Headteacher Talk – Jason Roberts from Gateacre School

One thing I wished I had learned at school:
Do it properly so you do not have to do it again.  I say this because it took me a while to pass my maths GCSE, mainly because at that time in my life I was lazy and arrogant.  I thought I knew best and I was very wrong.  I wasted lots of time when I should have been studying, opening my GCSE results back in the 90’s was a tough day.

The book I haven’t read that I must:
I’m quite a book worm to be honest, it’s one of my favourite past-times  when I’m not training, however one book that I have tried to get hold of that is really difficult and it actually has little to do with education is called Drill to Win by Andre Galvao a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Blackbelt.  I’m a big believer in work-life balance and when I’m not in school I make sure I’m either spending time with my family or training and competing in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, most recently competing in America
at the IBJJF World Masters Championships.

The education story that has caught my eye:
DfE demands £3 billion in savings…                                                                                Shows the amount of pressure schools and leaders are placed under to deliver improved results yet under
such difficult circumstances and with less money. Unfortunately this takes attention away from the real purpose of schools; learning and children, their entitlement to a good education is at the mercy of budgets controlled by other people.

What I am most proud of about our school:
The pupils and the staff!
The pupils turn up every day prepared to learn with a smile on their face, they are incredibly polite and are all working hard to improve.
I feel it is an honour and a privilege to lead Gateacre School, the staff are simply wonderful.  Since joining in September we have gone through a lot of change, and there is yet more change ahead but my staff have just got on with the job of teaching pupils.