Primary
Sam Khan
I was born and grew up in London, England. If any of you are familiar with the sport of Rugby Union, I grew up very close to Twickenham Stadium! I graduated in History from the University of Teeside in 1992, and in 1999 completed my P.G.C.E. and have now been an educationalist for over 17 years. As well as my teaching experience, I have a total of 12 years of experience as a curriculum manager and school leader, having served as an Assistant Head, a Deputy Head and Head Teacher. In my most recent role, in the Middle East , I worked as a School Improvement Consultant. I am a passionate believer in the transformational nature of education and learning. I believe that children learn best when they enjoy their learning and feel secure when facing tasks that are stimulating and challenging. Pupils should feel valued in the classroom and feel confident that enthusiasm and good learning will be met with recognition and praise from the teacher and peers. As a school leader I am committed to the challenge of motivating the whole school community to help every individual pupil realise his or her talents, whilst at the same time ensuring that our pupils are empowered with the essential skills to be able to make a positive contribution in an increasingly globalised world of rapid change and innovation. I believe that schools where success is celebrated, and challenges faced head on in a professional culture of support, trust and honesty are schools that ensure the best possible outcomes for all its students. As a school leader I am committed to creating an empowering and enabling school culture with a powerful ethos of positivity and hard work.
We believe in a well-grounded ambitious education that seeks to imbue students with the four key aspects of our community: integrity, responsibility, curiosity and endeavour. We enable our students to look beyond what they feel is possible, both within and outside the classroom; we encourage an atmosphere of friendship, collegiality and mutual respect whilst also retaining the love of competitiveness which comes so naturally, and we require our students to engage with the wider world in preparation for their adult lives. All of these aspects help every student to gain a genuine sense of self belief which will provide the strongest possible foundations for their future.
HeadStart Primary School aims to educate children in a warm and caring environment where the highest possible standards are set. The school aims to encourage boys and girls to achieve their individual best by gaining appropriate skills and awareness in order to be prepared for the next stage of their education.
In our view children will succeed when they:
- Benefit from our collective responsibility to improve their life chances
- Enjoy learning while engrossed in the curriculum
- Have high expectations of themselves and their role in the community
- Have a sense of belonging to their community
- Participate in high quality learning experiences
- Learn skills and knowledge which interest them
- See themselves as lifelong learners
- Have aspirations for their future
- Feel cared for and understood
- Feel valued as individuals
- Feel safe and secure
- Attend regularly
The aims of education are to enable students to understand the world around them and the talents within them so that they can become fulfilled individuals and active, compassionate citizens: we encapsulate this through our motto – ‘Inspiring a love of learning’.
Our Three Guiding principles
At HeadStart we try to incorporate three guiding principles in everything that we do – in our lessons, on the playing fields and at break times, as well as before and after school and when we are with friends and family. These principles are a recurring theme and they are embedded throughout our broad and balanced curriculum. They are:
- Self reliance
- Positive thinking
- Leaving people and places in a better state than when you found them
