Mr Melton, who has been an exceptional Head of Sixth here at The Royal High School, has decided to retire from teaching at the end of this academic year. I am delighted to be able to tell you that Mr Nicholas Hayward has been appointed as our new Head of Sixth Form from September 2016.

Mr Hayward is known to many of you as Head of English here, a post he has held since 2006. He is committed to the School’s aim of providing an outstanding, contemporary, girl-centred education and has an exciting and dynamic vision for the future direction of The Sixth Form, and for the girls who are educated here.

We will be celebrating with Mr Melton and thanking him for his contribution to RHS at the end of the term. In the meantime he will continue to lead the Sixth Form team and guide Year 12 and 13 girls as they focus on their studies and their examinations in the coming weeks.

Mrs Jo Duncan

“I am absolutely delighted to have been appointed as the new Head of Sixth Form at the Royal High School. As many of you are aware, I have taught at the school for 13 years now and have been Head of English for the last ten. It has been an enormously special, indeed unique, place at which to work and a huge privilege to teach the girls here. As Head of English, I have worked with my colleagues to build the subject into something which inspires, excites and challenges the girls with something new and interesting every day of the week, whether it be the intellectual challenge of being asked to look at an idea from a fresh angle or the opportunities offered by debating or creative writing for girls to develop their confidence and flair. I am looking forward to bringing this approach to my new role.

My aim as Head of Sixth Form will be to build on Mr Melton’s achievements and develop the Sixth Form further. It is already one of the largest sixth forms within the GDST, offering a vibrant day and boarding education, outstanding teaching and excellent Higher Education/UCAS advice. It is also unique in the GDST and the local area in offering the choice between A Levels and the International Baccalaureate.

I want to ensure this is a place which is intellectually and academically ambitious on behalf of all the girls who come here. We live in such exciting times in terms of culture and ideas and my wish is to bring some more of that excitement into the Sixth Form, so that girls can have their horizons broadened and their curiosity about the world around them sharpened. I believe it is vital we offer the girls the richest and most stimulating diet we can in terms of their intellectual and cultural experience within the Sixth Form and their sense of the world outside.

I also want to ensure that the Sixth Form continues to value and support every girl as an individual, so that she feels happy in her learning and will want to take up some of the many opportunities offered to her. My aim will be to ensure we find ways to unlock the potential and ambition within each girl who joins us. This might involve supporting her if she needs help with her academic work by running a ‘drop-in’ session at the end of the day or finding the time to talk things through with her when she needs some advice - those opportunities will be available. We already have a highly effective pastoral system which I would like to develop further.

Over the coming months I will have the opportunity to explore with you and your daughter's other ideas and plans as to how to develop the Sixth Form into a rich and academically exciting place at which to study.”

Mr Hayward