Marcia Harris is the headteacher at Cradley CE Primary. A few years ago, the school formed the Halas Trust with Halesowen CE Primary (Headteacher Lorna Knowles) and St Margaret’s CE Primary (Headteacher Sara Shepherd) in Hasbury. During the pandemic, these relationships have really come into their own.
Marcia explains: “Before Coronavirus, our three schools met informally and supported each other on planning, but over the past few weeks, we’ve really come together and are stronger as a result. I have certainly been very grateful to be able to work with colleagues within the church school network.”
Lorna from Halesowen School has been involved in the Local Authority conference calls on behalf of all the schools, championing the cause of Voluntary Aided schools and reporting back to the other two heads. Marcia and Sara from St Margaret’s, Hasbury set up an agreement to have each other’s children over the Easter holidays. The children of any parents who required provision would attend Cradley in the first week and then St Margaret’s in the second week to enable the teachers to have a proper break.
“It was great to know that option was there and we’re planning a similar arrangement for the Whitsun half term,” said Marcia. “It’s meant that we can share the cost of a sports coach for the children, which would be too expensive for just one of us.”
The three headteachers have been in regular contact throughout the Coronavirus pandemic, sharing ideas for home learning packages, supporting each other with recruitment and being a sounding board. They’ve also worked together to ensure that families entitled to free school meals received the vouchers from the Government.
“It’s been a great support to know that I can text or ring the others at any time. We’d gone our own separate ways for a bit, but have really come back together. When we’ve needed each other, we’ve been there and that’s the really brilliant thing about our church school network,” said Marcia.
