Looking beyond the data

Mrs Sasha Davies, Headteacher of Kew Green Preparatory School, reflects on the importance of fostering self-esteem and actively seeking new opportunities to ensure that our children thrive.

Our pupils are growing up in a complex and nuanced world, steered by rapid change and continuing elements of the unknown. For schools, it’s good to be nimble; good to be adaptable.

Every school is a microcosm of the society in which it sits, and schools therefore need toaccept the changing landscape, and move forward - unafraid to take a new and innovative approach. It’s a time to avoid complacency and allow our aims and culture to evolve, taking risks where necessary to remain purposeful, responsive, and proactive. Keeping the child and who they are becoming at the heart of all our decisions.

Whilst pupil data must still hold an important place in all schools, it’s now fundamental to look beyond the measurable outcomes within academic subjects, recognising the importance of the skills and aptitudes that we know our pupils will need to thrive in the wider world, with self-esteem at the core. As the great African poet Maya Angelou said: “My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humour and some style”, an aspiration for all our pupils.

Our ethos at Kew Green Preparatory School reflects this view, underpinned by our expectations to empower, motivate, and inspire. We aim to provideour pupils with the knowledge, skills and values to shape a brighter future for themselves and society at large. We aim to equip them with a strong moral compass, educated so they embrace opportunities and make a positive contribution.

It is the non-academic experiences - the co-curricular subjects such as Art & DT, Music and Sports, alongside the learning and experiences that happens outside of the classroom through extra-curricular opportunities and a rich school calendar - where we see the most personal growth. Whether it’s on the sports pitch, overcoming the nerves of a school swimming gala, performing on the stage in front of a large audience, debating an opinion orachieving in new experiences and challenges as part of a residential; it is in these situations where our pupils become leaders of and responsible for their own character development, growing and achieving beyond academic data.

The leadership culture in any school plays a vital role too in this as it is through the leadership culture that the talents of other people can come to the fore; the role of the teacher is to draw out the talent that exists in our pupils.As a result,our pupils develop independence, an inner ‘grit’ and determination to achieve through hard work and perseverance, progressing and achieving through their own endeavors, while nurturing and developing self-esteem along the way.

As a Headteacher in a London Prep school, pupil data continues to drive the 11+ options for many pupils but it does not (and must not)define a child as a success or a failure. They are so much more than their data. I urge us to look beyond the data and recognise our complex, nuanced and rapidly changing world; educating to embrace opportunity, achieve through endeavour and develop self-esteem along the way.

This article first appeared in the 2024/25 edition of Which London School? & the South-East, which you can read in full below: