The David Ross Foundation

It is a source of great happiness and honour for me to be associated with Havelock Academy as its sponsor. Many of the families whose children are educated here have long-standing connections with the sea and the fishing industry, which is equally true for myself. It is therefore a pleasure to be able to share and to offer my support for a community with whom I have this in common. Indeed, my own family has had the opportunity to live in and enjoy Grimsby for many generations, which is why I take such a keen and active interest in the life and development of the Academy.

The catchment served by the Academy looks towards the fish docks, both historically and through the geography of the East Marsh, Heneage and Old Clee communities. With the help of the government's programme to create a new kind of school, I hope to be able to contribute to the development of a new generation's aspirations to do well and to build a successful future just as that earlier generation of fishing entrepreneurs did. Of course, the world in which these young people are growing up is full of challenge and risk too; the Academy's programme will fit them to meet such opportunities effectively and with confidence.

The groundwork for student achievement will be a pastoral system based on Houses which will foster competition in all kinds of ways. I believe, for example, in the value of competitive sport and the self-discipline that such activity offers. Havelock students will experience and test themselves in this, learning what it means to take responsibility and to lead. The Academy will stretch students in other ways too; introducing them to the arts and other kinds of cultural awareness, as well as to the opportunities associated with progression to higher education. The new sixth form will establish a sense of self-belief and achievement in its alumni, setting the model for younger students to excel and to make parents, teachers and colleagues feel proud of them.

So, the vision I have for the academy is one in which every child is known and has the chance to broaden their horizons; this will be to their benefit and to that of their families. In addition, I very much hope that the town of Grimsby will benefit from this initiative for, whatever its future is going to be, it will depend on the capabilities and success of these and other young people.

David P J Ross
Sponsor/Trustee