Welcome from the Principal
As Principal of The John Wallis 2 – 19 Church of England Academy, I am passionate in my belief that every pupil and student in our Academy should be happy, feel safe and secure and achieve their full potential. I want our pupils and students to be valued, challenged and fulfilled irrespective of their strengths or weaknesses and to have the opportunity to develop peer and adult relationships.
The John Wallis Academy is a Christian school and we believe that each pupil and student should be recognised as being unique, gifted, created and loved by God. We welcome children of all faiths and none. Our aim is simple. We want pupils and students of all abilities to have access and entitlement to a broad, balanced and personalised curriculum, in order to learn, develop, achieve and succeed. We want all to strive for excellence and never to settle for second best. Therefore high aspirations, high expectations and high standards are what is expected of all pupils, students and staff in the Academy.
Our 11-16 Academy opened in September 2010. In September 2011, we took in our first cohort of Sixth Form students and in September 2012 we became an all through 3-19 Academy when our neighbouring Primary school, Linden Grove, joined our Academy. In January 2019, upon the completion of our new Nursery and Primary building, we became a
2-19 Academy with our pupils and students all based on the one campus. This is a very exciting time for our community where parents/carers can choose the school for their children to be educated from the age of 2 through to 19. We are at the centre of the community we serve and in February 2015 we were praised in the House of Lords by The Lord Bishop of Ely, Bishop Stephen Conway quoting the following words:
"I cite the example of a cracking diocesan academy, the inspirational John Wallis Church of England Academy in Ashford, in Kent, a three to 19 Academy that is having a really transformative impact on the whole of the community".
We expect our pupils and students to learn in high quality lessons, where there is zero tolerance of any disruption and where teachers are inspiring and motivational in their teaching. We want them to develop academically, spiritually, morally, socially and physically in an exciting and high achieving environment and to grow into mature and well educated citizens. We will challenge our most able and less able children and support those who have learning difficulties. Achieving academic excellence is very important in our Academy but most importantly we want our pupils and students to become fully rounded happy human beings.
Along with the Head of Primary, Miss Lacon, our Primary and Secondary Senior Leadership Teams and staff, I look forward to working with our Pupils, Students, Parents/Carers, Governors and our Local Community to secure the best educational future for all children in our Academy community. We are very proud of our pupils and students’ achievement as we continue our upward spiral of success. Please do come and visit our Academy.
John McParland
Principal