Making teaching “inspirational” and achieving a good Ofsted score are some of the aims of Kirton Middlecott School’s new head teacher.
Julia Garwood admits to being “confronted with challenges” to improve upon the school’s “satisfactory” status it received from its last three Ofsted inspections.
“I know we have a journey to go on as a school but we are up for the challenge,” she said.
“My role is to get us to ‘good’ with Ofsted, but there are some changes that have to be made first. The results are already on track to be better this year. In my heart I want happy students, happy staff and happy parents, but in my head I say ‘we have got to get ready for Ofsted’.”
This is her first role as a head, having been in teaching since 2006. She previously worked at two academies in Cambridgeshire.
Praising Middlecott, she said: “The staff are very positive and the students have been very supportive.
“It’s a lovely school – very clean and tidy, with excellent facilities.”
Her “list of 20 things” to look at in her new job includes launching a new website where parents can access real-time reports about how their children are getting on at school.
One of the things Julia brought to the school on her first day, was to issue staff with hi-vis vests. She added: “It’s a safe-guarding measure to ensure there are enough staff on duty and so students can easily see where a member of staff is.“