I first met Katy Burns when I was appointed as an Assistant Head at Collaton St Mary CE Primary School back in 2006. Katy was a EYFS teacher at the time. Five years later, I was appointed headteacher and Katy was appointed as deputy.
Katy had already got lots of experience, having previously been a deputy head in London and acting headteacher in Devon. She is passionate about education, and also full of integrity. Katy demonstrated again and again that she would do the right thing, even if that was personally challenging.
We made a strong team. We collaborated well on school improvement and each had our own strengths and passions. Katy has always been passionate about safeguarding, inclusion and overcoming disadvantage. I have always been fascinated with visioning, culture, strategy, and curriculum.
In 2015, I was approached by governors and diocese to become executive headteacher of Galmpton C Of E Primary School. We decided that Katy should become Head of School, supported by myself as Executive Head.
This was a fascinating and challenging time. Unfortunately, there was a huge amount of work to be done at Galmpton. Our own early self-evaluation, plus an external advisor we invited in, graded the school as inadequate.
From the beginning of our time at Galmpton, Katy did not hesitate in doing the right thing for the children and the community. This was not always popular with the staff, but gradually, they accepted that change needed to take place. We had to overhaul everything - from curriculum, safeguarding process, support for SEND, teaching and learning. We also had to focus on improving our workforce rapidly. When we started, both the caretaker and school business manager were on long term sick, and we had quite a few underperforming members of staff who needed the opportunity to develop.
In late 2017, after the school had been judged to be a good school (both by us and by OFSTED), and the school had joined Academies for Character and Excellence, Katy became the substantive Headteacher at Galmpton. I had then been promoted to Director of Education.
At the beginning of this period, Katy sharing her ambition that Galmpton would become a happy school. Her vision was of a highly successful, popular school that children would flourish at, and staff would be proud to work at.
Katy knew that achieving this was not about trying to keep everyone happy. It was about leading with integrity, compassion and drive to ensure that the school flourished. It was about building a strong culture where the team all pulled together to do thing right thing.
In 2022, a section 8 inspection judged that Galmpton might be outstanding. Katy invited me back to join the governing body to support them in their continued development.
In 2024, OFSTED revisited under a section 5 inspection and confirmed that the school is outstanding. Read the report here: https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/21/145104
I am so proud of all that Katy and her team have achieved at Galmpton.
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