Chronicle 687

12 ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE

set of sevens at GCSE. That’s a phenomenal level of value-added – if there were a league table for it, we’d be right at the top! It’s the increase in value-added which has delivered the record-breaking results in the last two years. We’re also very excited for the future, because the year groups coming up through the School should set new records every year for the next five. That’s partly because there is so much more inspiration – from visiting academics coming into Teddies for Oxford Lectures, from pupils going into the university and into the city for Oxford Days, from the postgraduate students working as St Edward’s Fellows. It’s also because we have put Teddies much more visibly on the map for admissions. There will be 32 academic scholars and exhibitioners starting at Teddies in September, 25 of them in the Shell – when they take their first exams in three years’ time, they will take the results to new heights. One of your strategic ambitions is to create a ‘community of learners’. Beyond the results, how have you and your colleagues progressed this aim? Again – in lots of ways! We introduced three years ago a new policy on sabbatical terms and leaves of absence, and we have now started to see teachers taking full advantage, refreshing themselves and their scholarship through travel and research. Oxford Lectures, Oxford Days and St Edward’s Fellows are not just good for pupils – they are inspiring for teachers too! The requirement for every academic department to have a related society and to have two external speakers per term has also made a big difference to the I hope that Teddies always keeps its characteristic warmth and its emphasis on the wellbeing of its pupils.

What were the key messages which you took away from the recent pupil survey? The survey was hugely positive, and everyone working at Teddies should take great pride in its findings. There were so many highlights. Most importantly, pupils told us in huge numbers that they are happy at school. They also told us that they would recommend Teddies. In the Upper Sixth, among the pupils with the greatest perspective and the longest experience, nearly 90% told us that they would recommend Teddies to a friend looking for a new school. 91% told us that they felt a sense of belonging at Teddies – that figure was largely unchanged on last year. Even better was the number of pupils who feel that the School treats them as an individual – 83% this year, up from 66% twelve months ago. We were also really pleased to see lots of positive comments about tutoring and the work of the Tutors in the Houses. We’ve done a lot of work to make tutoring more consistent and to promote its importance too. Careers is another area in which we have done a lot in the last two years – the careers festival for the whole school in the autumn, the employability morning for the Lower Sixth and the careers day for the Fourth Form in the summer, the new Teddies Business Directory for everyone,

Because we progress through such integral parts of our lives with our housemates by our sides we make strong, long-lasting friendships. I feel as though the boarding experience has truly enriched my school years.

FLORENCE WILLIAMS, LOWER SIXTH PUPIL

to give just a few examples – and it was great to see the pupils’ appreciation of all those changes, all that work. When you joined Teddies, you and the Sub-Warden Academic made no secret of the fact that you wanted to harness the School’s academic ambition to ensure that pupils achieved at the highest

possible level. As you enter your fifth year as Warden, are you pleased with the progress which you have made in this area? David Flower and I have been delighted with all the progress which we have made in the last four years and especially with the grades which the pupils have achieved. There has been a huge increase in the value added by Teddies’ teachers – that’s the gap between the grades which the pupils should achieve according to their underlying ability and the grades which they actually achieve in their exams. On average at GCSE, at A Level and in the IB, relative to the independent school average, we’re adding a third of a grade in every qualification. That’s equivalent to adding an A* to AAA at A Level, or three eights to a full

These are the things which make Teddies such a pleasant place to live. TOM ROBERTSON, LOWER SIXTH PUPIL

Fifi Pucks-Fazel, 2024-25 Head of School