Blog by Lola: Life as a student in an Inspiration Trust School

InspirED: our series of blogs, where people from the Inspiration Trust community share their views and insights into their areas of expertise or experience.

This summer, the communications and marketing team was excited to host two work experience students — Lola and Liam from Hewett Academy.

Lola accepted the task of writing a blog about her experience as a student at one of our academies.

In her words:

[Reflecting on the week, she began] It’s been interesting, I’ve done a range of things that I wasn’t expecting; writing articles, going to events and taking pictures and videos, I even interviewed Paul Wayman — the sports co-ordinator for the Inspiration Trust — for the ‘why I teach’ campaign. Anyway, I’ve been asked to write a student voice article for the next Inspire Magazine, I’ve asked around for students’ opinions and gathered my own in order to answer the question: ‘What is life like at an Inspiration Trust school’? 

I suppose I can’t speak for all schools, but I would say the environment at Hewett is pretty good. The school is big on anti-litter, and as a result the grounds are generally clean. We also have an eco-club and garden. Here students gather to brainstorm solutions to things like littering or cutting down on paper use. We learn in assemblies and geography lessons about our eco-footprint, and changes that we can make to help take care of our local environment both at school and at home and I would say that most students have a good understanding of this.  

However, separate from the physical environment, school environment depends largely on the students and teachers; how everyone interacts with one another. I think that this is one of the school’s strong points. Students and teachers are friendly, most people are open to conversation and show respect in small ways, like holding the door for you to walk through or simply through ‘pleases’ and ‘thank yous’.  

Respect is one of our school values and I think it really shows. Not to mention that diversity is celebrated through the school’s diversity club. When I asked students what they thought of the school, the friendly atmosphere was recognised by everyone. One student said, “people make up a lot of the environment and we’re all pretty chill with each other.” 

At Hewett, all our lessons begin with ‘Do Now,’ a five-minute starter while the teacher completes the register, I think this is common throughout the trust. Not only does this help us recall knowledge, but the students I asked said that they like that they get a sort of warm up rather than jumping straight into their work. In my lessons, students are typically calm. There is occasional chatting and laughter but generally minimal disruption. Personally, although I might be biased, I think this is preferable to a room of miserable, bored students sitting in complete silence. 

The teachers at Hewett are great, and for many it's clear that they care about the students here. They are always happy to help after class and during lunch if you have any questions or need help with something specific. One student said: 

“I think that the majority of all of the teachers and support staff are very helpful and are genuine in wanting to help the students.”  

Our school has an amazing pastoral and safeguarding team, and I know that many students feel comfortable to confide in them. Mental health plays a big part in grades, friendships and motivation, and the staff at Hewett genuinely care about students’ wellbeing. 

I also managed to get some parent opinions of the school, one that came up that aligned with what the students said was that uniform restrictions should be loosened, and students should be allowed to express themselves more. Although they recognise that it’s a nice school in the sense that they hadn’t heard much ‘in the way of bullying’ and the school is ‘willing to support low-income families.’ 

In conclusion, I think that Hewett is a good school which lines up perfectly with the schools recent ‘good with outstanding features’ Ofsted rating. The students as a whole are happy and kind, as are the teachers. Although the building is old, the environment is clean, and the people are welcoming. What more could you ask for? Life as a student at an inspiration trust school is pretty good.