Heads up for Bloxham educator's retirement

Matthew Ingall will step down in the summer

The early announcement is typical of the educator who has built his reputation for consideration and good planning over the sixteen years he had led the school.

“I never expected to stay so long but I’ve loved my time here, and it really is an exceptional place to work. It’s rare nowadays to find a rural primary school like ours.

"With its own grounds and playing fields, specialist music and sport teachers, exceptional nurture provision and high standards in all areas, opportunities like this don’t come up often in teaching.

"It’s been a pleasure and privilege for me, and I wanted to give as many people as possible the chance to apply for the role when the application opens later this year,” said Matthew.

When Matthew joined the school in 2004 it had one and a half classes in each year group and has grown since then to two class entry with 420 pupils and a waiting list for all year groups.

Matthew describes the school growth: “In some respects nothing has changed, because it’s always about the children first and foremost. On the other hand when I joined there were 350 pupils and now, we have 420 children and a staff of 56.

"We were one of the first primary schools to establish specialist nurture provision and have chosen to bring in our own specialists whenever we can, like music and sport.

"As a large school with a strong team of teachers and support staff we can blend traditional and modern education approaches, so for example we were awarded ‘Outstanding’ in our SIAMS church inspection but ensure our youngest children practice yoga every day.”

Matthew has faced some challenging times while leading the school, he said: "We have had some biblical experiences. We had a fire in 2005 which burned our foundation class to the ground just weeks after it was opened, and a flood not long after in June 2007.

"I remember carrying children out as the water came in so fast, like a wave. The next head needn’t worry though, a new drainage infrastructure means that won’t happen again.

He added: “After the flood, the community rallied round and we opened the school in September as usual, and that’s another thing that’s special about the school, it’s a wonderful, supportive community. It really will be a great place for the next person to lead.”

Matthew will officially stand down at terms end in August.