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December 2006
Dear Brian
You have kindly asked me a few times how Joe is
settling in at Grey Court and I thought you would appreciate a more
considered response than the quick “fine thanks” as we both rush to
work!
Joe’s time at Darell has prepared
him very well for a flying start at secondary school. Both Mark
and I consider the education he received at Darell to have been
excellent. The creativity and dedication of the Darell staff has
provided Joe with a momentum which will substantially support him
through his early years at Grey Court.
Joe has settled in very quickly
and is remarkably happy. He hasn’t had any Year 6/7 transition problems,
has made friends and is enjoying the wide mix of children at the school.
The transition work in Year 6 was very appropriate in terms of
encouraging responsibility and self-reliance. It seems to have paid
dividends and we’re very grateful. Darell sees its remit as wider than
just the academic and this has notable results. The teachers work hard
to maintain a positive attitude to learning both in the classroom and
with the wonderful enrichment activities and high quality school trips.
By ensuring that the children work at an appropriate level, the Darell
teachers provide an environment where the children are able to work
independently and confidently and are proud of what they achieve.
Joe is collecting certificates and prizes for
hard work and academic achievement and, despite enjoying the antics of
some of the more disruptive pupils at the school, he feels no peer
pressure to join in. My impression is that Darell children seem to be
very clear on the effects of acceptable and unacceptable behaviour and
mutual respect. By way of example, on Induction Day, the ex-Darell boys
were the only children to make friends with a Lithuanian boy who was
standing on his own at the back of the hall. Joe and friends have also
intervened to prevent another pupil being intimidated by peers. I have
often described this type of behaviour as “very Darell”.
At Darell the children are encouraged to see
individuality and the differences between people as positive and
life-enhancing. There is no uniform, no pressure to conform and all the
children’s differing contributions are celebrated. The ex-Darell boys at
Grey Court seem to be very caring, self-confident and morally aware and
this, at a time when many boys appear to lose their way, seems to me to
be as important as their academic achievements. They continue to benefit
from their education at an outstanding school! Please pass on our thanks
to all the staff.
Yours sincerely Debbie
and Mark Nellis
16 January 2007
Brian Glover
Acting Headteacher
Darell School
Dear Brian
I am writing
in response to your note in Monday’s newsletter. As a parent of three
Darell children, I want to express my gratitude to you in particular but
to the management and senior staff of the school as a whole.
In an age
when enormous pressure has been brought on schools to focus on skills
and results, Darell has remained committed to ethos, to the creation of
a school community. Our children have all been nurtured, engaged, and
inspired as well as taught and assessed. They have emerged from Darell
sensitive to other people, involved in their community, curious about
their country, concerned about the world. Of course, skills and results
have not suffered; they come naturally with the maturity and rounded
development that Darell works so hard to give.
I’d like to
pay particular tribute to the emphasis on the arts, not just on
creativity and self-expression, but also on observation and critical
analysis. At Darell Emily, Daniel, and Stevie have become acute and
incisive observers of pictorial art, music, architecture; they have been
very lucky indeed to have been part of your college, in the truest
sense, for children.
Yours
gratefully
Alan Hertz
Associate Professor of English and Humanities
Head of Humanities
Huron University London
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