‘And now we welcome the new year, full of things that have never been’

 

We are almost at the start of another year at St Anne’s Infants’ School and as the school’s new Head Teacher, I would like to say hello and tell you a little bit about myself and my hopes for the school.

 

I was born and grew up in Wolverhampton but settled in Bristol seven years ago via various other cities along the way. After finishing my degree at Bristol University, I began the millennium teaching English to children and adults in Hanoi, Vietnam and then in Dublin, Ireland. I went on to do my PGCE at UWE in 2004 before moving to London where I taught Reception and KS1 SEN classes and led the Foundation Stage. Whilst there, I met my now husband in Manchester and moved north to be with him. I taught in Nursery and led the Foundation Stage and Literacy in an outstanding school. In 2010, we relocated to Bristol and I took up the post of Reading Recovery teacher and Inclusion Leader at St Anne’s Infants’ School.

 

I became Deputy Head Teacher at St Anne’s Infants’ in 2013 and since then have worked to strengthen our safeguarding procedures, relaunched the school values and behaviour policy and led the school to achieving the Majorie Boxall Quality Mark Award for being a nurturing school.

 

My husband and I have a 3 ½ year old daughter so I will soon be on the other side of the fence and like many of you, applying for a Reception school place. One of my favourite things is listening to the hilarious things my daughter says on a daily basis. I also love travelling, experiencing different cultures and food (my dad is Bengali and my sister-in-law is Chinese so I get to do that quite easily!), photography and being in good company.

 

I am extremely fortunate to be the Head Teacher of such a fantastic school; to be working with a committed and hardworking team of staff, wonderful children who are beginning their adventures in education and you, the families with whom we work closely to ensure your children have the best possible time with us. I am committed to providing your young children a rich and happy start to their education. School staff often hear parents and carers saying their children always respond with “nothing” or “don’t know” when they are asked what they did at school. During my interview, I was asked what my legacy at St Anne’s would be; my response was “to have led a school where the children run out of school saying, ‘guess what I did today?!’”

 

I look forward to getting to know you all over the coming weeks, months and years but in the meantime, enjoy the last few hours of the holiday!

 

Best wishes,

Anna Sutherland