Good evening and welcome to Meet the teacher evening. It is so lovely to be able to welcome you into the building once again, and I hope that you enjoy seeing your child’s classroom and meeting their new form teacher for this year.

Well done to those of you who braved the Year 6 English meeting and the Middle and Upper school Maths presentation and I hope that you found the sessions informative.

The reason that we put these events together for you is so that we can ensure that the partnership between home and school remains strong. It is a relationship that is extremely important to us at Greenfield as it helps to enable your children to make the best progress possible — you need to know what is happening at school, and we need to know what is happening at home — because school should be an extension of home for your child.  Children at Greenfield are high achieving for their individual abilities because they feel secure — the message from school is the same as the message from home. The staff at Greenfield pride themselves in their positive relationships with the pupils, but also in their relationships with you.

The pandemic made it very challenging for this important communication to be maintained, but once again I would like to thank you, and my staff, for doing your utmost not to lose this special relationship. I am keeping everything crossed that remote learning en masse is a thing of the past, but who knows what the winter will bring — but whatever happens, Greenfield will be ready, as always, to adapt to whatever is thrown at us!

As we begin our third year on our new site, and my twelfth year as Head, it is clear for all to see that this is going to be a very special year for Greenfield. The move from Brooklyn Road proved to be a huge blessing in more ways than we ever imagined, and the extension (that word really doesn’t do it justice!) is phenomenal. Greenfield has gone from being the little school in the Woking area, with a great education but restricted facilities, to the second biggest school in the area, with an outstanding education and the best facilities. And, as a result, an additional 200 children have been able to experience a Greenfield education.

Because of this, the Greenfield community has grown stronger. Greenfield’s heart remains the same — the ethos and values are firmly embedded — and now the opportunities that the children have on offer to them are increasing all of the time.

You have chosen, in the words of the Independent Schools’ Inspectorate, an ‘excellent’ school, which offers an enriching curriculum, far more than the normal range of subjects, and fosters an enjoyment of learning, good work attitudes and promotes the spiritual, cultural, mental and physical development of all pupils. A school where the pupils’ feet are very firmly planted, but their eyes are much wider, and a school where the children are really happy — these are all quotes from inspectors.

I have never been prouder or more excited to be part of this wonderful community along with all of you in this room today.

I hope that you enjoy meeting the teachers this evening and hearing a bit about the busy, productive, yet fun-filled year that your children are going to have.

Tania Botting

Headmistress