View from our Head Girl

Published by Leehurst Swan on Tuesday 30th of June 2015

Leehurst Swan is a school with so much to offer. It is a friendly school with a relaxed, but disciplined atmosphere, with very good relations between staff and pupils, and excellent academic results. Leehurst has helped me a great deal in my personal and academic development and equipped me with the skills I need to be successful, not only in the Sixth Form, but in my future career as well. I joined Leehurst in 2007 when I entered Year 3. At the time I was barely able to do my three times table and the rest of the class was ahead of me. Teachers worked hard with me and very soon I was up to standard. This good foundation is something which I will always be grateful for. My academic achievements have continued and I was allowed to sit my French GCSE in Year 8 and passed with an A*. This was a huge advantage for me, as I had been learning French since an early age (because of my French background) and it has also inspired my interest in other modern languages such as Spanish, which I would like to carry on for AS and A Level. One of the things Leehurst has promoted is my independent learning. We are encouraged to look beyond our textbooks and research for ourselves about topics. This has meant that the learning process has been both engaging and interesting for me and helped me to achieve good results. Leehurst Swan has grown considerably since my time here. In 2010 we opened the Walker Hall which has wonderful facilities for the performing arts and music, which I am very interested in. We eat together in the hall and also have hot dinners if we wish. This was a big change from the old ways when we ate sandwiches in our classrooms. The new Centenary Prep building has just been finished and Prep pupils have a wonderful new building for their lessons. The school has also bought some more land next to the playing field. It is wonderful to be part of such a dynamic school which keeps moving forward and doing new things. It is unfortunate that I will be leaving in a year and will not be able to make the most of the new buildings and facilities provided. One of my favourite subjects at school is Art. We have an amazing Art and Photography department with great teachers and have won many awards. Leehurst has really helped my develop my artistic skill. It was only at Leehurst that I found my interest in Art and I feel that I have grown as an artist. Leehurst has helped me become the person I am today. I have had sporting and artistic opportunities as well as academic ones. Leehurst does not believe in keeping learning only inside the classroom and we have lots of exciting trips where we can extend our learning. One of my favourite ones has been the one to Barcelona where I improved my artistic, Spanish and geographical knowledge. I have every confidence that I will carry not only the benefits of an excellent education with me into the future, but also special memories of the relationships I had with my teachers and the life-long bond I have made with my friends. I am very proud to be Head Girl of such a special school and couldn’t imagine myself anywhere else.