Wednesday, 9 Jul 2008
INSIDE THE SCHOOL
After Mr Hammond meet his replacement Mr Richard Niblett, Assistant Head, Co-Curriculum
When I saw the advertisement for the post of Assistant Head (Co-curricular) at Latymer Upper School last February I was away on holiday sitting at a computer checking the Times Educational Supplement on-line on my laptop next to the swimming pool in a smart hotel in the Canary Islands. I knew little of Latymer Upper, Assistant Heads or the legend of Chris Hammond in whose footsteps I was to follow. My attention in the job details was drawn to the fact that I was to oversee the dining hall queue as part of my duties!
One year on I can hardly remember a time without Latymer. The excitement and buzz of the place seems to have taken over my life completely and I have found myself absorbed in every aspect of the school.
Since finishing my PGCE in 1994 and singing as a choral scholar in the choir of Clare College, Cambridge I took up the post of Assistant Director of Music at The London Oratory School determined that after two years I would become a professional singer. Indeed, I sang with, and still do, a number of professional ensembles to keep me in a little extra pocket money. After eight years at the Oratory I went to London-by-the-Sea to be Director of Music at Brighton College, a vibrant independent boarding and day school for boys and girls. I re-assessed my career whilst working on a school project in Moscow for six months in 2006 and decided that onwards and upwards was the way forward. I put in my application to Latymer. Two interviews later Peter Winter offered me the job.
‘What does co-curricular mean?' is a question I was initially asked by my friends and family. My responsibility lies primarily in the pupils' experience outside the classroom as far as what opportunities are on offer for them to do. In fact, the job is threefold. Apart from teaching Music with a smattering of lower school History and games I look after the extra-curricular programme across the school. Secondly I oversee Latymer's unique community links and school's partnership scheme and thirdly I fulfill a role on the school's senior management team. Oh, and lest I forget in addition I manage the dining hall queue a role which Chris Hammond will be remembered for by many recent Latymerians.
The role is hugely varied and no two days are the same...
Next edition...Latymer and the Community
A team of two year 8s and two year 9s (Michael Alishaw, Isi Bogod, Ellie Holderness and Filip Masic) competed against 26 other schools in the London Regional Finals.
The competition consists of 4 rounds, each with 60 points available. The team gained full points on the first round and dropped four points on the second, finishing both comfortably with time to spare. The third was a competitive head-to-head round, where the team was pitted against 6 other schools. Here the students picked up 41 of the possible 60 points. The final round was an intense timed round, where pairs worked for 45 minutes on 30 difficult questions. Our team was one of the few to finish the 30 questions, and only failed to answer 2 questions, dropping just four marks.
Despite stiff competition from a number of very good schools, including the home team, City of London school (a well coached team and winners for the last two years) we won and will be competing in the National Finals at the end of the Summer Term.
Congratulate to all the students. This was quite a significant achievement.
Sam Cheung
Mathematics Department
DAYS IN THE LIFE OF THE REGISTRAR - SPRING TERM 2008
There is no such thing as a typical day in the life of the Registrar at Latymer. That's partly what makes it such an interesting job. We have hugely busy times - mainly September to March and then a quieter time when we plan for the coming year. Our best, busiest and most interesting times run from December to March when we are right in the middle of, sixth form recruitment, then 11+ exams, interviews, decisions and offers and finally 13+ exams, although this involves a very small number now. We have big occasions throughout the year - Open Days, Open Evening for Sixth Form, the Exam Day itself, Interview Day and finally New Parents' Evening when we welcome next year's 7 joiners to the School.
I love Open Day - the School shows itself off particularly well, the pupils do us proud - both sixth formers who welcome at the gates and direct people, and the year 7s and 8s who show groups round. They are so proud, so clean and neat (we are still early in the School year then...........) and so eager to show off their School. For me, it's like being the bride at a wedding - everyone wants to talk to me and make themselves known, although they tend not to be bearing gift! They all ask the same questions, or similar, and hope that I will remember them. With 1500 attending each day, that's hard but I do try my best.
It helps to have some form of personal contact with parents, either by phone or in person. And it's lovely to meet the children, all of whom say the right thing when I ask if they liked the School! They all love the drama, art, swimming pool, science and DT. All the "doing" things. They don't often say much about the core subjects.......!!! I go home from these events happy, tired, proud of the School and the people in it, and to the delight of my family, unable to move my jaws in speech any more.
The next occasion we have to meet people is Exam Day, when we see the children as they come in and register. That's a brilliantly run day - (not by us I hasten to add!) - where I hope the children feel they have a bit of personal treatment and are not just a number. They are greeted again by sixth formers or staff, and then register before being taken to the table for their room. We still manage, even with such large numbers this year, to run the exams in separate rooms with 24 kids in each room - it makes it much more personal. Whilst they are waiting to go their rooms, the tutors chat to the kids and we wander around and try to identify them - it really does help to be able to put a face to a name - it's also especially helpful to realise that a child we thought was a boy is in fact a girl - so many names are interchangeable these days!!!!
