TGS Open Evening 2014

[Ela]

I just wonder who will teach girls next year... I am not sure if loosing 12-15 senior members of staff is normal at high school.
For my daughter year 7 was complicated. Not academically (never saw her doing homework at home! Insists she does it all at school...). Had big plans in September to join as many clubs as she could cope with but it appeared that nobody else wanted to go. Either live far, or have activities beyond school or simply are too lazy. Finished year with more friends in Y8 or some Y9 but really have nothing in common with her own form girls.
Well for DD2 TGS will be 3rd on the list although it would be so mush easier to have them in one school...

[Peridot]

Ela I'm sorry to hear that. My dd has had a very happy first year and seems to be in a very nice friendly form, many of whom like to get involved in school activities (not all - some get straight on minibuses or in parents' cars and are gone on long journeys home - very sad). Like your daughter she has also made quite a few friends in year 8 and 9, mostly through travelling together on the train/bus but also through joining the choir and drama club. Would your dd consider joining either of these?

I used to worry about teachers moving on each year at the boys' school, but it does seem to be fairly normal - some retire, such as the TGS head of music this year, but some of the younger ones move on to other schools as part of their career path. In our experience it's also to do with the fact that it's so expensive for underpaid teachers to live in the Kingston area!

[tiffinboys]

I am not sure if loosing 12-15 senior members of staff is normal at high school.

If TGS has 60 or 70 or 80 teachers, this would still be a fairly large numbers to leave at one time. And if they are senior teachers, what does this say? High level of dis-satisfaction among the staff or retirements? Heard that some of the staff leaving were fairly new to the school.

I hope that school is able to attract even better staff, no matter how difficult it is to attract good staff in view of financial constraints.