This has been another exceptional year for Saracens High School and Saracens Multi-Academy Trust. We opened our Sixth Form in September with 120 students on our three distinctive pathways and this September we will have all seven year groups (Years 7-13) for the first time. 

We expect to have around 1150 young people and, to help make room for them, we will have a temporary extension built over the summer. This was something that we knew we would need since 2018 and it is why the school was planned as it was, with space for two extensions between the main building and the sports hall (unfortunately the DfE wouldn’t give it to us when they built the school).

There have been many notable achievements this year. We welcomed a new group of Year 7s, as well as 30 external applicants to Year 12, all of whom learnt about the values and how to live them. We helped prepare our Year 11s and some of the Year 12s for their public exams, and some of our pre-apprenticeship students have started their new apprenticeships already.

Away from the academic rigour, we have had great success with our cultural capital and personal development, including our Together We Create Arts week, visits to the theatre, cinema and museums, as well as some of the more challenging activities including paddle-boarding, Go Ape, and gliding, along with Duke of Edinburgh Bronze and Silver awards.

We have extended our work in the community, working with external groups and developing our parent offers: We hosted two courses teaching families the Jamie Oliver approach to healthy and economical cooking; we have hosted talks on the challenges of parenting; and we have had more groups using the building out of school hours. We will expand our parenting workshops in the new academic year, and I will be in touch with you in September to find out what you would like included in those, so please give it some thought over the summer.

Our Futures Programme has expanded again with more visits, speakers, workshops, work placements, and university visits than ever before, including the annual My Future, My Choice event with 74 inspiring visitors telling the pupils about their jobs. These partnerships are so important, because we all know it takes a village to raise a child, and an isolated family or school cannot do it alone – we must work together.

Our relationship with Saracens is thriving, and although both the men’s and women’s teams bowed out of the Premiership playoffs at the semi-final stage this year, the women won the Allianz Cup, in what proved to be Ms Green’s last game. After 22 years as a Saracens player, she is finally retiring from competitive rugby.

At the end of the year we always have to say goodbye to colleagues who are moving on. Leaving Saracens this year is Mrs Levy who has been on maternity leave and, after six years at Saracens, is moving to a part-time position in a school closer to home.

Mr Rudd, Mrs Fernandez, Miss Boxall, and Miss Anjali have all spent five years at Saracens. Mr Rudd is leaving behind his 70 mile-a-day round trip to join a school closer to home. Miss Anjali is taking on a team of colleagues in a large school library. Mrs Fernandez and Miss Boxall are both taking a break from teaching (I hope not for long because they are too good to not be teachers).

Miss Wilson, our Assistant SENDCO who has been with us for four years, is moving to the same school as Mrs Levy, in a teaching position. Miss Hasna is leaving us after just over two years to study for a PhD full-time. Miss Rahmani, Miss Khalil, Mrs Brown, and Dr Welderufal are also leaving us to take up positions in other schools. We thank all of them for their contribution to the school and wish them well. We are very fortunate to have such a talented and committed group of staff, and I am honoured to work with them.

Finally, we are on the threshold of a new phase for Saracens Multi-Academy Trust. From September, the High School will be full, Saracens Bell Lane will be part of the Trust, and we will soon start planning for the Saracens Primary School, which will open near Colindale Station in September 2026.

I am extremely grateful for the support you have given the school and your children throughout the year. I hope you all have a safe and enjoyable summer and look forward to seeing you in September.