Our Lady’s Abingdon (OLA) has announced that the appointment of Daniel Gibbons as Head of OLA, with effect from September.
Daniel brings a wealth of educational experience, including an overseas appointment at the British International School in Jakarta.
He is currently serving as the Deputy Headteacher at Downside School in Somerset, a co-educational Catholic independent boarding and day school for children aged up to 18 years of age.
He has proved instrumental in developing the commercial aspects of life at Downside, including the development of boarding provision, and brings both strategic and commercial strength to OLA.
Daniel has also proved pivotal in developing and improving academic performance across all of his prior schools. He specialises in maximising the value-added potential for each pupil and the creation of agile and challenging curriculums to cater for a variety of pupil requirements.
In a joint statement, Freddy El Turk, Chair of Governors and Prav Karian, Chief Operating Officer, said: “The Governors implemented a thorough and rigorous selection process, and the final field yielded some outstanding candidates. However, Daniel’s credentials shone through, and he comes to OLA as a highly experienced senior leader.”
On the appointment, Daniel Gibbons commented saying “I aim to build on OLA’s academic excellence and co-curricular enrichment, in addition to the school’s commitment to providing outstanding pastoral care, so that we can nurture ‘future ready’ pupils.”
OLA is a Catholic independent day school for students aged 7 to 18, offering a highly successful, fun and innovative learning experience within a happy and friendly community.
The school’s success comes from a combination of six key factors which create the unique OLA learning adventure:
1. Small school: With under 400 pupils in total, OLA offers everyone the possibility of representing the school in a wide range of confidence-developing activities, including sport, drama, music, academic competitions and other chances to thrive, such as the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.
2. Small classes: OLA has a very high teacher to pupil ratio, meaning class sizes are smaller than can be found elsewhere. OLA provides a more individual learning experience that fully nurtures academic potential.
3. Fun and innovative learning: OLA helps pupils to be fully engaged in the academic life of the school leading to exam results that regularly exceed pupil baseline predications.
4. Highly praised pastoral care: OLA staff work closely alongside pupils to encourage, motivate and support each child, helping them to grow as confident, successful and happy individuals.
5. Family community: OLA encourages an open dialogue between home and school through a range of effective channels.
6. Catholic Christian ethos: This is the foundation of everything OLA does, creating the family community so valued by OLA parents. The school accepts children of all faiths and none and helps them aspire to such values as integrity, compassion, openness, forgiveness, reconciliation, co-operation and courage.
