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01/07/25

Celebrating year 7 student Max, who has achieved the new rank of a Colour Sergeant. On Friday, Max attended the Headcorn aerodrome with his commandant and was invited to the MBC Mayor's lunch, which helped kick-start the Battle of Britain airshow. Well done Max! pic.twitter.com/7QojNXgj9s— Valley Park School () July 1, 2025

29/06/25

58% of Year 7-11 pupils who missed school at the start of the year went on to miss at least 10% of sessions across the whole academic year. Fischer Family Trust#everylessoncounts#wearevalleypark pic.twitter.com/7n6HO97RfS— Valley Park School () June 29, 2025

27/06/25

House points update... pic.twitter.com/0IwMxWJkas— Valley Park School () June 27, 2025

27/06/25

The Feast of the Sacred Heart is a prominent Roman Catholic devotion, symbolising Jesus' Divine love for humanity through His physical heart. It emphasises the unmitigated love, compassion, and long-suffering of the heart of Christ towards humanity. pic.twitter.com/gX6mUi5Bgw— Valley Park School () June 27, 2025

27/06/25

Hannah and Jasmine, Valley Park students and Bearsted Football Club Under-15s players, were invited to watch the England Lionesses train at St George’s Park recently, as they prepare for the upcoming UEFA EURO tournament! 🦁🦁🦁 pic.twitter.com/I3qKXhxrVg— Valley Park School () June 27, 2025

27/06/25

On Tuesday 24 June Valley Park Shakespeare Society performed an extract from The Merchant of Venice as part of the RSC associate school project. Despite morning rain, the outdoor performance at Samphire Hoe was a success. pic.twitter.com/BhS7FeuO7R— Valley Park School () June 27, 2025

26/06/25

It's V in the Park on Saturday 28 June from Midday - don't miss this fabulous annual music event on the Valley Park Field.#wearevalleypark#wearevinthepark pic.twitter.com/2aIZIEmmwP— Valley Park School () June 26, 2025

22/06/25

There are many reasons why a student might struggle with attendance at school. Valley Park has a dedicated team to help & support you. To speak to someone, contact us by phone or email & a member of the attendance team will get back to you. pic.twitter.com/rXhg7UfxGN— Valley Park School () June 22, 2025

20/06/25

Our newest Sixth Formers started today – say hello to our 9 new chicks! Our Sixth Formers are learning about responsibility in Personal Development, and as part of this, are responsible for incubating, feeding, cleaning and watering our new arrivals! pic.twitter.com/DD70VvVM6f— Valley Park School () June 20, 2025

20/06/25

We have 3 amazing shows for you during this year's Arts Week: Dance Extravaganza, Romeo & Juliet, and 13 The Musical. If you want to buy tickets, please visit: https://t.co/IJpO06PN4T pic.twitter.com/sTiaIFVr0m— Valley Park School () June 20, 2025

20/06/25

The Feast of Corpus Christi, meaning "Body of Christ," is a Catholic celebration honouring Christ's presence in the Eucharist. It features processions with the Blessed Sacrament, showing public faith and devotion, with special prayers and hymns. pic.twitter.com/ADjMgCm067— Valley Park School () June 19, 2025

19/06/25

Tomorrow's exams...#examupdate#wearevalleypark pic.twitter.com/5aeKoYoN0b— Valley Park School () June 19, 2025

19/06/25

Litha, the Summer Solstice, is a pagan holiday celebrating the sun and fire on the year's longest day. Stonehenge and similar sites are aligned to showcase the sunrise on this day, attracting thousands of pagans. After the solstice, days shorten. pic.twitter.com/IcAooq55kk— Valley Park School () June 19, 2025

19/06/25

Just returned from an incredible trip to the Marlowe Theatre with our Year 8s to see Pig Heart Boy — they were amazing! As their Head of Year I'm so proud of their impeccable behaviour and brilliant engagement. A real credit to our school pic.twitter.com/GaBFgfxSOB— Valley Park School () June 19, 2025

18/06/25

Tomorrow's exams...#examupdate#wearevalleypark pic.twitter.com/EbjFUZjlEb— Valley Park School () June 18, 2025

