Our ethos is essentially one of togetherness, of warmth, openness and inclusivity, a feeling that we care for each other, that we treat each other with humanity, that collectively we are strong enough to face challenges and retain our integrity.

We place a strong emphasis on our “PRIDE” values: Personal Excellence, Respect and Friendship, Inspiration, Determination and Courage, and Equality. These were originally the Olympic and Paralympic values and, through them, we aim to combine both academic success and the development of the broader aspects of each student’s character.

We believe that there are many ways to be successful at Kingsbury High: our students are able to excel academically, in performance and in sport, as leaders and enthusiastic participants. Likewise, there are many ways in which our teachers can teach and still be successful in enabling our students to love learning and to make progress, many ways in which our staff can contribute to the life of the school and to its happiness.

We have a strong sense of tradition but know that we can't rest on that: that while the most prestigious schools in the land effortlessly achieve the twin tracked success of academic aspiration and enrichment through participation beyond the curriculum, we must actively plan and promote them both so that the opportunities we offer are seized by as many of our students as possible.

We want to achieve for our students the best possible outcomes, of course, and that includes the grades they need to progress, but that’s not grades for their own sake – or for the school’s performance. We’re proud of the grades we achieve – and the progress our students make – but we know there’s more to school and life than that.

We keep an eye on Ofsted and try to remain matter-of-factly prepared, but it doesn’t loom large in the school. We don’t grade lessons, nor our performance as a school, the argument being that what counts is how we try to improve, not the numbers we assign to our students, our colleagues or ourselves.

Wherever each of us stands as to how close Kingsbury High is to reaching these ideals, we believe that the school will become a better place for having more nearly attained them.