Al Greenwood – Head of School Hampton Gardens

21 July 2022

As the founding Head of School, Al has played an enormously influential role in shaping the school into the successful institution that it is today. He has worked tirelessly, even from before the school opened in September 2017, to ensure that the planning was in place for Hampton Gardens to get off to the best possible start. Since then, he has recruited an able and dedicated staff body, who have worked with him to enact this vision and will carry on his work long after he leaves us.

I have had the pleasure of working with Al since Hampton College opened in 2005, when he was the first Head of Maths and Science, before quickly joining the Leadership Team in Assistant Head and Deputy Head roles. I know that he feels privileged to have been at the inception of two new schools during his career. Hampton Gardens has benefited hugely from the expertise he honed at Hampton College and from its development journey.

He will be missed by students and staff alike. After 17 years of working together, I will really miss his wry sense of humour and calm in the face of whatever happens. The last two and a half years have presented the school community with unprecedented and unimaginable challenges. Al’s response to all of these has been to calmly create a plan and then deliver it; whether this has been planning for new GCSE courses, recruiting new staff for the growing school, or turning the sports hall into a mass Covid testing centre.

Saying goodbye is always hard and judging when to move on is inevitably a difficult decision. Al can be pleased that he leaves Hampton Gardens in fantastic shape. As we look forward to our first GCSE results this summer, I am sure you will agree with me that Al’s leadership of the school through its first stage of development has been a job exceedingly well done.

Dr Helen Price

Executive Headteacher, Hampton Academies Trust