TIMES reporter Sarah Pitt meets Sally Powell, the new head of school at Lew Trenchard Primary School.

SALLY Powell has a special affection for Lew Trenchard Church of England Primary School.

She trained as a teacher here, has taught here for five years and is now Head of School at the 91-pupil primary school in Lewdown.

She was appointed to lead the school when headteacher Tim Woodward retired last summer, after four years presiding over improvements which saw the school’s Ofsted rating boosted from ‘satisfactory’ to ‘good’. She says she wants to continue his legacy.

When I arrive on this chilly winter afternoon, Sally is out in the school playground, where a group of kids are playing football with a coach. One of them joins Sally as she gives me a tour of the school. As we walk down a corridor bedecked with colourful work by the children, another boy comes up and gives Sally a hug.

In one of the classrooms, a player from Plymouth Argyle, here primarily to coach football, is reading an impromptu story to a group of children. ‘It’s that kind of school,’ says Sally. ‘It is very free.’

Sally managed care homes in Manchester before moving to West Devon with her husband. They live in nearby Bridestowe and their son Josh is in Year 5 at Lew Trenchard. Sally discovered the school she now leads when her son started at the pre-school attached to the school.

‘I started my teacher training here on a Graduate Training Programme,’ she says. ‘I trained here, I was lucky enough to get a job here and now I’m Head of School here. It’s been life changing.’

Her years working as a manager in care homes have helped her in her teaching career. ‘I worked with families and with vulnerable people, sometimes with people in crisis, and we do encounter things in school, where we have to support people with life difficulties,’ she says.

‘I think it is one of the best things about the job, actually. If you can help a child and family in crisis achieve a positive outcome, that’s one of the best things you can do, isn’t it?’

The school recently became part of the An Daras Academy Trust, a coalition of two secondary schools and four primary schools which are, with the exception of Lew Trenchard, in and around Launceston, across the River Tamar in Cornwall.

‘We chose them because their values matched ours,’ says Sally. ‘There’s a certain amount of freedom in it, and also for us as a group of local schools who work very closely. We share teacher training and we do networking.’

The four primaries in the trust are overseen by an executive head teacher, Jo Callow. This means that much of the administrative part of being a headteacher is taken care of, freeing Sally up to teach part-time.

She shares teaching her class of five to seven-year-olds with another teacher. ‘If I have had a busy day in the office then spend time in the classroom, I think, it’s ok, we‘ve got it right,’ she says. ‘All of the teachers are excellent, their passion and dedication fits with the ethics of the school. It’s a happy community. It is all about the children feeling safe and comfortable and knowing that adults believe in them.’/p>

As a Church of England voluntary controlled school, Christian values influence teaching at the school, but it is not a faith school.

‘We are currently reinterpreting our church values,’ says Sally. ‘It is an invitation to children to learn more about Christianity, but it is not that you have to be Christian to come here. Our core values are responsibility, respect and kindness.’

Being Head of School is, she admits ‘a big responsibility’. ‘I wouldn’t say that Tim’s retirement was unexpected, but they are very big shoes to fill because he is inspirational and very much missed in the school,’ she says.‘We are in a really good position because we already have a warm, welcoming school so we have to maintain his legacy and keep improving.'

‘I just want to do the best for the children and the staff, because it does feel like we are part of something amazing here, a school that does care about the children and the staff as well. It is about looking after each other and making sure we are all pulling together.’

With Christmas on the horizon, that spirit is very evident in the school as excited children make their way home with parents.

‘I don’t ever wake up and say I don’t want to go to school,’ says Sally. ‘It is a joy to be here. I do feel lucky to be part of such a positive school.’

Picture of Sally Powell with some Lew Trenchard pupils by James Bird.