Open Day speech 2024 – Axel – Head of School

Good morning to everyone. My name is Axel and I have the privilege to be one of the two Heads of School for Parsons Green Prep. I joined PGP in Reception six years ago and I have made wonderful memories and friends since then.

When I look back at my years at PGP I remember in particular the welcoming gates and the friendly atmosphere. I love this school because it feels like a village school but with a high focus on academic excellence with a London approach. The teachers here motivate and encourage one to stretch your academic and physical skills beyond your comfort zone. We have a ‘Marvellous Mistakes’ approach to learning, which means we acknowledge, value and sometimes even appreciate our mistakes as we learn from them and they can make us stronger.

At PGP we have a variety of different sports embedded into our curriculum and we also have many clubs to support our developing skills. Personally, my favourite clubs have been coding, debating and chess. A few years ago I won the whole school chess competition and was awarded a cup – I was thrilled. In sports we have lots of fixtures against other local schools, for instance in football, cricket, tag rugby and hockey. Did you know we also have a ski team who will be competing is the ISA competition next Monday?

I would also like to talk to you about our pastoral care here at PGP. We have an excellent kitchen chef and catering team. In my opinion the food is really delicious and the kitchen offers a multicultural menu made from scratch every day – even the bread.

We have also had residential trips every year starting from Year 3 and shorter days trips since Reception. To give you an example, my personal favourite so far has been our Year 4 trip to Mill on the Brue in Somerset. On this trip I loved tunnelling (that is going through dark tunnels with a headlamp) and our ‘leap of faith’ exercise. This experience helped build my resilience and determination to succeed.

Currently, my class is concentrating hard on upcoming 11+ exams. It is a bit nerve-racking because it is quite important for our senior school progression. But it has been very helpful that we have the same teacher for both Year 5 and Year 6. We also have extra booster sessions in the mornings. Like you, I am currently doing many of these Open Days at Senior Schools and hoping to find the right match for myself, so wish me luck!

I hope you will enjoy our Open Day tour today and I hope I can talk to many of you later today.

Thank you for listening to my speech.