being able to volunteer themselves to take part in charity work and community outreach. I believe this is a fantastic school and I want our students to feel that and more of our local community to see it.

Our ability to deliver excellent outcomes and a broad range of opportunities is built upon our unwavering commitment to disruption-free learning. Our expectations, behaviour systems and routines mean that our classrooms are calm, purposeful and maximise learning times. These expectations underpin everything we do at Holmleigh Park and help ensure we can be kind to everyone in our school.

Vital to all of this will be working in partnership with yourselves. I will be proactive in terms of how we listen to you and understand your perspectives when it comes to supporting our students at home. Whilst one of our undoubted key strengths is our strong and clear collective vision about what we believe a good education at HP is, I want to use your insights to make this offer even better, or to take the chance to more clearly explain why we do certain aspects. There will be some focus group opportunities in September so please keep your eyes peeled in terms of our MCAS communications to take part in these.

I wish you all a lovely weekend,

Mr Hudson