Headteacher hopes to 'remove the glass ceiling' for students by doing things differently at new Manor Drive Academy

The headteacher of the new school in Peterborough hopes to “remove the glass ceiling” for students by doing things differently.

Manor Drive Primary and Secondary Academy opened its doors to its first ever cohort of students in nursery, reception and Year 7 this week.

Jo Sludds, headteacher of Manor Drive Secondary Academy, said that the school wants to do things differently to give every student the opportunity to be “successful and fulfil their potential.”

The school will extend school days and mix classroom abilities

“The school’s mantra of knowledge, strength, respect and ambition encompasses everything we do and strive to achieve,” Mrs Sludds, who has been involved in education in Peterborough since 2003, said.

"We want to provide our students with the best opportunities and empower them to become both strong and resilient."

Classes and learning groups at schools are traditionally determined based on the ability of students in each of the subjects they study.

However Manor Drive Secondary Academy hopes to differentiate itself from other schools by only having ‘mixed-ability’ classes to promote equal opportunity for all students during their first two years (Year 7 and 8) at the school.

"We want to remove the glass ceiling for students to give them all an equal opportunity to succeed,” Mrs Sludds, who was formerly assistant head at Arthur Mellows Village College, added.

"Students will all be taught the same core material in their mixed-ability classes but they will be placed into one of three categories for learning and given activities based on their rate of development.”

Development is judges by ‘stretch’, which is for students at the top-end of the class; ‘secure’, for those who are learning at the rate they are expected to be and ‘scaffold’, for students who need need extra support to get to where they need to be.

"Our classes will not be numbered based on ability and are instead named after a letter in ‘manor’.”

The school day at Manor Drive Secondary will be longer than most schools from Monday to Thursday – running from 8.30am to 3.45pm.

"The reason for the extended school day is so we could make enrichment part of the curriculum,” she said.

"We want to make enrichment accessible for everyone because if it is made optional the children who need it most won’t do it."

Enrichment subjects will take place for half an hour each day from Monday to Thursday and aim to allow students to work on their mind, body, goals and targets.

However, the school day on Fridays will be much shorter – from 8.30am to 2pm – with either an assembly celebrating the success of students or inter-house competitions taking place for half an hour every week at 1.30pm.

Mrs Sludds’ vision is that every child will be mentioned in an assembly at least once every half-term because “every child is special”.

She added that it will give staff time to work on their professional development.

"Opening the school this week was a proud and emotional moment,” she said.

"We hope to welcome more students at the school in the future, and invite them and their parents to our upcoming open day next month – on October 6.”