Head’s Weekly Update

As you read through this newsletter you will get a sense of the depth of work that has been going on behind the scenes. I am determined to ensure that September starts with pace and purpose and that your children relish their daily life at Pangbourne. 

Academic Rigour

With one eye on the future, our other eye is firmly on exam season. I want to start by congratulating all pupils taking public examinations for their continued diligence in their revision and attitude towards their exams. As we head towards May Half Term, it is at this point where their energy may start to wane but please continue to encourage them and keep them focussed as the weeks will pass very quickly after Half Term. 

I want to thank staff for their hard work in preparing the Year 10s for their recent exams. Whilst I like to maintain a healthy dose of scepticism, the Year 10 results are really positive. There is about a grade of improvement compared to last year’s Y10 exams in terms of both absolute grade and value added. That is a really significant step forward. We have done some analysis of past trends from Y10 exams to the final GCSEs. If we can maintain the normal level of progress shown over the past few years (and I’d hope we can do even better than that), we would achieve nearly 40% 9-7, more than 95% 9-4 and a value added of +1.2. This would place us significantly above our competitors and set our students up well to live a life of choice and opportunity. 

Announcement of Student Division Allocations

As you will remember from previous communications, the announcement of the Divisional Allocation of pupils will be emailed to pupils this evening to minimise any disruption to those pupils taking public examinations. Many hours (days) of planning and reviewing have been put into the allocation of pupils to the Divisions by my senior staff, the Pastoral & Learning Support Teams and the Sports Department. 

I want to remind everyone that my decision on this matter is final.  Dealing with change is an important part of life and an opportunity for pupils to grow and develop resilience and strength of character. This is an opportunity for our students to find out that they are able to rely on themselves to get to the other side – that allows them to build the scaffolding of the sense of self that they will need to rely on for the rest of their lives. We have worked through multiple iterations and reviewed this very carefully. As this is a multi-dimensional model, any change has a knock-on effect and cannot be seen in isolation. 

Staffing Update - Boarding Houses and Divisions from September 2025

To coincide with the announcement of the pupils’ Divisions, it is with great pleasure that I can share with you the staff who will be leading the Divisions and Boarding Houses from September 2025. These brand new roles will enhance the pastoral care and support we offer to our pupils and we are excited to be welcoming experienced and passionate staff to join the Pangbourne community to work alongside our existing brilliant staff members. 

Please do take the time to read the staff biographies here but in summary: 

Boarding Houses: 

• Shannon Flynn – Head of House, St George

• Jackie Turner - Deputy Head of House, St George

• Paul Radford - Head of House, Port Jackson

• Maddie White – Deputy Head of House, Port Jackson

Pastoral Divisional Leads: 

• Harbinger- Jehan Dyer

• Hesperus - Laura Besley-Piggott 

• Illawarra - Donatienne Poitrat

• Macquarie - Steph Kingsland
  

Head of Junior House, Dunbar:

• Ian Hart 

Staffing Update - Assistant Director of Rowing

In addition to the recruitment of these staff, we are thrilled to announce the appointment of Harry Brightmore as Assistant Director of Rowing. Harry is an Olympic gold medallist having coxed the British Men’s Eight to victory at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris. Harry will be supporting Ed Green who will be joining the College from September 2025 as Director of Rowing. The appointment of these two experienced coaches will ensure we deliver against our ongoing commitment to our Rowing Performance Programme.  Please do read their biographies here. 

We are fortunate that Harry is able to start at Pangbourne immediately to help with the rowing programme and regattas this term. I am sure many of you will get the opportunity to meet him soon. He will also be running our Summer Holiday Rowing Camps. Places are limited so if your child is interested in doing the camp, please book your place as soon as possible – information about dates and how to book are included in the Notices section below.

Boat Club Planning Application

It is also with great excitement that I can share that the new Boat Club planning application is now live. It would be much appreciated if you could take a few minutes to submit a comment to support the application.  Further details about the application (25/00885/FUL) can be found on the West Berkshire Council website here and in the document here. You can submit comments of support here.   

Founders’ Day Schedule - Saturday 5 July
Finally, we are delighted to share with you the schedule for Founders’ Day on Saturday 5 July here. We look forward to welcoming you to recognise the successes of all the pupils this academic year and to celebrate the Upper Sixth Class of 2025 as we bid them a fond farewell. 

I am looking forward to fully embracing the Adventure Curriculum at the start of next week, when I will  join the Year 9 pupils on their Adventure Training Week and Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Bronze Expeditions in Llangorse. 

Best wishes

Oliver Knight