SMAT’s principal activity is to advance, for the public benefit, education in the United Kingdom, by establishing, maintaining, carrying on, managing and developing schools offering a broad and balanced curriculum. A further object is to promote the provision of facilities for recreation and other leisure activities for people living close to the schools. The main objective for the 2020/21 financial year was the successful growth of Saracens High School in its second year of operation. The school, which opened on 4th September 2018, is non-selective and provides education for pupils of different abilities between the ages of 11 and 19. This school opened with 157 pupils, rising to 665 in 2021/22. It will grow organically as each year group is admitted to reach a total of 1130 pupils in 2024. The pupils are drawn from the local area in accordance with the local authority's admission arrangements, which the school committed to for applicants for the 2021 academic year. Our state of the art building, which opened in October 2021, has exceptional facilities. Our School is one that from the moment a person enters the building they will know it is a place where the learner is empowered to “be the best that they can possibly be”; where the individual abilities of each pupil are recognised; and where character education and life skills, as well as academic excellence, are at the core of all we do.
The Trust also continued working towards opening of a primary school on the Grahame Park Estate, with an expected opening date of September 2024.
The school’s values, taken from the Saracens organisation, are discipline, hard work, honesty, and humility. The school aims to embed these values, for pupils to ‘live’ them in and out of school to enable them to take advantage of opportunities, responsibilities and experience of later life. These are particularly important given the profile of social disadvantage in the local community. Our 2019 cohort pupils were, on average, academically 11 months behind their chronological age. The school was committed to ensuring those pupils could read in line with their chronological age by the end of Year 9. However, due to the periods of disruption from Covid19, we have as yet been unable to close the reading age gap. The 2019 and 2020 cohorts continue to have a deficit slightly greater than one year on average. The new 2021 cohort of Year 7s have a gap of 2 years. Two thirds of our 2018 cohort have been tested and testing will be completed during the Autumn term. We are working hard to close the reading gap; our new family read strategy will see all learning groups reading a novel together each half term. The aim is to develop a love of reading for enjoyment and provide daily practice. In order to help pupils develop to be the best they can be, with a passion for making a positive contribution to their community, the trustees and governors believe that pupils must explore all their talents and experience a wide range of opportunities. To this end the school looks to ensure that the curriculum is broad, balanced, relevant, and personalised. Culture, character, and community are central to the ethos of the school, and all pupils are working towards qualifications in character education. So far, 289 children have achieved the Apprentice Award, 49 have completed the Pioneer Award and 69 have achieved the Graduate Award. The pastoral system has six houses, which are used to foster the feeling of family. Each house is split into two Learning Groups in each year, giving a ratio of 13 pupils to one Learning Coach. This promotes a strong family relationship between the Learning Coach and pupils and their families. Most pupils live on the local estate and many have limited experience beyond it. Partnerships with Watford Grammar School for Boys, Mill Hill and Belmont Independent Schools have provided opportunities for pupils to mix with children from different backgrounds and provides a rich experience for all involved, although these activities had to be curtailed this academic year due to Covid19. Extracurricular opportunities were curtailed during the majority of the year but, as activities opened up in the summer term, we made the most of ‘Making Memories’ trips to the beach, lido, mini golf, bowling, exploring in Monken Hadley park, Royal Air Force Museum, ice skating and water sports. In the summer term similarly, a weekly programme of after school activities offered by staff were re-started including a science club, gardening club, language leaders, sports, arts and music clubs. Saracens Sports Foundation provided coaching for dance. After the end of the summer term we were able to welcome over 100 of the Year 6 children who would become our new Year 7s to a week-long summer school, to meet staff and start getting to know our school. The summer school had an Olympics theme and included a day long sports trip to StoneX Stadium where Saracens Rugby Club is based. As the only school in the country associated with a professional sports team, promoting healthy and active lifestyles are important. Pupils in Years 7 and 8 have three PE lessons each week, opportunities to take part in a number of sports clubs, and through our family lunch, eat a healthy and nutritious meal every day.
