Strong new head for school
ALVASTON MOOR PRINCIPAL SETS OUT AMBITIONS
The new principal of one of Derby’s most challenging secondary schools has a long reputation of turning around the performance of troubled schools. Here, MICHELLE STRONG, who has taken the helm at Alvaston Moor Academy, previously known as Merrill Academy, explains how her 30-year career makes her perfectly placed to lead the school into a new era.
EVERY child deserves a champion and that is exactly what pupils at Alvaston Moor Academy are getting with me. I intend to make this a school that these children deserve.
It’s not going to happen overnight, and I’ve already talked to pupils about climbing a mountain – we’re taking the first steps at the bottom at the moment, but the view from the top is amazing. It’s going to be hard work getting to the summit, but we will do it together.
My first challenge is ensuring our pupils believe in themselves; it’s about raising the expectations of the whole community and their aspirations. I am ambitious for every child and want them to access the best possible education to prepare them for the next stage of their life.
I started my career 30 years ago as a newly-qualified teacher at a school in Grimethorpe, near Barnsley. The pits had closed and it was a deprived area where expectations were low so my teaching journey started in a tough school and I haven’t really deviated from that path.
My first headship was at a military school in Germany for the children of squaddies. It was a very tough place to work at times and even tougher when you had Afghanistan factored in, which meant every family became a single parent overnight.
Many of the families came from deprived communities in big cities like Liverpool and Manchester and the children had moved around a lot in their education. When I arrived there was a culture of ‘the children are only here for two years, so what does it matter?’ Well, it matters!
After 11 years in Germany, I moved to a school in special measures in Great Yarmouth. Within three years we were rated Good and very nearly outstanding – I thoroughly enjoyed the process of turning the school around which stood me in good stead for my next role in Nottingham.
I was the fifth head teacher in five years when I joined Bulwell Academy and it was like turning an oil tanker around. They needed consistency and they needed someone to believe in them. By the time I left, we had received a record 400 applications for 210 places and we had a waiting list – proof that the community could see that the school was in a different place.
I need a few weeks to settle in here and then I will be going out into the community to build relationships with parents and our feeder primary schools. I want the whole community to embrace the idea that it simply doesn’t matter where you are born and I am living proof of that.
I came from a very small village in the north east of Lancashire from a very working class family – my dad was a farmer and my mum was a weaver. Without a doubt education changed my life, and that sounds a cliché but it’s true.
My parents valued education because they didn’t have one themselves. My dad struggled to read and write so he made sure my brother and I had a good schooling and made the most of the opportunities available to us.
I went to a tiny village primary school where my primary head teacher took me on one side and said ‘you could do something with your life. You can do it,’ and he saw something in me. That’s all you need sometimes, someone to champion you.
From very humble beginnings my brother and I have done well. He is now the director of finance for an oil company – anything is possible if you believe in yourself and where you come from should never hold you back.
I am determined to break down any barriers to learning, in order to ensure all our young people are successful, regardless of their background.
For this to happen there has to be more discipline in school. I believe very firmly in the basic principles of being smart, punctual, courteous and well equipped to learn and I will expect high standards of behaviour and attendance at all times – because these are essential ingredients to success not just in school, but in life.
It’s very early days but the children have all had expectation assemblies and we have introduced silent corridors, with pupils walking on the left. They’re lining up when they arrive at school and teachers will greet them at the door to their classroom so that any issues can be picked up right from the start.
Teachers who are outside on duty in the morning have started wearing high-vis jackets so they are immediately visible and we’re having a presence on the canal path near school.
Every lesson will start with some knowledge retrieval tasks, because some of the children have gaps in their knowledge thanks to Covid – so we need to put systems in place to rectify that.
We have some issues with attendance, so that’s a priority – looking at the reasons why they don’t come in and addressing them. School needs to feel like a safe space and I will be keeping students in their year groups at lunchtimes. We’re lucky, we have a big enough site to be able to do that.
We’re also introducing reading in the morning because literacy is the foundation to every subject. I’m a voracious reader – I’ve just finished my 72nd book of the year – so reading is going to be a key driver going forward.
Students with special educational needs are also a focus. We have a brand-new SENCO and we’re creating a new Learning Support Area. Those children who can access mainstream with support will be encouraged to do so – but that support has to be available to them and be high quality.
I’m also passionate about teaching our pupils resilience, because of course, there will be disappointments in life. As a child I wanted to be a policewoman and when I applied to join Lancashire Police Force, they wouldn’t have me because I wore glasses. Of course, that wouldn’t happen now, but back then I had to completely rethink.
This is my 31st year in education and it will be the first where I don’t teach. I have always been a teaching head, but this year my focus has to be on how we work towards excellence in every aspect.
I hope that I will return to teaching when the school is in a better place. I am a language teacher – I studied German and Russian at university – and I’ve already been asked to do the German speaking tests with students next year, because I’m fluent.
That might be at odds with my Lancashire accent, I’m Burnley through and through. I’m a massive Burnley FC fan. I’m claret and blue and always will be. In fact, the only time I’d been to Derby before was to Pride Park to watch Burnley play the Rams.
This new term is a completely fresh start for this school. It has a new name, a new uniform – and my goodness they look very smart – and a new principal and vice principal; Clare Watson is also a new addition to the team.
We also have the support of Archway Learning Trust, who took over earlier this year, to guide us on our journey to improvement where every child is celebrated and valued.
After giving an assembly to the year 10 students, one young lady came into to see me today to ask if I would like to borrow her favourite book, which is called Just Mercy. It made my day because I’d obviously connected with her, which is what it’s all about.
Making connections and modelling to the pupils and staff what we expect. There is so much potential in this school, we just need to encourage everyone to believe in themselves and believe in me too. I was known as Strong by name, and strong by nature at my last school.
I’m ambitious about improving the life chances of every pupil who attends Alvaston Moor Academy. We might be at the foot of the mountain, but the journey to the top has already started.”
I believe very firmly in the basic principles of being smart, punctual, courteous and well equipped to learn.