A PRINCIPAL, no stranger to the football pitch, is settling into his new role at a school that shares his team’s colours.
Middlesbrough fan Simon Robson has taken over as principal at Whinfield Primary School, part of the Education Village Academy Trust (EVAT), Darlington, where pupils last year came close to playing at Wembley after qualifying for the National League North section final.
Stockton-born Simon has been working in North Yorkshire for the past ten years as a head and executive head concentrating on school improvement. He takes over Whinfield Primary School, which is rated good by Ofsted and has a strong record for SATs results, with ambitions to foster even closer links with the community.
With a degree in sports science, football has been a big part of Simon’s life since he was a child. He played football as a youth, later as a winger in the Northern League for Shildon and Billingham Town.
“As a fan, my first Boro game was the Middlesbrough v Millwall match in 1987,” he said. “We won 1-0 and Archie Stephens scored a diving header. After that I was hooked and I’ve supported them through thick and thin. We have had a great start to the current season so it will be interesting to see where it goes.
“I never got to play football beyond Northern League but I never stopped playing until recently after I ruptured my Achilles tendon.”
Simon also threw himself into music as a bass guitarist in local bands. He still performs solo today playing original songs and Indie covers from the likes of Oasis, The Jam and Bob Dylan. He has plans to bring songwriting and performing to the pupils of school.
“The first time I performed was nerve wracking,” he recalled. “But I’m always telling pupils to be brave – so you have to stick to your word I suppose – and I’m still performing today.
“So, I will be getting the guitar out at school and hopefully getting the children to write some of their own songs.”
He said he was drawn to EVAT by its ‘down to earth, straight talking’ approach to education and was relishing steering the 445-pupil school into a bright future.
“Schools are all about children, people and relationships and working in partnership with families,” he said. “I was really interested in the way the governors focus on educational standards only while the Trust supports the operational management of the schools.
“I’m currently trying to find out as much as I can about the community, what families, including the pupils, are looking for and what the school needs to provide.
“We are looking at how best to use the amazing space at the school, considering inclusion and SEND provision and how to enrich and enhance our curriculum offer, so we can make school more exciting and ambitious in the future. It’s a good performing school but I can see even more potential.
“I love being a headteacher, it’s a challenging but varied job and you get the chance to change the lives of children, their families and staff, which gives me a real sense of purpose.”