Introductory letter from Mr Johnson

Dear Parents and Carers,

I am writing to introduce myself to you as the new Interim Headteacher.

I am very excited to be at Stanmore from the start of next term, and very much looking forward to meeting the whole school community because I believe that working together, working as a community, we can make a real difference to the lives of our children.

I have been in education for over 20 years having taught in Lincolnshire, Portsmouth and Hampshire. For the past six years I have been the Headteacher of Stoke Park Junior School having successfully improved the school from being graded as ‘Requires Improvement’ to ‘Good with Outstanding features’ within the first two years of my headship.

Stanmore will be the fourth school that I have had the pleasure of leading, and whilst this could be seen as an unsettling period for you, it is a really exciting time for the school and I am pleased to be working with a strong team to continue to drive improvements as identified by the Ofsted report. It is also a time for looking forward, and although I am not officially taking up post until September, I will be in the playground on Tuesday morning next week, and I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible.

Over the next week and the summer holidays I am going to be spending time getting to know the school, getting to know the children and building relationships with everyone involved with Stanmore, in order to ensure a successful transition from one Interim Headteacher to another, and ensure that the new academic year starts on a positive note.

The partnership with parents and carers is absolutely key to me and I encourage you to maintain close communication with your child’s class teacher both when things are going well for your child and when challenges arise. If you would like to see me at any time, please do make an appointment through the office, although on some days I may be ‘catchable’ if you just want a quick word! I aim to be on the playground before and after school as much as possible, so for those of you who are unable to see me on Tuesday morning please come and introduce yourself and say hello, it will be lovely to meet you all and talk about how we are moving the school forward.

In the short term, we will be working hard to ensure that your children experience a curriculum that is fun, engaging and challenging. As a team, we are focused on enabling the children to con;nue to develop socially, emo;onally and academically - making good progress and achieving well.

Yours faithfully,

Matt Johnson
Interim Headteacher