Teacher reflects on 19 years of service

As the final few weeks of term drew to a close Mrs Maureen Hillsdon, headteacher of Our Lady of Lourdes, Birkdale, reflected on her 19 years of service at the school: first as deputy head and then as head.

Maureen has been involved in a number of school improvement initiatives and nine inspections but the time since 23 March has probably presented the most challenging circumstances in her entire career.

Before Mrs Hillsdon left she had one final achievement to celebrate – Our Lady of Lourdes is the first primary school this year to have gained Digital Schoolhouse status.

This means that they will be able to offer fun, free computing workshops for primary schools in the local area. Digital Schoolhouse together with Nintendo UK, uses play-based learning to engage the next generation of pupils in order to ensure they are equipped for the future digital economy.

All of the workshops engage pupils through the use of creative resources, whilst upskilling and inspiring visiting teachers to deliver the new computing curriculum.

“We were thrilled that we were successful with our Digital Schoolhouse application. I cannot wait to begin delivering exciting workshops which I know the children in the local area will love”, said Mrs Jo Hodge, Digital Schoolhouse lead teacher at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School.