07.10.10

Headteacher Blog – Time for Reflection

Posted in Uncategorized tagged , , , , at 4:15 pm by headteacher

I cannot believe that it is nearly the end of 2009 – 2010. Only two weeks of term left. Wow! This year really has flown by!

For those of you who don’t know me quite so well……I have been a Primary Headteacher for just over two years now. I was appointed on April 1st (hmmm) 2008. Prior to my Headship I worked in four different schools, two very different LAs, was a Leading Teacher for Early Years for some time, then was an Assistant Head, then a Deputy Head.

Luckily for me I have worked for a number of truly inspirational Headteachers who have helped to shape my values and my actions. The last two years have been very challenging but also very rewarding. During this time the governors and I have appointed four new teachers to the school, including an outstanding Deputy Headteacher who has supported me throughout the last twelve months.

Our school is moving from strength to strength! We have an outstanding team!

My staff  have consistently worked hard for the last seven terms to ensure that our school develops and progresses both academically and in so many other ways. An outstanding feature of our school is the dedication that the staff  have to the children. The staff will always make the time to spend with the children, before school, after school, during breaks and at dinnertimes, nurturing them and talking to them about their worries and aspirations.

Outside of the school I have been supported and challenged by Headteachers in Bolton and school has recently gained the support from a Local leader in Education programme. This help should be cross hierarchical  and will filter across to all of the staff  in school, including the RQTs and the NQTs.

I am happy for my staff to become experts in their fields. I have no fear that some of my staff have strengths that will exceed mine – I embrace the  opportunity to learn with my staff! And I want my staff to teach me in the same way that I can teach them!

My plan for the next three years is to reach out and experience as many outstanding schools as possible and thus to develop a clear sense of the character of HEATHFIELD SCHOOL. How can my staff become outstanding unless I immerse them in outstanding learning? I want to immerse myself and my staff and my children in OUTSTANDINGNESS! How very exciting! I am already planning 2010 -2011!

05.17.10

Headteacher Short Blog- It’s Been A Funny Old Weekend!

Posted in Uncategorized tagged , , , , , at 8:31 pm by headteacher

Yesterday I was saddened to get a phone call from our Security Services Callout Centre to say that our school had been broken into over the weekend. Teenage thieves had broken into school on Saturday and had been frightened off by Security and then had come back on Sunday and got away with two apple macs. Our school is in a lovely area but sadly break-ins are just a part of everyday life. As I drove up to school on Sunday teatime to survey the damage I just felt so sad. The thieves had ripped the worktops apart to get the apple macs out and as the joiner repaired the broken window in the external door I wondered what I would tell the children in Assembly on Monday morning.

As I left the building some teenagers were playing football on the backstreet……I looked at them carefully….could they be the thieves?

As I drove down the main road another group of teenagers were drinking cola and laughing with their friends…..I looked again……could they be the thieves?

Driving through the centre of Bolton another group of teenagers…..?

When I got home I looked at my own lovely 14 year old teenage daughter and this very powerful Chinese Tale sprang to mind. I wanted to share it with you.

Traditional Chinese Tale

A man whose axe was missing suspected his neighbour’s son.

The boy walked like a thief, looked like a thief, and spoke like a thief.

But later the man found his axe while he was digging in the valley,

And the next time he saw his neighbour’s son

the boy walked, looked and spoke like any other child.

This morning the police phoned my school to tell us that they had recovered the apple macs. On the way home today the teenagers who were out and about looked again like harmless teenagers enjoying being with their friends.

A lesson learnt by me? I hope so.

Previous posts that might be of interest:

SATS Week

Do you ever wonder what the headteacher does whilst you are in class teaching?

The 5 Levels of Leadership

I am an Air Traffic Controller

Magic Dust

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