2019 has been a fantastic year for Melksham Oak Community School; one filled with success, change, and improvements that ends with optimism for an extremely bright future.
Over the summer, we celebrated the excellent GCSE and A-level results achieved by our students. Particular KS4 result highlights included increased percentages of students attaining a grade 5-9 in maths and students attaining grades 5-9 in both maths and English. In our sixth form, 100% of students achieved at least one A-level at grade A*-E, with 98% collecting two A-levels at A*-E and 92% attaining three.
In September, we welcomed our new principal, Alan Henderson, to the school. Mr Henderson implemented a new school vision, including a commitment to delivering a world-class learning experience for students, supporting students in achieving their full potential, and developing students to be global citizens. Upon Mr Henderson’s arrival, we also agreed upon three new core values — respect, ambition, and pride.
The new school year also brought a number of other changes. We redesigned our school uniform, which created a real sense of new beginnings at Melksham Oak, and implemented a ‘no mobile phone’ policy. This new policy empowers our students to better concentrate on their studies and has helped us to encourage students to have higher ambitions for their own performance.
Another of our new initiatives is the Melksham Oak Journalism Club. Our year 7s have been writing good news stories about our school and their fellow pupils under the guidance of professional journalists who have generously given their time to support the club.
Throughout the year, our sixth form students have been engaging in projects to benefit the local and wider communities. In the lead up to Christmas, they worked with the charity Doorway to provide shoeboxes filled with essentials to homeless people in North Wiltshire. We are extremely proud of the impact their efforts have had.
The future is promising for everyone at Melksham Oak, and we look ahead to 2020 with great excitement. We look forward to working with The White Horse Federation to make even more progress at the school and further improve outcomes for our students, their families, and the whole school community.