Welcome to Over Hall Community School

"The aggregation of marginal gains."

‘We are always striving for improvement, for those 1% gains,

in absolutely every single thing we do.’  Dave Brailsford

Some of the most successful coaches in sport become famous for a quote or catchphrase, from Bill Shankly's remark about football being more important than life and death, to Brad Gilbert's "winning ugly" approach to tennis. Dave Brailsford also has a phrase which sums up his philosophy: "The aggregation of marginal gains."  It means taking the 1% from everything you do; finding a 1% margin for improvement in everything you do. Naturally, all these tiny gains can add up to a large gain - potentially race-winning, or record-winning, gains. It's not just a sound-bite but rather an approach that has underpinned Britain's phenomenal success in track and road cycling.

This philosophy in sport can be transferred to approaches to teaching and learning. It is my view that in order to provide an excellent education for our children we all need to pay attention to the small details. To become more sharply focussed on the finer points of  school life and  learning so that we enhance and enrich the children’s experience with the outcome of higher standards in children's attainment and accelerated progress.

In our first year as an Academy, we have endeavoured to build a culture of excellence, to promote a continuous desire to learn. We do not settle for less than everyone’s best efforts. More importantly, we aim to facilitate a love for learning and promote a range of ‘employability’ skills so that children have choice and wider opportunities in the future

In a spirit of collaboration with a wide number of organisations the school is reaching higher standards and more importantly the children are safe, happy, learning well and making progress.

Mrs Hilary Berry
Headteacher