Film School!

One of the jobs we worked on during the summer term was the making of a new school video. This proved to be a time-consuming process, but one which we feel has been very worthwhile, not just because we have a lovely new school video, but more importantly because it made us focus on what exactly makes Hanford different.

We started by looking at lots of videos on other school websites to see what made us get the “feel” of a school. What we found is that there was a distinct pattern to a school promotional video, and this wasn’t what we wanted for Hanford as we feel we really do have a unique offer. This encouraged us to look further than the usual production companies and we found a brilliant little company which has built itself up slowly but steadily over the past five years making a wide range of content. What we liked about them was the time they took to really try to understand what we felt was special about Hanford and what messages we wanted to convey. Each step of the way they listened to us and challenged us to really get to the heart of what makes Hanford special. This was an extremely useful exercise as it made us stop and think about what really matters and whether we are doing what we say we do. It provided an opportunity to reflect on our offer and to ask ourselves what needs to be done as we move forward under the new government.

This was a very timely exercise as there is no place for complacency in independent education. The application of VAT on school fees will squeeze many parents who are already making sacrifices in other areas of their lives because they believe an independent education is the best for their children. Our duty, therefore, is to make sure we are providing an excellent educational experience and in our fast-changing world there are core values that we must enshrine in our offer but also the challenge of making sure that our girls are future proof and future ready. The new Secretary of State for Education is placing more emphasis on life skills, transferable skills and breadth and depth of education. We know, through our video making process and time of reflection that this is exactly what we do, but we also have a strong vision of how we are going to build on and improve what we offer the girls here at Hanford. We have a heavy focus on practical skills allied with intellectual thought and we are going to work to extend our curriculum even further through adopting an enrichment programme focusing on real life skills. We are going to look at how we can work with, and within the local community, to preserve those things which have been in danger of getting lost, but which we know are crucial for our mental and physical health. We are blessed with an amazing site and are now part of a strong group of schools, the Sherborne Schools Group, and this will help us ensure that we don’t sit back. Exciting times are ahead, and we are looking forward to sharing our belief in a practical, creative curriculum, making full use of the outdoors but with rigorous academic standards underpinning all that we do.

And so back to our video. Please do take a look at it on our website or social media. We hope that it shows how important childhood, family, belonging and endless possibilities are to us. Then, perhaps you’d like to come and see for yourselves if that’s really true!