It is an honour and privilege to be appointed as the next headteacher of South Charnwood High School. My vision is to provide an outstanding education in a safe supportive learning environment so that every child can achieve their full potential. A school where pupils feel able to develop their own unique personal qualities and take responsibility for themselves, and their own learning, as they become the young adults of the future.

I have extremely high expectations of myself, my staff and the pupils we teach. Education works best when we all work together in a supportive partnership – pupils, staff and parents.

We expect our pupils to follow the 3P’s every day. To be Polite, Prepared and Productive.

In return, I expect all pupils to be challenged and supported by our staff to achieve the best they can academically, to develop resilience, leadership and communication skills that they will need as employees in the future.

We have an outstanding track record of achievement built on a Safe, Caring, Happy and Successful ethos but we can do even better. I am naturally very competitive and want South Charnwood to be the best school it can be. We will continue to strive for excellence and value our people.

Simon Andrews

Headteacher

South Charnwood High School, based in Markfield, is a high achieving, oversubscribed secondary school educating pupils aged 11-16. Standards and expectations are very high as are the GCSE exam results that our pupils achieve each year. Our vision is to provide an outstanding education in a safe supportive learning environment so that every child can achieve their full potential. This is a school where pupils feel able to develop their own unique personal qualities and take responsibility for themselves, and their own learning, as they become the young adults of the future. We expect all pupils to be challenged and supported by our staff to achieve the best they can academically, as well as to develop resilience, leadership qualities and communication skills. 

The school is situated in the pleasant rural area of North West Leicestershire on the edge of Charnwood Forest. The main building is set in extensive and attractive grounds. The original building dates from 1935, but over the years several extensions have been added to meet rising numbers.

The nearest communities are the villages of Markfield and Thornton, about 1 mile away. At roughly the same distance is Junction 22 of the M1, while Coalville is 5 miles away. Pupils come from a fairly wide area, with most from the nearest villages of Markfield, Stanton, Thornton and the surrounding area, and some from Leicester Forest East, approximately 8 miles away. We also attract many pupils from outside our catchment area due to the popularity and excellent reputation of the school. 90% of pupils travel to and from school by bus.

The school employs approximately 51 teaching staff along with 15 full or part time Learning Support Assistants and Teaching Assistants, plus 2 Learning Mentors. There are 17 clerical, technical and premises staff members, including the Business Manager who is part of the Senior Leadership Team. The school is in a sound financial position with a projected substantial carry forward for next year.

Teams, not individuals, change schools. All staff are encouraged to play their part in running extracurricular activities, visits and trips to develop each young person in a holistic way. The wellmotivated staff team at the school is a mixture of youth and experience ranging from recently qualified teachers to those who have been here longer than they care to remember! Governors are fully involved in policy review and the school actively values their participation.

Our most recent inspection was in June 2019 and the report described South Charnwood High School as a ‘Good school’ and described both the Quality of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and the Outcomes our pupils achieve as ‘Outstanding.’

South Charnwood is a school which cares. We pride ourselves on excellence in everything we do based on an ethos of being polite, prepared and productive. Education works best when we all work in partnership - pupils, staff and parents. If you are looking for a small secondary school where our young people are names not numbers, then South Charnwood High School is the school for you. We will continue to strive for excellence and value our people.