Head’s Weekly Update

Academic rigour

One of the areas we are looking closely at this year is AI and how we can use it both academically and operationally to streamline work and leverage the benefits whilst avoiding the traps. Operationally we are looking at how we can use emerging tech to reduce bureaucracy and enable us to dedicate our time to the main thing - your children. As a self-proclaimed Luddite and very late adopter of tech you will have noticed that, having written my welcome back letter, I ran it through AI to try to moderate my normal glass-half-empty mindset to a more upbeat glass-half-full view of the world. Whilst this is a bit clunky and no doubt turned me into an overly-excited Californian, it is good for us to play around with these things and see where the upsides are. We are also piloting using AI to turn our weekly newsletter into a podcast as well so you can listen to a summary each week. We will get better at this as the year progresses. We are fortunate to have been working with some current parents who are real leaders in this space to guide our work. 

Academically we are looking at how we can use some of the emerging tools such as Notebook LM to remove hours from a teacher's workload and enhance the quality of the revision tools we can provide students. Our Heads of Department are currently experimenting with this to ensure that any information we feed Notebook is validated and curated by experts. Once we have got comfortable with this tool we will begin a pilot roll out with the Sixth Form. Notebook LM will, based on the information you feed it, create multiple choice quizzes, mind maps, podcasts and answer direct questions. So it can be a very powerful tool for revision if used correctly. We are also looking at how we can train students to utilise tools such as ChatGPT to help them design revision timetables and manage their work streams. We have a very clear Academic Integrity Policy that details how we can and can’t use AI. Tech is never going to replace a teacher and the central role of human relationships in learning but it can liberate us from bureaucracy and enable us to spend more time thinking with our students. 

We are intentionally not rushing into this area and will learn from past mistakes the sector has made; for example when schools all spent tens of thousands of pounds on interactive whiteboards under the promise that they would revolutionise learning. They just became expensive bits of wall to project a PowerPoint onto and have now mostly been consigned to the scrap heap. I have a similar view of virtual reality headsets and other devices that promise much but deliver little of real value to learning. 

Adventure 

We were delighted to see in our recent Parent survey feedback a deep love for this area of College life. Our adventure programme is designed to give us a real edge and open up the campus in all its glory to our students. 

I am going to keep this section brief this week as we will have a longer round-up next week. Needless to say we are delighted with the recent wins for the 1st XV and 2nd XV rugby teams and have our fingers crossed for the Hockey night games vs LWC tonight. 

Community

Over the years the College has experimented with different models of community organisation and how we can foster a sense of belonging and shared vision between the various elements of the Pangbourne world. We have decided to go back to an earlier model, with refinements and modifications, to bring a layer of strategy and alignment to our wider community work. This model operates under the banner of the Pangbournian Community Advisory Board (PCAB) and is similar to the model used by many of the great schools we wish to emulate as we seek to regain our place amongst the leading independent schools in the country. 

The PCAB has been established to bring together members of our wider Pangbournian Community — alumni, parents, former parents and friends — to strengthen connections across all areas of College life. Its purpose is to foster alignment and collaboration, helping to build enduring relationships that will benefit the College’s long-term future. You will have seen before the half-term break the new Pangbournian Magazine (celebrating all of the great work of the 24/25 academic year) and Pangbournian Connect, our refreshed portal, which are designed to enable even more networking, careers and mentoring opportunities for all members of the community. This is an exciting development for the College and promises to deliver real value for the entire community. 

Looking ahead, from September 2026, the College will be introducing Year Group Parent Ambassadors, a new initiative borrowed from Rugby School, to deepen engagement within and between year groups and the College. Parent Ambassadors will all meet termly as a group with the SLT to discuss life at the College and how we can continually improve and enhance our offer. We will be writing out in due course to seek interest from current parents and guardians for these important roles. 

Leadership

We will be announcing the next set of Upper Sixth Leadership roles next week. Well done to all students who put themselves forward for consideration. 

I would like to thank all the parents who completed the parental survey over half term. It has been really useful to gather everyone’s feedback to help us plan any refinements and next steps in the development plans for the College across a number of different aspects of College life. We had a good response across all year groups and all divisions as well as a huge amount of positive feedback. In particular, that your children feel both safe and happy at the College was over 90%. Similarly, it was refreshing to see that most of the feedback also aligns with what we are already actioning or have on our radar for potential future projects. We will be giving you an update on what actions are being taken in the newsletter in the run up to Christmas.

Best wishes,

Oliver Knight