Immanuel College is delighted to announce the appointment of a Deputy Head (Academic), Mr Barnaby Nemko, who will be taking up the position on 1st June, at the Shavuot half term.
Barnaby Nemko is currently Head of History and Politics at St Helen’s School in Northwood, as well as internal development co-ordinator where he has responsibilities for professional development.
Immanuel’s Head Master Gary Griffin said: “We are absolutely thrilled that Mr Nemko is joining the Immanuel College Senior Leadership Team in this exciting new position. One of my key goals as the new Head is to improve academic standards and that is why we undertook a rigorous recruitment process to find the right person to lead the management of the academic curriculum. He has been given the responsibility to deliver the highest standards in teaching and learning through strategic leadership, innovative thinking and commitment to outstanding quality. He is very well qualified for the role, having a Bachelor’s degree in History and Politics, an MSc in Electronic Publishing and an MA from London University’s Institute of Education (IOE). He comes to us with an excellent reputation from St Helen’s School who are very sad to be losing him.
Mr Nemko explained how his background and approach would assist him in this new role:
“I have a passion for how young people learn and what interventions can make them more successful. This fascination with learning has been a feature throughout my career. I began in informal education as Education Director of FZY before a stint at the BBC producing part of their educational online content. However, it was clear that my real calling was for the classroom.
My Master’s’ Degree in Education has allowed me to think more in terms of subject-specific competencies rather than simply knowledge acquisition. In St Helen’s most recent ISI inspection pupils were praised for their exemplary attitudes to their learning and History was highlighted for supporting this approach. This skill of inspiring teachers to be more risk-taking and innovative in their practice has been at the heart of many of my achievements in teaching. I believe that middle leaders are both the engine room for change as well as the teachers most directly tasked with bringing about academic success and the mentoring programmes I have led have given me a unique leadership opportunity to empower and nurture. It is the training of teachers, an area of specialism that I have developed throughout my career, that led me to being invited to interview Beginner Teachers for the PGCE in History course at the UCL/IOE.
As John Hattie has reported in his ground breaking meta-analysis of teaching and learning interventions (Visible Learning, 2009) we need to talk more about the quality of the effects of teachers on learning rather than the professional attributes of the teachers themselves. This idea of focusing on the learning has been integral to many of the initiatives I have led on. For example, my work on the role of lesson observation led to a shift in culture across St Helen’s.
My passion for History stretches beyond the classroom and I am particularly interested in local History and the impact of memorial on national identity. This is an area that I have written on for the Historical Association’s journal Teaching History as well having lectured in several Jewish and non-Jewish communal settings. I recently gave a presentation to the Jewish Historical Society of England on “The Power of Monuments.
My deeply held belief is that we are all created ‘B’tselem Elokim – in the image of God’ and this inspires me to learn from every person and has thus enabled me to develop excellent working relationships with colleagues of all ages, from all backgrounds as well as maintain a deep sense of respect for all students and parents alike.”
The College is currently producing a Strategic Development Plan for the next three years and the Deputy Head (Academic) will contribute many new ideas and proposals to that Plan. Mrs Beth Kerr will remain as Deputy Head (Pastoral Care, Pupil Progress and Wellbeing) and will be the Senior Deputy. She commented: “I am very much looking forward to working closely with Barnaby and have no doubt that he will be an excellent, dynamic addition to the College’s already impressive leadership”.