3:30pm Monday 10th November 2003
By Sarah Bell
‘‘IT is a heavy cloak to put on and I have to get used to the weight of it", reflects Rhian Lloyd-Thomas, the new head of Shene International School, on the responsibility of her new role.
In charge of 1,000 pupils and 80 members of staff at the Park Avenue secondary school, she is finding her first headship an ‘exhilarating and exciting experience’.
"I had never quite felt the weight of responsibility before. The buck really does stop with you. It does not matter how much responsibility you have as deputy head or head of faculty, it just doesn’t feel the same," she explains.
Rhian, 35, swapped a high-powered city job for teaching ten years ago and is cherishing the challenge of leading the school. Before term started, she was busy researching and has identified things she wants to change. She says: "There are lots of things I have read and thought about, now I need to sit down and listen to people’s views."
One priority is to change the school uniform, which Rhian says can influence not only the school’s image, but the pupils’ own attitudes: "I want the school to look smarter and more business-like. The children wear the uniform very well in school but don’t look business-like in a sweatshirt. One of the key issues with the school is its public perception, because at the moment Shene has a poor perception among the local community, mainly because of a couple of incidents in the past. But it is a very small minority of children behaving badly and they fix the reputation of the school in the minds of people," she said.
"When you ask children what they think about the school, they are very upset by that reputation. They are very proud of the school and what we do in sports and drama; they love the teachers. They are very hurt by that perception. We have to ask what we can do to change that and changing the way we look might help."
Rhian says that state school children often think they are not ‘worthy’ of wearing blazers, which are typically associated with private schools: "They think ‘we’re not the kind of kids who wear blazers’ not in a negative way, but as if somehow they are not allowed to. It is not part of what is possible for them. It is all about pride and esteem."
And uniforms are just a starting point. Rhian is also looking at new behaviour, teaching and learning management systems. She says: "There is brilliant use of ICT in some departments and we need to roll that out into other departments. We also do work with sports and drama in primary schools and I would like to get other departments involved in that."
But she says there is a fine balance to tread when you start out as the new boss: "On the one hand you have to be confident so people know you are a leader, but on the other hand you don’t want to alienate people so they think you are an arrogant upstart. It is about being thoughtful and exploring ideas with people so they are aware of how you are working out these things," she explains.
The school has achieved good Key Stage Three results and their GCSE results are improving, which she plans to build on. "There is a lot of good stuff going on here. There is high achievement and brilliant work being done by pupils but I have to be careful not to focus too much on that. I can’t forget my main role is to make sure these good things get better and better."
Another part of Rhian’s job is to attract new pupils to the school, "At the moment, there is a core group of people who feel that this school is not on their radar of choice. But we get good results, especially for very able children," she states.
"The problem is that, particularly as results were low in the past, the perception of the school is one where the children behave badly. But this is based on one small group of children who are badly behaved on the bus. Local people get the impression that all the children are badly behaved, it is based on a very restricted view. There have been one or two children in the past who have behaved very badly, but they were expelled. Ninety five per cent of the children are travelling home nicely and behave well and they have got to feel that someone is noticing that. I am going out and telling people that my children are well behaved and in school they are going to be safe and enjoy the school experience."
Rhian, who is getting married next summer, is currently living in Greenwich but is thinking of moving to the area once her house is sold. She says the biggest problem for the school is attracting staff, as it falls one mile outside the boundary for central London weighting, which attracts teachers with a £4,000 larger salary. She says: "State schools in areas like this are in the worst position for staff and it is outside my control."
And the staff are essential: "I need the team to make things happen. I can’t do anything on my own, couldn’t run the school for five minutes on my own."
Rhian says it will take time for her to make a real difference in the school: "There are little satisfactions all the time, like when you get children telling you they have enjoyed an activity. But I will not feel that the situation is mine for two years, that is when I will start to see the situation that is being created by my influence. Some people may want me to come in and wave a magic wand, but what I am trying to do is look at the culture and ethos, looking at parts I am pleased with and parts I want to change, which requires time and patience."
Her vision for the school is to be ‘really proud of what it does’. Its motto is: ‘Inspire each other to aspire to the extraordinary.’ Rhian explains: "Aspiration is very important in comprehensive schools as many children come in here with very low expectations and feel they can’t achieve."
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.richmondandtwickenhamtimes.co.uk/trade_directory/