Gainsborough: The Gainsborough Academy principal wants students to have high aspirations

As Principal at The Gainsborough Academy, David Miller, hopes to make his students have a memorable experience and have high expectations.

David, 43, has been at The Gainsborough Academy since February, first as nterim Principal, and then as Substantive Principal from Easter onwards.

David said: “Throughout my career I have always been driven by making a difference to the lives of students in my care and to the communities which our schools serve.

“The opportunity to do so in such a fantastic, state of the art facility, with such a dedicated and hardworking staff and with students who want to achieve and make progress, really drew me to Gainsborough and this Academy.

“Also, being part of the Lincoln College Group is a fantastic opportunity, because we can really track the part we play in our students’ long term learning journey.

“It was wonderful to go to the Lincoln College graduation ceremony at Lincoln Cathedral last week and see many local people and ex-students celebrate success. I want to see much more of that.”

David has been teaching for 20 years and started his career in Nottingham. He has been a senior school leader in schools in Chesterfield and Newark but Ihe is really proud to be Principal at The Gainsborough Academy as it is something he’s always wanted to do.

He said: “F or me, it’s important that our students leave us with a good mix of qualifications which enable them to progress, but these should also be qualifications which suit them.

“ We are the first step in their future journey - nothing gives me more pleasure than seeing students happy and proud that the time they have had with us here has allowed them to get onto the course they need or get the job they want.

“At the Academy, day to day, I get a real buzz from students enjoying their learning and talking with real enthusiasm about it.

“It makes me smile to hear about individual as well as group success and I really enjoy seeing teachers and other adults in school talking together and sharing ideas to make the Academy an even better place for our students.

“We are getting more and more parents contacting us to express their thanks for what we do for their youngsters or giving us that feedback at parents evenings, like the one we had last week, and that’s very pleasing.”

David lives near Mansfield. and has always stayed close to the East Midlands and worked in the area.

He studied Modern Languages in Coventry and lived in both France and Spain for a short while before becoming a teacher.

He has one young daughter who he loves spending time with.

David added: “I’ve worked on a number of leadership teams in schools deemed to be in challenging circumstances and I’m proud of the part I played in turning them into good community schools.

“Since January at The Gainsborough Academy, I’m proud of the way all staff have been working together to make learning memorable for students.

“More staff are leading on initiatives in school and we are using more up to date technology to engage students and keep parents informed.

“We’ve launched new initiatives to support learners who struggle with coming to school and engaging in learning and I’m pleased with how that is progressing.

“We have high expectations.

“I want all of our students to have high aspirations and to see that if you want it and try hard, you can get it.

“I want us to be an open Academy, open to all opportunities to make that learning memorable and switch students onto learning so they make the best of progress.

“I’m excited by the future opportunities to work with our sponsor on things like a proposed new construction college in Gainsborough.

“My ambition is that our Academy’s future is driven by our community’s needs and our students’ needs.”

Outside of work David enjoys hiking, gardening and motorsport or anything car related.

Over the summer months The Gainsborough Academy held a successfu summer school and helped a good number of Year 7 students to settle in well.

And the Year 11 students got positive GCSE results. The Academy registered strong results in Performing Arts, BTECs and in Maths.

And the Academy this year will be a memorable year with great opportunities and challenges.