Aylesbury High School
Vision & Mission
AHS Ethos – Strategy and Implementation
At AHS, the only girls' grammar in North Buckinghamshire, we are incredibly proud of our community; our students, staff and parents and carers.
In this unique environment, our girls take centre stage, and our meticulously crafted curriculum ensures that students build new knowledge and skills at an impressive rate. They develop into talented young adults, who are independent, strong and confident for their futures. Evidenced by Ofsted 2023
'Pupils are, rightly, proud to attend this excellent school. The school is unashamedly ambitious for all pupils, and students meet its exceptionally high expectations, excelling academically and flourishing into well-rounded individuals.'
In our ambition to ensure that each of our students achieves their full potential, our focus is not only on what is learnt, but also on how it is learnt. Our students are encouraged to embrace the many roles and opportunities on offer and to approach the over 25 subjects that we offer with confidence, learning to trust in their own abilities.
‘This is a calm and joyful place. Pupils know that they are fortunate to attend this school. They love learning and demonstrate exceptional maturity in all lessons. Pupils are highly respectful of each other. Relationships between staff and pupils are warm and kind, which helps strengthen pupils’ exceedingly strong attitudes to learning.’
At AHS, we offer wide-ranging, dynamic co-curricular opportunities, which further enable our students to develop resilient bravery, curious engagement and selfless generosity. With over 700 leadership opportunities for our student body, over 100 clubs and societies and over 70 trips each year, that travel to London, or Madrid, or Sri Lanka, students develop strong moral and social characters through the carefully delivered wider curriculum.
AHS is a place of leadership and teamwork, and a place where community and collaboration, innovation and self-efficacy flourish. We are educating our students to become global changemakers—the people we need to help solve the world’s biggest challenges. Research shows that students at girls’ schools are inspired to become informed, engaged global citizens who lead with courage, competence, and empathy. It has proven that students from girls’ schools display stronger community involvement, greater cultural competency, and increased political engagement. Research also shows that girls’ schools foster students’ voices and encourage students to exercise their voice at a young age; at AHS, students are encouraged and expected to speak their minds. With our valued and respected brother school, Aylesbury Grammar School (AGS), literally across the road, we are able to provide an unparalleled breadth of opportunities and experiences that allows our students to thrive.
Our students evidence our AHS values on a daily basis, they are our greatest ambassadors. So, whilst our results speak for themselves, our students speak for us and we invite you to come and see this for yourself. We are a happy school, a busy school, an inclusive school where students can take risks without fear of failure, and we are a high-achieving school. We have boundless aspiration.
Vision:
Developing uniquely talented young adults, who are independent, strong and confident.
Mission:
A girls’ grammar school creating a welcoming environment which draws the very best from all in our community.
Achieved by providing an ambitious education that stimulates creative and critical thinking, values diversity and facilitates dynamic personal development.
Values:
Through the curricular and co-curricular activities we nurture and develop these core values through all of our community:
Boundless aspiration
Embrace challenges and growth: aim high, know where you are headed, be true to yourself and take the lead.
Learn from setbacks and celebrate achievements: embrace mistakes as learning opportunities and take pride in your accomplishments.
Be disciplined: plan and execute thoughtfully, break down complex tasks into manageable steps, consider the best approach and work to achieve it.
Resilient bravery
Be brave: step outside your comfort zone and take a risk but know that it's OK to ask for help.
Be persistent: believe in yourself and persevere, even when things get tough.
Stand up for what you believe in: confront a challenging topic and speak up when you feel something is wrong.
Curious engagement
Be inquisitive: ask questions to delve deeper, consider how your learning links to wider contexts and think critically about what you see, hear and read.
Immerse yourself: get involved in the learning opportunities available to you both in and out of school, be an active participant and try something new.
Be imaginative: take the initiative and explore a little further - research a career, visit somewhere interesting, enter a competition.
Selfless generosity
Be part of our community where everyone feels like they belong: be kind, embrace diversity and act with integrity.
Work collaboratively and be a team player: value what others say, give constructive feedback, show reliability and commitment.
Care for your environment: clear up after yourself, recycle and reuse what you can, put litter in the bin.
British Values and AHS Values
At Aylesbury High school we foster our school values to embed students understanding of the British Values.
Students will gain an understanding of Respect by:
An expectation to treat each other and staff with respect, in line with our Rewards and Behaviour Policy.
Buddy System
L4L curriculum, including topics such as
anti bullying & relationships
Young Carers
Assemblies
Students will gain an understanding of Tolerance by:
Learning about and celebrating diversity, different faiths & cultures (e.g. cultural dress day)
Dining Hall menus celebrating different cultures
Spectrum Lunchtime club
ID Ambassadors
Discussing & debating different views in all subjects
Prayer Room
Assemblies and events
Students will gain an understanding of Law by:
Understanding value of responsibility in terms of behaviour and attitude to learning
Learning about wider responsibilities in the local community & internationally
Student Code of Conduct
Anti Bullying policy
E-Safety
Being encouraged to report their concerns
Cabinet and Ambassador roles
Year 7 & 8 Bikeability
Year 8 Mock Trial competition
Year 10 Work on Human Rights
Students will gain an understanding of Democracy by:
Student voice
Leadership roles such as Cabinet, House Captains and Form Reps
Student surveys
Charities and Student fundraising
Support from the pastoral team
Current Issues
School wide mock elections
Students will gain an understanding of Liberty by:
The freedom to make choices through a safe and supportive environment
Reward and sanction policy
Engagement with our extensive co curricular clubs, freedom to base their choices on their interests
L4L curriculum
AHS values
Academic decisions and future pathways
Careers Talks
Option Evenings