18/06/25

We're tremendously proud of Sapphire (Yr9) who played in the U14 ESFA Champions’ Cup Plate Final at Sixways Stadium. She scored a 20-yd screamer & took a penalty in the end of match shootout, which ended 2-2. Well done Sapphire!!! pic.twitter.com/47bUQfolJc— Valley Park School () June 18, 2025

18/06/25

Maidstone Literary Festival have just launched their annual young authors competition. All the information can be found here: https://t.co/2pBcgdiXq8 It’s open to all students in all key stages. Entries can come in via school or by individuals.#wearevalleyparkauthors pic.twitter.com/azKcKUvD2A— Valley Park School () June 18, 2025

17/06/25

Tomorrow's exams...#examupdate#wearevalleypark pic.twitter.com/AywhYtnlQy— Valley Park School () June 17, 2025

16/06/25

Tomorrow's exams...#examupdate#wearevalleypark pic.twitter.com/dFD7UzcIoE— Valley Park School () June 16, 2025

16/06/25

House Points update... pic.twitter.com/6WgDZs1VSc— Valley Park School () June 16, 2025

15/06/25

Tomorrow's exams...#examupdate#wearevalleypark pic.twitter.com/9DKVRMlcSp— Valley Park School () June 15, 2025

15/06/25

If a student’s attendance at the end of Term 5 was below 90% this means that they have missed at least 15 days or 75 hours of learning. pic.twitter.com/yvKjJI52va— Valley Park School () June 15, 2025

13/06/25

Don't miss our annual Art Show, which takes place at Lower Grange Farm in Sandling next Wednesday, 18 June at 6.30pm. The artwork on display is always breathtaking.#wearevalleypark#wearevalleyparkartists pic.twitter.com/XFRMagaAxa— Valley Park School () June 13, 2025

13/06/25

12 pupils from a variety of primaries took park in taster sessions for Ceramics after school on Wednesday. They made friendship and Father’s Day plaques, celebrating family, friends & being kind - one of our core values.#wearevalleyparktransition#ambitiousrespectfulandkind pic.twitter.com/XE8BecuNxq— Valley Park School () June 13, 2025

12/06/25

Tomorrow's exams...#examupdate#wearevalleypark pic.twitter.com/LifNMTloC7— Valley Park School () June 12, 2025

Blog

Posted on: June 21st 2021

Setting the bar high

I've written previously about leadership existing at all levels within an organisation, rather than just being the preserve of one or two single individuals.

When this works well, great things happen, for we increase our collective capacity for change and we find ourselves considering viewpoints different to our own and giving priority to others' passions, not just our own.

Our Year 9 students are a classic example of taking on leadership challenges and accepting responsibility for what's important to them. There’s no question of them hanging back on the off-chance they might muddle through and end up at their desired outcome by happy accident. For them, a much greater degree of certainty was required, and the way in which to achieve this was to take charge.

A number of students have benefited in recent months from the support of Young Lives Foundation, a local charity that supports young people by mentoring, befriending and acting as an advocate in challenging situations. Young Lives has made such an impact on students in Year 9 that they wanted to be able to give something back.

This isn’t very unusual, until you consider the way in which our students accomplished this. They set goals, planned their course of action and then set about achieving their vision. There simply was no thought given to sitting back and waiting for someone else to do it!

We returned from the May half-term break to find that students had already planned a publicity campaign, knew that they wanted last Friday to be a Year 9 non-uniform day, and had identified a cake sale as being a popular way to raise charity funds. 

When I was presented with the proposal, it was a complete and fully-formed idea. I can’t tell you how unusual that is! Whenever anyone (and yes, I mean teachers too!) brings me a suggested plan, I always have more questions to ask – there’s always a gap that has yet to be filled, or a piece of research or justification that has been omitted – however this time there was nothing more to add; everything had been thought through.

I can’t commend our students’ leadership enough, and all credit to them that they have raised in excess of £600 for Young Lives Foundation to date. This wasn’t a project that we set them, and it wasn’t a task that we asked them to complete. Instead, they had the vision and motivation needed to set a goal, and then they had the skill to bring this to fruition. 

So, to all our students, the challenge has been set (and the bar has been set high by Year 9!). 

What can you achieve when you take the lead?

MH Title