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Schools
Waterman Primary
Waterman Primary
Waterman Primary School,
The Boulevard, Rochford,
SS4 1QF
Head: Mrs.Welch
01702 546237
www.watermanprimaryschool.ik.org
admin@waterman.essex.sch.uk
admin@waterman.essex.sch.uk
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CLICK HERE
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Talking with Kelly Brown, Deputy Head Teacher of Waterman Primary School
19th March 2013
Teachers come and teachers go. The going of one means the coming of another. When Bruce left, Kelly came. We gave here plenty of time to settle in before we asked to interview her, and so here she is, over half a year in. Meet Kelly Brown.
Rochford Life: Kelly, thank you for giving us your time. How long have you been here at Waterman school?
Kelly: I joined the school last September, at the beginning of the academic year.
Teachers come and teachers go. The going of one means the coming of another. When Bruce left, Kelly came. We gave here plenty of time to settle in before we asked to interview her, and so here she is, over half a year in. Meet Kelly Brown.
Rochford Life: Kelly, thank you for giving us your time. How long have you been here at Waterman school?
Kelly: I joined the school last September, at the beginning of the academic year.
RL: Coming in as Deputy Head Teacher, you’ve obviously been in teaching awhile.
Kelly: Yes, prior to coming here I was a teacher at Ivy Juniors Primary School, that’s near Epping, and I was there for nearly seven years. I worked my way up to leadership level, and so the next step was Deputy Headship. Unfortunately the opportunity wasn’t there at the school but it was time for thinking of taking on more of a challenge and that brought me here.
RL: What did you like about what you saw here?
Kelly: Well as soon as I walked in, it was the way people were so friendly and welcoming. I had a look round a few other schools and there just wasn’t that atmosphere of people clearly working together really well that was here. Straight away you could tell that people here were for the benefit of the children and want to really help the children. That was so clear on my first walk around the school; that was the main ethos of the school.
RL: What is the role or function of a Deputy Head?
Kelly: It can vary in different schools. Here I am a full-time teacher and so I have my class responsibilities. I’m also here to help lead the staff and support the head teacher, so I carry out observations of staff, provide feedback, help their career development and help them progress as teachers. There is also a lot about the social side of the school, helping organise activities, liaising with the Governing body. I suppose there is a lot more being involved in the development of the school, whereas if you are just as teacher you are very much class focused and that has to be your main area to concentrate on. With the role of Deputy, it widens it out to the school as a whole.
RL: And you’re responsible for the curriculum. Is that always the responsibility of the Deputy?
Kelly: No, it can vary with different schools. The main areas tend to be Maths, English and then the Curriculum and so here it was felt that that was the area for the Deputy to lead.
RL: Do you have an influence over it, or do you have to go with the tramlines set down?
Kelly: No, we can be very creative with the curriculum nowadays. There will be new guidelines coming in place soon from the Government. There is a lot to do with sharing ideas with staff, trying to be creative in the ways that we deliver the curriculum, making sure there are lots of links between subjects, so we are not teaching subjects in isolation, and so on. As you walk around the school you see the topics that we cover, so we are very much topic-led as a school, so I suppose I oversee and make sure all the boxes are ticked and help to generate ideas to make sure we are being as creative as we can be with the curriculum.
RL: It sounds very different from even when you were back at primary school?
Kelly: Yes, it is very different. Yes, you had topics, but with Maths, for instance, you had your exercise book and you worked through the pages. If you got stuck you asked for help, and when you completed a page you went on to the next one, and from book to book, very book orientated. You had an example put on the board and if you couldn’t follow it then you struggled, but it’s not at all like that any more.
RL: So no more books?
Kelly: Oh no, we have books but it’s very much the idea that the children carry lout investigations, and they are supported with their learning by an adult but it is very much pupil-led. That is the idea nowadays, that they discover things for themselves, because when you are doing things and finding out things for yourself, that’s when you remember it and take it in more. It’s seen now that passive learning, sitting there and simply having someone to speak to you, doesn’t work well; you can tune out and it’s not a very effective learning style. Yes, of course there is still a lot of teacher input as well as listening and watching and looking at books, but it more a combination of them all rather than focusing on one learning style.
RL: Moving away from your school role, what sort of things do you do for recreation when you get away from all this?
