Friday Flyer - 20th March 2026
Dear Michael Hall Community,
I hope that everyone has received a copy of the Ofsted report which is now published and up on the Ofsted site. I was very pleased with the outcomes from this brief and targeted visit and expect that any future inspection visits will also have positive outcomes. Hot on the heels of this report will follow a parent survey as we seek to understand your experience of the school. The questions are the same questions Ofsted would ask you all at the start of an inspection and are completely anonymous – I have added optional questions which would allow you to share ages and gender of your child/children to allow us to use the data more effectively.
In my interview and discussions prior to accepting the role at Michael Hall, one of the recurring themes was how we discuss and develop the qualities of mind and character. This has been a theme or topic that has risen and sunk throughout the sphere of education, often with dictated by headlines in the news about the decay of society written by the generation above the current crop of teens and tweens (thus it was ever so!), or dictated by a particular view of the current Secretary of State for Education (we have had 11 since 2010). Educationalists and social psychologists refer to dispositions we show and can develop.
When I discuss this idea with others in education, we often refer to the dispositions we want to develop in our pupils and across our schools. There is much written about this and the interpretations are varied, for clarity, here is how I am referring to dispositions in education: It is not what we want our pupils to know, it is what we want them to arrive to situations, problems and challenges with. A mindset, a social understanding, a way to present themselves with the values they hold remaining in tact, a way to communicate, or positive habits in daily life; this is clearly a lot to bring forward, instil and develop.
The development of our pupils in this aspect begins with the nurturing and guided social development which takes place in our idyllic early childhood settings. Here we see strong modelling from all of the adults, gentle, positive direction towards tasks which help the adults and show care towards peers and we develop an appreciation of the immediate world around the children; we let them know they are a valuable part of something bigger. This theme develops as children grow through the school where morning verses change to bring in ‘bigger’ thoughts, individual social responsibility develops rather than being constantly guided, challenges increase in complexity, and movements become refined through disciplined practice. Communication blossoms into an understood way of how we show our thoughts, feelings, learning, and ideas, but also allows us to show care, compassion and understanding for those around us.
At Michael Hall we have simple ways of communicating what we do, and how we do it. We describe our curriculum and teaching approach as being head, hands and heart (feeling, thinking and willing as another three word summary). We have our expectations for school life based around being ready, respectful and safe. Through our broad and creative curriculum and caring professional teaching we harness the simplicity of our description to create a safe space for all of our pupils to develop a growth mindset, to approach problems with creative confidence, to meet challenge with resilience, and to meet others with care.
In light of a recent increase in lateness to school I thank all of you in advance for making sure our pupils arrive Ready for the start of the day at 8:15, Respectful of the start of teaching day and Safely dropped off to start the day on time.
Warm wishes,
Stuart
Stuart McWilliams
Principal
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