Teacher of Science

A message from Justine Mason, Principal of Hele’s School

I take great pleasure in welcoming you to Hele’s School! We are a school with a tradition of academic excellence, high aspirations and a big heart. A school that students and staff are proud to attend. A school where we never compromise our insistence that everyone is valued, learns, enjoys and achieves. Expectations for staff and students are high, but very simple; work hard both to do things right and to do the right thing…even when no one is looking!

Our mission is to support and challenge each individual, adult or child, to be the best they can be. We have a ‘no excuses’ philosophy based on growth mindset principles, which reinforces our belief that all of us can always improve, and that nothing is impossible. Quite simply, it isn’t about being ‘the best’ at something, but being better than we were yesterday or today. It is for this reason that recognising and celebrating endeavour, as well as achievement, is something we hold dear.

We work hard at providing an inclusive, calm, and purposeful learning environment, and aim to ensure all students have opportunities to enrich their learning, to discover new skills and interests, and to master others through providing a breadth of curricular and extra-curricular opportunities to excite and engage young people, wherever their interests or aspirations may lie.

I am extremely proud to lead a dedicated and enthusiastic team of staff who are passionate about working with young people, and are committed to ensuring that those entrusted in our care get the best life chances possible. Everything we do is shaped by our determination to ensure that each and every child has a positive and memorable experience of school; that they thrive, flourish and, crucially, are happy. We focus on opportunities to develop teaching and learning at every turn and, importantly, teachers at Hele’s have a resolve to be the best they can be in the classroom; our core purpose being to remove barriers to learning so that young people can be inspired, can aspire and can achieve. In return we expect a buy in to our belief that we all have an active role to play in making our school a great place to be, which manifests itself in every child displaying the highest standards of commitment to learning, pride and care.

These are exciting times for our school.  Being part of the Westcountry Schools Trust (WeST) - a family of forward-thinking, cross-phase schools within a Multi Academy Trust comprising 27 schools spanning Devon, Plymouth and Cornwall, 7 of which are Secondary Schools – our students and workforce benefit from being part of an active learning network. The capacity for shared school improvement, leadership development and collaboration is limitless.  The WeST aspiration of ‘Every child in a great school’ sits well with the Hele’s vision (and vice-versa) and the strap line ‘Stronger together’ articulates our shared ambition to ensure that this aspiration becomes a reality.

There remains a strong commitment, professionalism and moral imperative amongst the Hele’s staff and Local Governing Body to ensure we provide the young people in our care with an educational and pastoral support experience that is first class in every aspect. We have a burning ambition and determination to put Hele’s firmly on the map locally, regionally and nationally and to be recognised as an outward-facing, aspirational and collegiate centre of excellence, which continues to be hungry for continuous improvement.

We would be delighted if you choose to share our journey towards and beyond excellence with us. With your support, we will build on the successes of Hele’s School to date and continue with our quest to not just meet, but to exceed, our aspiration to be a school that is beyond outstanding in every measure.

Please do take the time to explore our website to find out more about us, and don’t hesitate to contact us should you require any further information about our school. Better still, come and see us for yourself! We delight in showing people our school and rest assured that a very warm welcome awaits you. Visitors always comment on the purposeful, caring and happy ethos of the school, so what better way for you to find out more about our vision and values than to come and experience them first-hand?

We look forward to working with you in partnership in the future, and to welcoming you to Hele’s School.

A great place to learn. A great place to grow.