Kelly: Well yes, the school website will tell you that I like horse riding but I do like to travel. I did a lot of travelling with my parents as a child and was very fortunate that they were quite keen to go to places like Kenya, America, Australia, and that started me off. Obviously I don’t have the time or finances to be quite that exotic now but I am really pleased that the school has got a grant from the British Council so I will be going to Kenya for a week in May. The Head went last year, so this year it is the Deputy Head’s turn. It is something that I am very interested in, eventually perhaps one day teaching abroad
RL: I hear this quite often. What is it about teaching abroad?
Kelly: It’s just the different cultures and the different ways of life, I find fascinating. I really enjoy finding out about different peoples and how they go about their daily lives. It’s fascinating seeing how varied it can be. It’s about meeting different children as well, seeing the different attitudes that children have towards life. I have met a lot of people who have come to this country to teach and heard their experiences of travelling and their experiences of teaching in different countries as well, and it all sounds very appealing. We are talking of quite a few years off yet though!
RL: OK, well thank you again, Kelly, for your time and for being willing to share. That’s been great. We’ll no doubt see more of you in the days to come and we’ll look forward to that. Thank you again.
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Kelly: Yes, prior to coming here I was a teacher at Ivy Juniors Primary School, that’s near Epping, and I was there for nearly seven years. I worked my way up to leadership level, and so the next step was Deputy Headship. Unfortunately the opportunity wasn’t there at the school but it was time for thinking of taking on more of a challenge and that brought me here.
RL: What did you like about what you saw here?
Kelly: Well as soon as I walked in, it was the way people were so friendly and welcoming. I had a look round a few other schools and there just wasn’t that atmosphere of people clearly working together really well that was here. Straight away you could tell that people here were for the benefit of the children and want to really help the children. That was so clear on my first walk around the school; that was the main ethos of the school.
RL: What is the role or function of a Deputy Head?
Kelly: It can vary in different schools. Here I am a full-
RL: And you’re responsible for the curriculum. Is that always the responsibility of the Deputy?
Kelly: No, it can vary with different schools. The main areas tend to be Maths, English and then the Curriculum and so here it was felt that that was the area for the Deputy to lead.
RL: Do you have an influence over it, or do you have to go with the tramlines set down?
Kelly: No, we can be very creative with the curriculum nowadays. There will be new guidelines coming in place soon from the Government. There is a lot to do with sharing ideas with staff, trying to be creative in the ways that we deliver the curriculum, making sure there are lots of links between subjects, so we are not teaching subjects in isolation, and so on. As you walk around the school you see the topics that we cover, so we are very much topic-
RL: It sounds very different from even when you were back at primary school?
Kelly: Yes, it is very different. Yes, you had topics, but with Maths, for instance, you had your exercise book and you worked through the pages. If you got stuck you asked for help, and when you completed a page you went on to the next one, and from book to book, very book orientated. You had an example put on the board and if you couldn’t follow it then you struggled, but it’s not at all like that any more.
RL: So no more books?
Kelly: Oh no, we have books but it’s very much the idea that the children carry lout investigations, and they are supported with their learning by an adult but it is very much pupil-
RL: Moving away from your school role, what sort of things do you do for recreation when you get away from all this?
Kelly: Well yes, the school website will tell you that I like horse riding but I do like to travel. I did a lot of travelling with my parents as a child and was very fortunate that they were quite keen to go to places like Kenya, America, Australia, and that started me off. Obviously I don’t have the time or finances to be quite that exotic now but I am really pleased that the school has got a grant from the British Council so I will be going to Kenya for a week in May. The Head went last year, so this year it is the Deputy Head’s turn. It is something that I am very interested in, eventually perhaps one day teaching abroad
RL: I hear this quite often. What is it about teaching abroad?
Kelly: It’s just the different cultures and the different ways of life, I find fascinating. I really enjoy finding out about different peoples and how they go about their daily lives. It’s fascinating seeing how varied it can be. It’s about meeting different children as well, seeing the different attitudes that children have towards life. I have met a lot of people who have come to this country to teach and heard their experiences of travelling and their experiences of teaching in different countries as well, and it all sounds very appealing. We are talking of quite a few years off yet though!
RL: OK, well thank you again, Kelly, for your time and for being willing to share. That’s been great. We’ll no doubt see more of you in the days to come and we’ll look forward to that. Thank you again.
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