Oaks Park High School

Stanley Park High is a very successful mixed community school for students of all abilities between the ages of 11 and 19 years. Although we have a long history of schooling in the local area, in 2006 we were designated a ‘One School Pathfinder’ by the London Borough of Sutton. This designation required us to design a new school that not only responded to the outcomes in our vision statement, but it also had to be innovative and forward thinking in order to prepare our students for life in the 21st Century. In addition, it had to be an inspiration to other schools. We feel that we have got this right and our new state-of-the-art school opened in January 2012.

It goes without saying that Human Beings are a social species. Learning is a social activity. We understand that life in the 21st Century will be strongly dependent on social interaction. Consequently, we believe that the ability to form excellent relationships will be critical to our students’ learning and success in the future. Consequently, everything we do is designed to maximise the chances of such relationships. Our ‘Four Schools within One’ concept is central to this.

We are highly ambitious for the future success of the school, as we are for each student that is entrusted into our care. It is our belief that our nationally recognised curriculum structure and innovative approaches to learning and teaching, when coupled with our extremely high expectations, will provide the perfect platform for achievement and success.

Our Vision Statement is based on the fact that for children and adults to be inspired to learn it is our fundamental belief that our school provides:

• A curriculum that responds to the needs of each and every individual irrespective of their age and aptitude.
• Learning experiences that are diverse, flexible, rich, experiential and active.
• Positive, effective relationships within a collaborative and sustainable community.
• Academic, social and emotional intelligence.

A number of our students and staff are involved in action-research practices to improve learning and enquiry at SPH. These range from EPQ study and guided mentoring for our sixth form students; MA study through our partnership with St. Mary’s University, to classroom investigations led by students. We offer internship opportunities for Post-16 students (including a thriving partnership with students from High Tech High); a research base for external MA and PhD students (this year we have PhD colleagues researching our unique practices in one of our autism bases) and the opportunity to link-in with our MA programmes run by St. Mary’s (School Leadership and Pedagogy) held on-site here at SPH.

We believe that a gulf has opened up between what schools provide and what our children and young people need. We will ensure that our students are literate, numerate and gain academic qualification. However, our emphasis is not solely on testing and passing exams at the expense of other skills and qualities that we believe are just as vital in today’s and tomorrow’s world.

We offer engaging, collaborative and interactive learning processes that provide an ideal mix of theoretical and practical learning. As a result of this, our curriculum is recognised, both locally and nationally, as transforming the learning experience of all our students. Students study in a variety of contexts, which cater for all abilities, from the point of entry into school. This ensures the effective learning of all students.

We are charged with preparing our students for a future that nobody can predict, but will inevitably involve considerable and fast-paced changes. Key amongst these changes will be globalisation and busines innovation, with a move to an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world where all human lives will be intertwined, regardless of where they live on the planet. Much of this globalisation and business innovation will be the result of developments in the multi-media world.

Given this future, we are delighted to be an exciting, forward thinking and innovative school. Housed in a ‘state of the art’ building with facilities and equipment that fully meet the demands of learning, our vision statement is ‘Igniting a Passion for Learning’. This shows a strong commitment to our view tha education should be exciting and challenging so that it instils a love of learning. Consequently, whilst we fully support the need for our students to have the necessary knowledge and understanding to pass examinations, we strongly believe that the ability for any individual to succeed and be happy in the future will be strongly dependent on them acquiring a wider range of skills and attributes.