There are so many events and projects at AKS that feel uplifting, often involving collaboration between students, colleagues and community partners. There is real innovation and energy in hatching ideas together that can grow and evolve into the future. The planting of our peace pole was one such occasion. Our great friend, Councillor Karen Henshaw, came up with the idea; and sourced the beautiful piece of Scottish larch with ‘peace be with you’ written in various world languages. We were delighted to welcome representatives of many faiths to come and share their own messages of peace. Our multi-lingual students said

In the final assembly before Easter the winners of the school table tennis tournament were announced. Predictably the champion was Taran, as he has been for five years running. Jasper, for the fifth year in a row, was runner up. That Taran, he doesn’t like to share his crown. I felt it was time he met his match; I threw down the gauntlet there and then. I am partly to blame for his domination of the sport. I played him a few years ago, letting him win of course, it’s the sort of thing caring adults do. I’m sure that

In schools we talk about our USPs. If some are unfamiliar with yet another acronym (there are so many in education), a Google search suggests that USPS stands for ‘United States Postal Service’, which is self-explanatory, or ‘United States Power Squadrons’ which is something to do with boats. Clearly this does not help much. As I’m sure many of you will know, USPs in our context stands for Unique Selling Points (or Proposition). This term was originally used in the 1940s to explain a pattern of successful advertising that might convince customers to switch brands. In other words, a definition

There is a great deal of discussion, both in schools and in the media, about what has come to be known as ‘character education’. United Learning, the wider group of schools to which AKS belongs, has ‘education with character’ as one of its 5 core principles – linked directly to concepts of compassion and service. We’re also a member of the Round Square global association which exercises thought leadership in this area through their Discovery Framework. Reflecting this broader context, AKS has ‘success and value’ as one of our defining three characteristics, underlining the importance that we educate not just

At AKS we often talk about ‘Academic Ambition’. Our teachers find that challenging students to aim high translates into fantastic examination results. This was reflected last summer in our students achieving nearly five times the national average grade 9s at GCSE, with very strong ‘value-added’ scores, as well as the best A level results in the area. These comparative figures were published recently in the local media, results that led to such successful progression onto so many competitive university courses. I am also very proud of the way in which Academic Ambition comes alive in our Junior School. Our staff

This weekend saw four performances of We Will Rock You performed by our students at the Lowther Pavilion in Lytham, celebrating the music of Queen. It tells the story of a group of bohemians who struggle to restore the free thought, fashion and music in a distant future where everyone thinks, dresses and acts the same. It is a theme that has encouraged both cast and audience to think about conformity and rebellion, and the struggles sometimes necessary to find one’s own unique way in the world. Overall it was a very young cast and everyone in the audience agreed