Lavant House’s drop-in Open Morning and evening Drinks Reception on Tuesday 13 January - to welcome their new Head-designate, Nicola Walker - were a great success.

Visitors at both events were able to join the celebrations and learn more about the unique opportunities Lavant House can offer. The day culminated with a gathering of over 120 evening guests who enjoyed mingling over drinks and canapés before hearing from Mrs Walker about her enthusiasm for joining the Lavant House family and her plans for the school’s future.

Mrs Walker started by saying, “I think as a Head and as a parent, it is very important to have a real belief in the ethos of the school that you are leading and to feel confident that it would be a school you would have sent your own children to or would be happy to recommend to your friends and

family.” She continued, “I believe that pupils do their best in a school that values them as individuals, where they can be happy, where they feel able to take risks, and where they learn that not everyone can be first and they come to realise that it is better to have tried than to have not tried at all. After all, we know that life is not just about success. I believe that Lavant is such a school.”

Nicola also covered the forthcoming changes to A Levels in addition to the recent ones to G.C.S.E. courses, “This is a great moment to be joining the school… [the changes] are a positive opportunity for a school such as Lavant where pupils are known as individuals. They allow the school to select he best courses to suit the needs of the pupils and a real opportunity for pupils to realise, and parents to appreciate, the advantage of having teachers you know and who know the pupils, helping them to steer their way through all these changes.”

She continued, “Our focus [will continue to be] on providing an excellent education, and appropriate experiences and opportunities to ensure pupils are ready to leave us as confident, compassionate individuals who have achieved their best academic results and want to seize whatever life brings them next.”

Nicola ended with, “Being independent, we know that our work is not about a line on a league table, it is about providing education for individuals. We are not a production line. Lavant House is a unique school. I and all the staff here look forward to helping [pupils] prepare for whatever life has in store for them and ensuring that they have the best foundations for their future.”

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