The ‘New’ Ashville
We have long believed culture lies at the heart of successful schools (indeed of all organisations). It is a living and developing phenomenon and there is a growing strong sense of pride and excitement in belonging to Ashville.
The ‘new’ Ashville includes five main pillars:
1. Ashville is an academically ambitious school:
We are very keen that pupils of all ages flourish in academic terms. We are focused on creating an academic culture of high expectations and aspiration so that they will gain the best possible results they can attain in public examinations. At the same time, we aim to inspire a love of learning for its own sake by promoting the intrinsic value of the subjects we offer. True education is not simply ‘delivering’ a curriculum and examination syllabuses: it is about nurturing the joy of learning and curiosity about many aspects of life. Fundamentally it concerns appreciating the depth and variety of ‘the human condition’.
2. Ashville is committed to providing an holistic education:
While we are unapologetically academically ambitious, we recognise that the world demands more than just good grades from its citizens of tomorrow. This is why co-curricular activities and the House system are so important to us. We want all these opportunities to be enjoyable but appreciated as more than mere fun. They help to develop the skills of teamwork, leadership, communication, presentation, and the personal and social qualities of commitment and resilience, all of which are vital for professional success and personal fulfilment. Universities and employers do not want robots. They want independent-minded self-starters who are willing to question, to experiment, to take risks and learn from experience.
3. Ashville prepares its pupils to live and work in a rapidly changing world:
We are very proud of our bespoke Future Ready programme introduced at Ashville two years ago. Future Ready focuses on employability skills and careers. We are intent on encouraging pupils to develop higher order skills in terms of interpersonal relations, IT competence, flexibility and adaptability, entrepreneurship, economic awareness and, not least, resilience.
4. Ashville recognises and takes account of the fact that young people are under greater pressure than has probably even been the case:
Although in many ways people in general are materially better off than at any time in history, we know that they are subject to greater psychological pressures than ever. For this reason, we take our wider responsibilities of nurture seriously. Our pastoral care as teachers, tutors, Heads of Year and Heads of School is excellent. We do all we can to provide proactive rather than reactive support. We work hard to recognise issues before they become problems. We have developed a relevant PHSE (Personal, Health, Social and Economic) programme and have a fully resourced Health and Wellbeing Centre which supports all our pupils, from 2-18, and their families. We are committed to encouraging young people to develop the resilience to confront issues and to be able to cope and flourish. We promote good behaviour and community-minded values.
5. Ashville is a happy and busy community:
We want all our pupils to love school. We want them to be happy and to leave at 18 with wonderful memories and the benefits of Ashville education. We all promote, and believe in, the idea that learning is intrinsically valuable and enjoyable, and we use initiatives to create an ethos of positivity and encouragement. We are committed to producing good people who will gain much from, and contribute much to, all the communities of which they are part.
Testimonials
