Brockham School Appoints New Head
New head teacher for proposed merged
schools
The Temporary Governing Body are pleased to announce
the appointment of a new head teacher for the proposed
amalgamation of Brockham and The Acorns schools.
Mrs Jane Fairbourn will take up her role of new head teacher in
September 2010 , coinciding with the completion of the
merger of Acorns and Brockham Schools which is subject to
the current public consultation and the approval of Surrey County
Council.
Mrs Fairbourn, head teacher at Southfield Primary for seven
years, started the school from new. When it was first established,
just nine families chose the school for their children's education,
but under Jane's leadership it now has 6 applicants for every place
and is amongst the top ten oversubscribed schools in England. The
success of the school was recognised in their recent Ofsted report
in February where it was judged as 'outstanding'.
Working with parents and raising the profile of the school in
the local community has been a strong feature of Jane's work and
has been recognised by the National College of School Leadership
(NCSL) who have engaged her to present on 'The Public Face of
Headship' to prospective head teachers. Jane has also worked with
the NCSL on coaching and mentoring which she has used to develop a
coaching ethos in her school.
Jane and her team have created a learning and teaching culture
that promotes an imaginative and creative approach using drama,
music, ICT and the outdoor areas as part of everyday learning.
Jane is a passionate advocate of 'Every Child Matters' and at
Southfield Park she not only knows every child individually, she
also knows their parents, siblings and, in some cases, grandparents
too.
Previous to setting up Southfield Park Jane was part of the team
that set up a new school in West Sussex so has extensive and
valuable expertise in change management and establishing a new
school.
Liz Griffiths, Chair of the Governors Selection Panel said, "The
head teacher selection panel was completely unanimous in the
decision to appoint Jane and feel incredibly fortunate to have
found someone with all the skills and attributes we were looking
for to lead our schools into a successful merger."
Richard Prophet, Chair of the Temporary Governing Body said, "We
are delighted to have been able to attract such a high calibre
candidate for the proposed amalgamation of our schools and that she
has accepted our offer even though the consultation process has yet
to be finalised."
"Jane fully understands the challenges ahead and we are
confident that she will provide a strong learning ethos, clear
leadership and mentoring for the staff and valuable links with all
the communities involved with our schools."
Richard Prophet