You can tell a lot about a school from its assemblies, says James Handscombe, principal of Harris Westminster Sixth Form. Read James' article in full here.

In A School Built on Ethos: Ideas, assemblies and hard-won wisdom, James Handscombe explores how schooling is more than gaining qualifications, how learning is more than exams, and how academic success comes more readily to those who have grasped this idea.

Harris Westminster Sixth Form has had enormous success in providing an academic education for students of all socio-economic backgrounds. This success is grounded in the development of a scholarly ethos that guides students and staff into successful habits – driven by a clear vision for the community and communicated through everything that the school says and does.

In this book, founding principal James Handscombe takes readers through the school’s development and illustrates its journey by sharing a selection of the assemblies that have underpinned and elucidated its ethos.

In doing so he offers guidance on how such a staple of school life can be used to shape a community, and shares transferable lessons on how assemblies can be planned and delivered effectively.

Find out more about A School Built on Ethos here.