A blog that isn’t just about attendance or reading for once!

As mentioned last week, we had our Open Evening on the 18th September and the school was full of excitement and hopes for the future. For many Year 6 (and 5) children, one of the key questions is what clubs and activities are on offer beyond the classroom. The answer is LOADS! We have a strong and growing extra curricular offer at MHS, and the uptake so far in the first three weeks of the year has been really encouraging. To date over 350 different students have taken part in one activity or another, and we’re always keen to see new faces. The current offer is available here: Clubs – Marple Hall School and includes something for everyone.

Not only that, but we also have activities for those who cannot stay after school or who want to extend their extra curricular experience even further. Our digital discoveries programme is pretty unique, but enables students and the whole family to try something new from the comfort of their own homes. Go on…check it out – you might be surprised by what you learn! Digital Discoveries – Home

Of course one of the biggest extra curricular things events is the full school production, a chance for creative and artistic students to come together to put on a fantastic show. This time around it is ‘Sister Act’, with performances on Wed 10th to Fri 12th December. There are still some tickets left so please have a look. I promise you, the standard is amazing! Tickets available via 🎭 Sister Act Tickets: Book here

As the old saying goes, ‘the more you put in, the more you get out’. I’m hoping to see even more students getting stuck in this year than ever before.

Best wishes

Joe Barker

It’s Thursday night and this year’s Open Evening is starting to wind down. It’s been a fantastic evening, with a huge turnout of families and prospective new students in attendance. Once upon a time we didn’t fill the hall for the two talks that I gave, and now we were full for all three speeches – and standing room only for the second and third. It’s wonderful to know that people are keen to learn more about the education we offer here, and that is something that I will never take for granted.

Big thanks to all my colleagues for their planning, preparation and their energy this evening. It’s been a long day in school but your smiles and enthusiasm said it all. Huge thanks too to the 200 or so students who came in to help show off their school, I love that you are as proud of MHS as I am. Special thanks to Miss Cook for pulling the event together, and of course to Martha and Evan – Head Girl and Head Boy – who delivered wonderfully assured speeches. You were great!

I hope that everyone who attended enjoyed the evening and that it’s helped you make up your mind about your secondary school of choice, whether that is here or somewhere else.

For now though, it’s home time!

Best wishes

Joe Barker

You wait a few years for the chance to invest in the school site and buildings, and then three things come along at once…

Money is tight in education these days, and especially so at a poorly funded school like Marple Hall. I make no apology for referencing this fact on a regular basis, as the inequality in school funding really does matter and shouldn’t be swept under the carpet – which is what successive governments of different colours have always tried to do.

However, despite this, we’ve managed to keep investing in the physical spaces at MHS at regular intervals. The last ‘big’ project was the £400K refurb of the 3G pitch back in 2021, something that has pretty much already paid for itself with the increase in bookings from local sports clubs. Now, in 2025, we’re seeing the result of two major pieces of work.

Firstly, as an academy, we have been successful in securing around £1.1 million to replace the decrepit roofs in Bradshaw building along with upgrading all the internal and external doors in Isherwood. This is investment that wouldn’t ever have been possible before academisation.

Secondly, working closely with the Local Authority, we are in the final three months of a £3 million project to build a new building on site for the first time in almost 20 years. The new building will accommodate our Elements resource unit, along with small group rooms, two new changing rooms for PE and a modern new toilet facility for students. All these spaces are much needed and we are excited about getting the keys around January 2026. Not long now!

The building works are ongoing across the site at the moment, and I have been very impressed with how the students have listened to instructions and are ignoring the works completely. I expected nothing less from our very mature and sensible student body.

I am of course grateful that money exists for capital projects such as these…but I would also love for proper funding for the ‘day to day’ stuff too.

More pictures of the new build to follow when it’s finished,

Have a great weekend,

Joe Barker

And there we are, back to school. And what a pleasure it’s been too. I have the privilege as Headteacher of speaking to all 1550 students at the start of the year across five assemblies – Years 7 and 11 on Tuesday and Years 8,9 and 10 on Wednesday. I have to say that I absolutely loved it. I’m not ignorant of the fact that for many teenagers in the hall, the absolute last thing they wanted to be doing was to be up before 8am and sitting in a hall listening to me at 9am…but they masked that well and were a delight. It was great welcoming the new Year 7s, encouraging the Year 8s to lead by example, challenging the Year 9s to earn the right to choose whatever options they want for next year, praise the Year 10s for spectacular Spanish, French, Sports or Art results in the summer and set the bar high for Year 11 as they enter their final year. They have the chance to be the most successful cohort in the history of MHS and I’m excited about the prospect of working alongside them.

One key ingredient is of course turning up to school, and arriving on time. The link between attendance and learning is absolutely nailed on. Apologies for the slightly blurry quality of the graph below, but this is national data showing how average attendance directly impacts average ‘Progress 8’ – which is the measure of how much a child has developed from Year 6 to Year 11 in their best 8 subjects. Attendance is across the bottom and progress up the side, the higher the better, where zero is average. I’m only a history teacher but even I can tell that higher attendance leads to better results. So, as I shared in the article from the BBC in my previous blog, I urge everyone to do all they can to maximise a child’s attendance and help them achieve their potential. If you need help with this then don’t hesitate to get in touch. We know that getting kids to school can be a challenge and we have strategies to help, so as soon as you spot an issue then please reach out.

Best wishes

Joe Barker

It’s Monday afternoon at the start of the new term and all staff are in school for a training day. It’s an essential time allowing colleagues to be ready to properly welcome our students back to school.

Just a reminder, we are looking forward to seeing all of Year seven and eleven students on Tuesday 2nd September, and the whole school back on Wednesday 3rd September. I hope that everyone has had a relaxing and enjoyable break and are ready for the academic year ahead.

Regular readers of this blog will know that there are two consistent themes to my messages home. One is the power of reading and how beneficial it is to all children, and the other is the importance of good attendance at school. On attendance, it’s been known for a couple of years now that making a strong start really does pay off. As this BBC article shows, students who are in every day at the start of the term are MUCH more likely to have good attendance all year, where as missing just one day in the first week more often than not leads to lower attendance across the year. It really is a case of starting as you mean to go on.

So, as we start the new term, I’ll urge all families to do their absolute best to encourage full attendance this week and next. It will make a huge difference longer term. As always, if you would like support in helping your child to get into good attendance habits then please get in touch with the relevant Head of Year.

Best wishes and here’s to a great 2025-2026 at MHS

Joe Barker