Education

Headteacher Emma Reynolds with pupils Hannah Cresswell, Zoe Rowse, Clinton Asibey, Matthew Wilthire and Aavash Subedi
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New head aims to make Bulmershe into 'jewel of a school'

By Jon Nurse
February 25, 2013

Respect and responsibility are the principles being championed by a headteacher hoping to see her new school become the jewel in the crown of local education.

Emma Reynolds outlined her vision for The Bulmershe School in a presentation to Woodley Town Council.

The headteacher, now in her eighth week in the job, is drawing on 22 years of teaching experience to make the Woodley school sparkle.

The mother-of-two comes from a long line of teachers and headteachers and has taken the step up from a deputy head position at Highdown School in Caversham.

“Part of the role was working with other schools and it opened my eyes to the idea of being a headteacher,” Ms Reynolds said.

“When I saw Bulmershe in the newspaper I thought ‘that’s the school I want’. I believe Bulmershe is a jewel of a school. It’s a school that has shown huge improvement over the past year.

“There are some brilliant teachers and adults working with an amazing range of children. My key is to make it be seen as a jewel by everybody – to make Bulmershe the best possible school I can make it be.”

She added: “I’ve seen children over-achieve if they take responsibility for their own learning. I don’t expect every child to leave with 13 A*s, but I do expect them to leave with the grades and opportunities that serve their potential. Education is bigger than Ofsted. It’s about the spirit of the school and I want to preserve that in Bulmershe.”

Ms Reynolds has taught English in previous roles and aims to lead classes at the Chequers Way school soon.

Town mayor Councillor Ray Duncan said: “If only all headteachers have one tenth of your enthusiasm.

“I’m confident students at Bulmershe now and in the long term are in safe hands.”

Ms Reynolds replaces Peter Lewis, who left the school after 15 years service having overseen a 20 per cent rise in pupils gaining five or more A* to C GCSE grades, including English and maths, in the last three years.

She has also been researching school alumni and is looking for success stories to add to a Wall of Fame. She said. “There are Olympians, national footballers, doctors, lawyers and headteachers that were pupils here 10 to 20 years ago. I want to celebrate that and it’s something the children can learn from.”

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Most recent user comments 5 of 5

Those kids look quite presentable, except for the slightly shorter than regulation skirt of the older girl in the pic.

I hope the head does manage to make a difference - every child should be able to benefit from a decent education.

I know we all say 'it begins at home' but maybe now's the time to see if we can change things starting with young people rather than their parents?