At the start of the process every year, the children are just names, although we now ask for photos, so we can identify them (and yes we still get the sex wrong..........!). We don't really get a chance to know them until after the exam. The first Saturday after the exam is the day I love - I come in to work - we have a short time to turn things round and make decisions on who to interview so need the Saturday. This is when we start to look at the marks and get a picture of who we will be dealing with. Sadly, we have to discard a number of children at this stage, many of whom we have met and liked and that's hard. But we have to whittle it down till we are left with those we are going to interview. They become real then - we start to read their files more closely, look at their scores, read their school report and form an impression of them. We then have Interview Day when we meet every single one that comes through the doors. This is another great day - again the sixth formers meet and greet and they are just fantastic at putting the kids at ease. They look good, are approachable and easy to talk to, and parents are clearly impressed and think their child could be one of them one day!
Interview Day is what it is - the day we interview those children who have done well in the exam and who we are considering for places. But it's also another occasion for them to come and see us, meet us, talk to us, see the School and hopefully be favourably impressed. We must always remember that we are on show too, and selling ourselves to them as much as they are to us. By then, they know we are serious about them and hope they feel the same way! It's a good opportunity to meet the parents, and children and get a feel for them and what they are thinking. And so often, what the child says and what the parent says are very different!!! It's a relaxed occasion although some take it very seriously - the very smart ones have looked up their interviewer (we tell them who they will see) on the school website and found out what they teach so they can talk to them about it!
I love the interaction with people that comes with this job - the parents, the children, the staff. And every one, every year, is different and individual. It's a very rewarding job, where you can give great satisfaction and make people happy, but you can also make them sad - and according to some upset parents, ruin their lives. It's hard having to give bad news and not being able to give what they want. But by far the best bit is giving what they deserve. We offer a number of means tested scholarships every year at 11+. Those children who do very well in the exam and whose circumstances qualify for help have an interview and then we visit them at home. We go out and see them, in the evening, and talk to parents and child. These are bright kids from deserving families who want to do all they can to help their child achieve their potential, but lack the funds. They are so appreciative, so grateful and so proud. It's humbling to see how much it means to them and wonderful to see the smile on their child's face when they realise why we are there. And even better to see that child once they come here and blossom with what Latymer offers. So those are the best days (or nights!).
This is a snapshot of a few days - the set pieces if you like. As I write, the phone is quiet, the email is not pinging in and there's a sense of calm. But it's calm before the storm - letters to this year's 11+ candidates are posted out tomorrow, to arrive Friday, and I know that the phone will be ringing then - a mixture of joy for those who are offered places, anxiety for those on the Reserve List and upset for those not being offered. I will be ready to respond to each individual call and caller in the appropriate way. It's an anxious time for us too - we need to get the numbers right - not too many, not too few, hope that the means tested pupils will all say yes, hope that we get enough mix of boys and girls, hope that we get a good spread of state and independent feeder schools. And we will also have ours fingers crossed that those who have become our own personal favourites will say yes!
Catriona Sutherland-Hawes
Registrar
Probing question posed, to her sons, by a present parent.
Her elder son, an Upper Sixth Former, who has previously attended an evening, said it gave students a chance to discover a little more about their chosen career path or even discover a career to head towards. Meeting the advisors helped to put a human face on to a job description.
Younger son, a Fifth Former, whose turn it is next year pointed out that it was an opportunity to ask the silly questions like when do you and when don't you wear a wig as a lawyer. He also said it was an opportunity to find out what kind of people different careers produce!
On Tuesday, 5 February 2008, the Careers Department ran their annual Careers Evening at Latymer Upper School. This event is primarily for Year 11s (16 year olds), and their parents with some Lower Sixth Formers.
The programme for the evening began with a buffet reception for the Advisors held in the Staff Dining Room, which allowed all those involved to familiarise themselves with the expectations for the evening. It also gave Peter Winter, Head and Camilla von Massenbach, Chair, Parents' Gild, a chance to thank all those involved.
The event takes place in the Sports Hall where the students queue to chat informally with former pupils/parental advisors about possible careers.
Latymerians involved this year included Michael Cooper (1979) - CEO for PHD, a marketing services group based in London. Michael is responsible for one of their global media companies; Julie Roberts (1999) - Architect, Hawkins & Brown who is now working on the redevelopment of Hackney and Stoke Newington Town Halls; Ian Weitzel (1971) - Business Development Manager for Reuters; Chris Edwards (2000) who formed the company Essential Security, which serves the IT and communication security of small businesses; Simon Kent (1983) - Partner, Veterinary Surgeon, Barnes.
Types of questions students ask
At the end, the evaluation sheets are completed. Consistently these have shown that participants find the evening both rewarding and stimulating.
The Careers Department is headed by the Head of Careers, Simon Ware (Modern Language Department) able assisted by Julian Foynes (History Department) and Christine Dixon, Administrator.
If this event is something to which you would like to contribute please contact Christine Dixon e-mail: careersadmin@latymer-upper.org or tel: 0845 638 5976. You do not need to be an expert on entry requirements into your field as handouts with this information are available. It's just a matter of giving students a feel for what your job or career area is like, answering their questions and chivvying them along.